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Introduction

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Now that you have found some information, you need to evaluate that information for its usefulness and reliability. Not everything you find on your topic will be useful or reliable. Because it is your project, you are responsible for evaluating the usefulness and reliability of any information you use.

In today's world, information can be stored in a variety of formats. The dominant ones are print, microforms, electronic, and non-text or graphical.

This module will guide you in

  • assessing the usefulness of the information you have found for your project
  • understanding the criteria for evaluating the reliability of information
  • using these criteria to evaluate the reliability of the information you have found

For this module

Before you begin

The Information Skills modules can be used independently of one another. However, before you begin this module you will need the following:

  • At least a few of the information sources that you intend to use for your project.

If you have not yet selected information sources, the information in Developing Search Strategies and Retrieving Information will be helpful to you.

Goal

The end product of this module will be an awareness of basic criteria for evaluating information regardless of where it is found or the format it is in.

Objectives

After completing this unit, the student will be able to:

  • Define the six criteria for evaluating information.
  • Apply the criteria to the analysis of information
  • Determine the usefulness of a given piece of information
  • List other sources that can help to evaluate an information source

Get help

More tutorial resources

Types of information sources