Evaluating Information Sources

The Web and print sources (ex. books, magazines, newspaper) provide billions of pieces of information.

Unfortunately not all are reliable, relevant accurate, unbiased, or up-to-date.

Therefore before being used, information should be evaluated.

A useful tool of evaluation is

CARRDS.

C A R R D S

CREDIBILITY ACCURACY RELIABLITY RELEVANCE DATE SOURCE

CREDIBILITY The quality and capacity of belief.

Who is the author?

What are his or her credentials? Education? Experience?

What evidence is offered of his or her

knowledge?

ACCURACY Freedom from mistake and error.

Can facts, statistics, or other information be verified through other sources? Based on your knowledge, does the information seem accurate? Does there appear to be errors on the page (i.e., spelling, grammar, facts)?

RELIABILITY The extent to which a source gives the same information as other sources.
Does the source present a particular

opinion or bias?

Is the information affiliated with an

organization that has a particular political or social agenda.

RELEVANCE The relationship to the focused topic or question.

Does the information help to answer my

question or questions?

Is the information too hard, too easy, or just

right?

DATE The time at which an information source is published or produced.

Does this project need current, up-to-date

information?
When was this Web page created?

When was it last updated?

SOURCE A primary reference work or point of origin.

Is the information based on primary or

secondary sources?
Did the author document his or her sources

(Works Cited or Bibliography)?

What kind of links or further reading did the

author choose?

These questions should be posed each time a research source is considered.

If the source does not pass any element of the CARRDS test, it should not be used.

The free Web is the part of the Web that is accessible by search engines. A search engine is an information retrieval system. It is the most common tool used to locate information on the Web. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information which must be consulted.

Examples of Search Engines

A search engine is often free and so you get what you pay forit is sometimes not trustworthy.
Examples:
AltaVista Infoseek Google Yahoo Excite

Dogplie
Lycos

Another strategy designed for evaluating Web content is to examine the end or suffix of the
domain name.

This helps to: 1. gauge the validity of the information and 2. gauge any potential bias.

The suffix identifies who the source of information is and, therefore, what their purpose is in conveying that information.

Examples of Domain Suffixes

.com A commercial site. Purpose to sell a product or service. May have a built-in bias that you must be aware of. .biz A business that could be trying to sell a product or service. May have built-in bias. .edu A school, university, museum, or educational site. Normally reliable. .gov A U.S. government site. Normally reliable. .int An international institution. Normally reliable. .mil A U.S. military site. Normally reliable. .museum A museum. Often reliable .name An individual Internet user. Not reliable and may have bias .net A network service provider, Internet administrative site. .org An organization, often non-profit. These sites can provide accurate information, but usually have bias. .pro A professionals site. ~ (tilde) or % A personal site that varies in its credibility