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SOCC45: Youth and Society

Winter 2018

Comparing Sources

Seven criteria for evaluating sources.

	*Scholarly/Academic Source*	*Non-scholarly/Popular Source*
*Purpose*	To share with other scholars the results of primary research & experiments.	To entertain or inform in a broad, general sense.
*Author*	A respected scholar or researcher in the field; an expert in the topic; names are always noted.	A journalist or feature writer; names are not always noted.
*Publisher*	A university press; a professional association or known (independent) scholarly publisher.	A commercial publisher; self-published.
*Audience*	Scholars or researchers in the field or those interested in the topic at a research level; university students.	General public.
*Content*	Formal presentation of scholarly work in a standard style; often an abstract at the beginning of the article. Articles may have section headings, such as literature review, methodology, results, discussion/further study.	Often presented in story format, with anecdotes from other people.
*Style*	Language is formal and technical; usually contains discipline-specific jargon.	Language is casual (high school reading level or lower). Few, if any, technical terms are used (and if they are, they are usually defined.)
*References*	Standard element; reference are always cited and expected; can also be called "works cited," or "bibliographies;" text often contains footnotes.	Very uncommon; text may contain vague referrals to "a study published at..." or "researchers found that..." with no other details about that information.

Adapted from the Valparaiso University Library.

Evaluating Websites

6 Criteria for Evaluating Websites

Authority	Is it clear who is responsible for the contents of the page? Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of the organization, group, company, or individual? Is there any indication of the author's qualifications for writing on a particular topic? Is the information from sources known to be reliable?
Accuracy	Are the sources for factual information clearly listed so they can be verified in another source? Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other typographical errors?
Objectivity	Does the content appear to contain any evidence of bias? Is there a link to a page describing the goals or purpose of the sponsoring organization or company? If there is any advertising on the page, is it clearly differentiated from the informational content?
Currency	Are there dates on the page to indicate when the page was written or when the page was last revised?
Coverage	Is the subject successfully addressed, with clearly presented arguments and adequate support? Does the work update other sources, substantiate other materials you have read, or add new information? Is the target audience identified and appropriate for your needs?
Appearance	Does the site look well organized and professional? Do the links work? Does the site appear well maintained?

Adapted from the Lydia M. Olson Library