Research and Sources This presentation discusses the differences

Research and Sources This presentation discusses the differences in various types of sources and also helps you consider how to evaluate a source.

Types of Research/Sources • Scholarly Sources: Also Known as Peer Reviewed Sources • Books • Web articles • Web sites • Which do you think is most reliable?

Advantages of Scholarly Articles • Peer Reviewed—means they’ve been reviewed by a panel of experts in the field before accepted for publication. • Most recent research. • Information is verified and evaluated for you by experts. • The articles are focused, concise, and specific. • You must use at least two in your final project.

Then we have Books • Books can offer good background material for your early research. • Note that books often take years to go to press; this means book information may not be as up to date. • In order to fully assess a book source, you actually have to read the book in its entirety—not just parts. • Depending on the press, it may not be peer-reviewed.

Internet Articles • Internet publications can be peerreviewed. You’ll have to carefully assess them, however. • Internet publications can be great for really up-to-date discussions of a topic (especially laws, bills, etc. that are in progress). • It is absolutely vital that you carefully investigate internet resources to judge the credibility of the source. • You are only allowed to use two (of the five) sources that are internet only). NOTE: Database articles are not “internet articles. ”

Web Sites • These sources are the least academic and least reliable. • When using web sites, consider who the author is, what their biases are, etc. • Remember, anyone can publish on the internet!

The fun part—practicing evaluation skills. • Credibility • Assumptions • Biases/Agendas • • • http: //www. ithaca. edu/library/research/AIDSFACTS. htm http: //www. rythospital. com/ http: //www. ovaprima. org/ • • • http: //www. mslinux. org/ http: //www. idchip. com Let’s talk about http: //www. wikipedia. org

Final Thoughts • • Wikipedia can be a great way to find out basic information about topics and can also get you some links that might be useful. WIKIPEDIA IS NOT TO BE USED AS A SOURCE IN ANY OF YOUR PROJECTS—NO EXCEPTIONS. Want more examples? Check out http: //dmoz. org/Reference/Education/Instructio nal_Technology/Evaluation/Web_Site_Evaluat ion/Hoax_Sites/