
History 022 (Mercado): Welcome to the Library!: Evaluating Information Sources

Research Project Spring 2018

Information Timeline

 

The Information Timeline

Graphic showing timeline of information

E-Mailing and Printing Articles

Library Tutorials Screen

The Library has also created tutorials that give you tips on E-Mailing and printing articles successfully.  Take both of them so you can learn how to save money while getting your articles!  You will need Flash to view.

How to Email Articles From Databases

Save Money Printing from Databases

Scholarly Journals vs. Popular Magazine Articles

Scholarly Journal

Purpose -  report on original research or experimentation

Length - longer, in-depth analysis

Authors - expert or scholar in discipline, name and credentials provided

Language/Audience - jargon of discipline for scholarly readers

Format/Structure - serious look, structure (abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion), always cite sources

Evaluation - reviewed and evaluated by subject experts and editors

 

Popular Magazine Articles

Purpose -  to entertain, to sell products, to promote a particular viewpoint

Length - short, broad overview, litle depth

Authors - staff writer/journalist, name and credentials often not provided

Language/Audience - simple language, general readers

Format/Structure - slick, attractive appearance, not a specific format, does NOT cite sources, lots of graphics

Evaluation - not evaluated by subject experts or editors

 

 

CRAAP Test

 

Evaluating Websites:  Applying the CRAAP Test
(Borrowed from   Library - California State University, Chico)

 

CurrencyThe timeliness of the information.

  • When was the information published or posted?
  • Has the information been revised or updated?
  • Does your topic require current information, or will older sources work as well?
  • Are the links functional?
  • This article uses outdated information: http://www.vegsource.com/harris/b_cancer.htm

 

RelevanceThe importance of the information for your needs. 

  • Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
  • Who is the intended audience?
  • Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too basic or too advanced for your needs)?
  • Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use?
  • Would you be comfortable citing this source in your research paper?
  • This site has good information, but the it is not relevanthttp://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/adventure_pass/weird-but-true/freaky-food/#WBT1600x90048.png

 

AuthorityThe source of the information.

  • Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
  • What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations?
  • Is the author qualified to write on the topic?
  • Is there contact information, such as a publisher or email address?
  • Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source?  Examples: .com .edu .gov .org .net
  • This site appears legitimate but we cannot be sure about the source:  http://healthylongevity.blogspot.com/2014/02/death-by-veggiephobia.html

 

AccuracyThe reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the content.

  • Where does the information come from?
  • Is the information supported by evidence?
  • Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
  • Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?
  • Does the language or tone seem unbiased and free of emotion?
  • Are there spelling, grammar or typographical errors? 
  • This site cites data and statistics with questionable validity: http://bragg.com/healthinfo/fluoridefacts.html

 

Purpose: The reason the information exists. 

  • What is the purpose of the information?  Is it to inform, teach, sell, entertain or persuade?
  • Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
  • Is the information fact, opinion or propaganda?
  • Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
  • Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional or personal biases?
  • Look at the funding and copyright information at the bottom of this website: http://www.beefnutrition.org/

Databases Off-Campus

Username and Password Screen

To access databases off campus, you enter your W number as your username (begin with a CAPITAL W).  Your password is: the first two letters of your first name, the first two letters of your last name, and the last FOUR digits of your W Number.  To learn more, take this tutorial (you will need Flash):

How to Get into Databases Off Campus

If you still have problems getting in, take this tutorial:

What to Do if You STILL Cannot Get into Databases Off Campus
http://libraryguides.chabotcollege.edu/c.php?g=814547&p=5812551
libraryguides.chabotcollege.edu
crawl=CC-MAIN-2018-26
43091
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:2WM5CU5D4JJVY4L73XRGVAT6754F5Z37
<urn:uuid:f4270683-1987-4f73-826a-08a901b731cd>
2018-06-23T02:10:12Z
34.225.249.89
text/html
sha1:IFVSHVD2EUV4K7KPL3EV6MNXXXNHVKD5
<urn:uuid:fa488fea-46ad-4ddb-af45-39247285c8cf>
http://libraryguides.chabotcollege.edu/c.php?g=814547&p=5812551
response
<urn:uuid:fa27c8ec-de9b-4fdf-8266-efef3760f603>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-168-124-187.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-26
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for June 2018
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf