evaluate. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved January 11, 2017 from Dictionary.com http://www.dictionary.com/browse/evaluate
To evaluate a book, look for:
Purpose: Why was the book written? To:
Publisher: Who published the book:
Date of Publication:Is it:
Authority/author: Is the author an expert in this field?
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:
Usefulness: Is the book relevant to the current research project? If it is useful, does it:
Audience: Is the book for:
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.
Organization and Content
Credit to Colorado State University Libraries
To evaluate a journal article look for:
Purpose of Article: Why was the article written? To:
Type of Journal: For college-level term papers, information should be obtained mostly from scholarly journals.
Organization and Content:
Bias (of the publisher)
Date of Article
Bibliography
Usefulness: Is the article relevant to the current research project?
Authority/author:
Coverage: Does the article cover the topic comprehensively, partially, or is it an overview?
Audience: For what type of reader is the author writing?
Illustrations:
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.
Credit to Colorado State University Libraries
Because ERIC Documents include a large scope of work, of varying degrees of scholarliness, limit your use of ERIC Documents to high quality “research reports” or “evaluation studies.” The “publication type” section of the ERIC Document citation will indicate type of publication.
• What type of publication is this? Report/Research, opinion piece, paper, conference proceeding, classroom guide, dissertation, pamphlet?
• Who authored or sponsored the publication?
• Is there a scholarly or professional organization associated with the publication?
• If a conference proceeding or paper, where was it presented? When was it presented?
To evaluate a journal article look for:
Web Sites serve a variety of purposes:
Sometimes the internet address, specifically the domain, can provide information on the site’s purpose:
.org Organization
.com Business or commercial site
.net Network organization or an Internet service provider
.edu Higher education institution
.gov Federal government site
.in.us State government site, this may include public schools & public libraries
.uk United Kingdom
.au Australia
~ The tilde often indicates a personal page.
Authority – Who is the Author?
Accuracy/Bias – Is the Information accurate and objective?