What have I found?

Interpret and evaluate source material.

Once you have found the information that you think will be helpful in writing your paper, you have two important tasks. First, you have to understand the claims that
the source is making. To do this, you must read the source carefully. If the text is long, you should have a printed copy from which to work. Moreover, you should
understand what kind of an information source you are using. For a more thorough discussion of this subject, go to The Reading Room (Houston Community College).

Second, you must evaluate the truth claims of the resources that you want to use. Just because information is printed or is found on the internet, it is not necessarily
factual nor reliable in its conclusions. Your task as a writer is to discriminate good information from misleading information, balanced presentations from biased
arguments, and fact from propaganda.

However, writers are often faced with several problems in evaluating internet resources. The number of information sources on the internet can be overwhelming. In addition,
time is an important factor in writing a research paper. Collecting information is important, but generally only a few sources can be incorporated into an essay. Therefore, a
writer must choose a few good sources in a relatively short time in order to have the time and information needed to write the paper.

Quickly evaluate the sources.

• Why is this author qualified to write on this topic? Does the author have special training or education in the area s/he is discussing?

• When was the information originally published? Is the information outdated or is it current?

Who originally published the information? Who controls the website on which the information is found? Does the person or the group that controls the information support one
side of a controversial issue? Does the person or group have a stake in the issue under discussion?

Do a more in-depth evaluation of sources.

• Who is the intended audience?

• Does the author give more than one perspective on the topic being discussed? Does the author make his or her own biases clear?

• What kind of writing style does the author use to discuss his or her topic? Is information given in more of an academic style or a popular one?

Is the author's reasoning clear and logical? Does the author substantiate his or her claims?

Consider the following.

For non-native speaking students, an additional consideration is the difficulty of the source material.

RELATED SITES

The Reading Room (Houston CC)

Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources

(Esther Grassian, UCLA College Library)

Critically Analyzing Information (Cornell University Libraries)