Evaluating Articles for Research Authority Accuracy Objectivity Currency

Evaluating Articles for Research Authority, Accuracy, Objectivity, Currency and Coverage

Authority § Why should we evaluate an article for Authority? Anyone can publish anything on the web. § It is often hard to determine a web page's authorship. § Even if a page is signed, qualifications are not usually provided. § Sponsorship is not always indicated. §

Authority § What questions should we ask? § Is there an author? Is the page signed? § http: //www. pinknoiz. com/coldwar/index. html § Is the author qualified? An expert? § http: //www. virusmyth. com/aids/ § Who is the sponsor? § http: //www. factcheck. org/ § Is the sponsor of the page reputable? How reputable? § http: //www. usdoj. gov/

Authority Is there a link to information about the author or the sponsor? § http: //www. demos. org/inequality/ § If the page includes neither a signature nor indicates a sponsor, is there any other way to determine its origin? § http: //147. 129. 226. 1/library/research/AIDSFACTS. htm § Look for a header or footer showing affiliation. § Look at the URL. http: //www. fbi. gov § Look at the domain. . edu, . com, . ac. uk, . org, . net §

Accuracy § Why should we evaluate an article for Accuracy? The information may not be reliable and error free. § Unlike traditional print resources, web resources rarely have editors or fact-checkers. § Currently, no web standards exist to ensure accuracy. §

Accuracy § What questions should we ask? § Is the information reliable and errorfree? § § http: //147. 129. 226. 1/library/research/ AIDSFACTS. htm Is there an editor or someone who verifies/checks the information?

Objectivity • Why should we evaluate an article for Objectivity? Frequently the goals of the sponsors/authors are not clearly stated. • Authors may write in a way that makes their opinions seem like facts. •

Objectivity • What questions should we ask? • Does the information show a minimum of bias? • http: //www. fairus. org/site/News 2? page=News Article&id=16663&security=1601&news_iv_ctrl =1007 • Is the page designed to sway opinion? • http: //www. peta. org/ • Is there any advertising on the page? • http: //www. advice-hgh. com/hgh. html

Currency § Why should we evaluate an article for Currency? § Publication or revision dates are not always provided. § If a date is provided, it may have various meanings. For example, § It may indicate when the material was first written. § It may indicate when the material was first placed on the Web. § It may indicate when the material was last revised.

Currency § What questions should we ask? Is the page dated? • http: //www. pinknoiz. com/coldwar/index. ht ml • If so, when was the last update? • http: //www. cmpharm. ucsf. edu/cohen/resea rch/pages/genomics. html • How current are the links? Have some expired or moved? • http: //www. cmpharm. ucsf. edu/cohen/links/ •

Coverage § Why should we evaluate an article for Coverage? § Web coverage often differs from print coverage. § Frequently, it's difficult to determine the extent of coverage of a topic from a web page. The page may or may not include links to other web pages or print references. § Sometimes web information is "just for fun", a hoax, someone's personal expression that may be of interest to no one, or even outright silliness.

Coverage § What questions should we ask? § What topics are covered? § § What does this page offer that is not found elsewhere? § § http: //www. iihs. org/laws/cellphonelaws. aspx What is its intrinsic value? § § http: //www. whatihaveread. net/ http: //www. keypad. org/bunnies/index. html How in-depth is the material? § http: //lsb. scu. edu/~mkevane/womten. htm

Guided Practice § Using the evaluation questionnaire , we will evaluate the following articles on Smoking and Tobacco: http: //www. cdc. gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00030959. h tm § http: //www. who. int/docstore/tobacco/ntday 96/pk 96 _3. htm § http: //www. smokingsection. com/issues 1. html#smoke §