How to Evaluate Books
To evaluate a book look for:
- Purpose: Why was the book written? To:
- inform?
- For example: sequence of historical events, results of lengthy study or experiment
- persuade?
- For example: to change point of view, outlook, beliefs, or behavior
- entertain?
- For example: most fiction, humor, gossip
- teach how to do something?
- For example: resumes, cover letters, business plans, needlework, woodwork
- give an overview?
- For example: textbooks, encyclopedias
- Who published the book
- A university press?
- Commercial publisher?
- Professional or Trade Association, Institution, or Research Center?
- Government (US, state, local)?
- Vanity (self-published)?
University theses and dissertations are considered published by the university that granted the degree to the student who wrote it.
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Organization and Content: Examine the table of contents and/or headings to determine if the book is organized in a logical and understandable manner. Do the contents indicate that the book contains the information you need? Is there added material such as appendices?
- Date of Publication: Some topics, such as those in the health sciences, require current information. Other subjects, such as geology, value older material as well as current. Know the time needs of your topic and examine the timeliness of the book; is it:
- up-to-date,
- out-of-date, or
- timeless?
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Authority/author: Is the author an expert in this field? Where is the author employed? What else has he/she written? Has he/she won awards or honors?
- Bibliography: Scholarly works always contain a bibliography of the resources that were consulted. The references in this list should be in sufficient quantity and be appropriate for the content. Look for:
- if a bibliography exists,
- if the bibliography is short or long,
- if the bibliography is selective or comprehensive,
- if the references are primary sources (ex. journal articles) or only secondary sources (ex. encyclopedias),
- if the references are contemporary to the book or much older, and
- if the citation style is clear and consistent.
- Usefulness: Is the book relevant to the current research project? A well-researched, well-written, etc. book is not going to be helpful if it does not address the topic at hand. Ask, "is this book useful to me"? If it is useful, does it:
- support an argument
- refute an argument
- give examples (survey results, primary research findings, case studies, incidents)
- provide "wrong" information that can be challenged or disagreed with productively
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Coverage: Does the book cover the topic comprehensively, partially or is it an overview?
- Audience: For what type of reader is the author writing? Is the level of the book appropriate for your needs? Is the book for:
- general readers,
- students (high school, college, graduate),
- specialists or professionals,
- researchers or scholars?
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Illustrations: Are charts, graphs, maps, photographs, etc. used to illustrate concepts? Are the illustrations relevant? Are they clear and professional-looking?
How to Evaluate Journal Articles
How to Evaluate Journal Articles
To evaluate a journal article look for:
- Purpose of Article: Why was the article written? To:
- persuade the reader to do something?
- For example: vote a certain way, purchase an item, attend an event
- inform the reader?
- For example: results of a study/experiment, what happened at an event
- prove something?
- For example: that a behavior is bad/good, a method works/doesn't work
- Type of Journal: For college-level term papers, information should be obtained mostly from scholarly journals. Scholarly Journals contain articles describing high quality research that has been reviewed by experts in the field prior to publication.Trade magazines may be useful for topics in business or where economic data is needed. There are also good for learning what the current "hot topics" are in an area.Popular magazines, such as Time and Newsweek, should be used sparingly, or not at all.
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Organization and Content: Is the material organized and focused? Is the argument or presentation understandable? Is this original research, a review of previous research, or an informative piece?
- Bias (of the publisher): Some publications have an inherent bias that will impact articles printed in them. Is the journal:
- left/liberal?
- right/conservative?
- center?
- an alternative press?
- published by a political action (PAC) group?
- Date of Article: Some topics, such as those in the health sciences, require current information. Other subjects, such as geology, value older material as well as current. Know the time needs of your topic and examine the timeliness of the article; is it:
- up-to-date,
- out-of-date, or
- timeless?
- Bibliography: Scholarly works always contain a bibliography of the resources that were consulted. The references in this list should be in sufficient quantity and be appropriate for the content. Look for:
- if a bibliography exists,
- if the bibliography is short or long,
- if the bibliography is selective or comprehensive,
- if the references are primary sources (ex. journal articles) or only secondary sources (ex. encyclopedias),
- if the references are contemporary to the article or much older, and
- if the citation style is clear and consistent.
- Usefulness: Is the article relevant to the current research project? A well-researched, well-written, etc. article is not going to be helpful if it does not address the topic at hand. Ask, "is this article useful to me?" If it is a useful article, does it:
- support an argument
- refute an argument
- give examples (survey results, primary research findings, case studies, incidents)
- provide "wrong" information that can be challenged or disagreed with productively
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Authority: Is the author an expert in this field? Where is the author employed? What else has he/she written? Has he/she won awards or honors?
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Coverage: Does the article cover the topic comprehensively, partially, or is it an overview?
- Audience: For what type of reader is the author writing? This ties in with the type of journal, as popular magazine are geared to the general reader, while trade magazines are for the specialist and scholarly journals are directed at researchers, scholars or experts in the field. Is the article for:
- general readers,
- students (high school, college, graduate),
- specialists or professionals,
- researchers or scholars?
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Illustrations: Are charts, graphs, maps, photographs, etc. used to illustrate concepts? Are the illustrations relevant? Are they clear and professional-looking?
- Context: Information is contextual. Who, what, when, where, why, and how will impact whether or not a resource is useful to you. If you are doing a survey of popular culture, for example, popular magazines would be a useful primary source.
How to Evaluate a Web page
How to Evaluate a Web Page
To evaluate a Web page (and determine if you want to use it for your research) look for:
- Purpose: Why was the page created? To:
- Inform
For example: laws, regulations, and services (governmental sites--federal, state, local), available collections and services (library sites), available courses, programs, and services (educational sites).
- Entertain
For example: games, puzzles, pictures (with various ratings), books, magazines, gossip, information about television or radio shows, celebrities, fictional characters.
- Share information
For example: hobbies (genealogy, stamp collecting), fandom (actors, celebrities, shows)
- Advertise/Sell a product or service (business/marketing)
For example: almost any product imaginable from flowers to automobiles.
- Influence views, beliefs, elections (advocacy)
For example: pro/con {issue}, actual and parody candidate/ballot issue pages.
- Provide up-to-the-moment news
For example: current events, play by play sports, television and radio stations, newspapers. Related to advertising, because the pages want readers to continue accessing them or to watch or purchase another version.
- Personal enjoyment
For example: pages created by individuals (child or adult) who are not affiliated with any group or organization. These may have some or many of the above mentioned purposes (and occasionally provide excellent information and/or links to other pages), although most of them are for fun.
- Sponsor/Owner: On what type of Internet provider or organization does the page reside? (Provenance.)
- Government agency: federal, state, city, county (address frequently includes .gov)
Governmental sites have "official" information. For example, the text of the Arts and culture white paper or a bill
- Educational: University, college, high school (address frequently includes .edu)
Educational sites give "official" representation for organizations that offer education. Courses, syllabi, faculty and staff, admissions information, libraries, etc. are detailed online for current and prospective students and parents. In addition, many educational sites have pages that highlight the faculty's research. Departmental pages (including the library) frequently have links to sites by subject--a good way to find pages recommended by someone who has expertise in the field. Educational sites may include pages created by students for personal enjoyment (see above).
- Business/Company (address frequently includes .com)
These sites are created to promote a company's goods and services; at an increasing number of sites these can be purchased online. Some companies have links to their annual reports. It is extremely unlikely that an official site will include negative information about that company.
- Association: Professional, Trade, Entertainment (address frequently includes .org)
Association sites are designed to recruit and provide information to current members.
- News bureau: television, newspaper, radio (address frequently includes .com)
News sites promote the network (shows), station (often the local news), or print publication. An increasing number of publications are available online only. Currency is very important. Sites online help researchers access news locally and from abroad.
- Personal (Individual)
These pages are created for the enjoyment of the creator and his/her family and friends. There are instances where a personal interest page will have information or links to information that is scholarly or otherwise highly credible, but remember, "any idiot can create a Web site--and has" so you must be careful when accessing these pages.
- Organization and Content: Is the page organized and focused? Is it well designed? Is the text well written? Are the links relevant and appropriate? Are the links evaluated?
- Bias--political or issue stance (of the author or sponsor): Some web pages have an inherent bias that will impact everything that appears on them. Is the author or sponsor:
- left/liberal?
- right/conservative?
- center?
- a political action (PAC) group or association?
- a business
- Date of Production/Revision: When was the web page produced? When was it last revised? How up-to-date are the links? Are the links still viable?
- Usefulness: Is the Web page relevant to the current research project? A well-researched, well-written, etc. page is not going to be helpful if it does not address the topic at hand. Ask, "is this useful to me?" If it is useful, does it:
- support an argument
- refute an argument
- give examples (survey results, primary research findings, case studies, incidents)
- provide "wrong" information that can be challenged or disagreed with productively
Very important: does the page have an identifiable, respectable author and/or sponsor? If not, the page must be used with caution. Information found "on the Web" has as little credibility as information found "in a book" or "in an article." Vague ownership frequently means that it is not a credible research source. [The Web has less editorial control than the National Enquirer or other tabloids!]
