NOTES & RECORDS:
COMPARING AND EVALUATING MATERIAL FOUND:
Evaluating Information
Once you have collected a number of articles and other information sources that you think would be useful for your work, you will need to evaluate them to see which is the most suitable.
You do not have to use every piece of information you find, and you will not want to spend a long time reading through information which is not useful to you.
The two main things to consider when you evaluate your results are relevance and quality.
Is the information relevant?
You must make sure that the information you select is relevant* to your essay, project or assignment.
(*relevant = useful, pertinent, applicable to)
This means bearing in mind your topic and assignment title, returning to your original question(s) and making sure the information is applicable to your information need(s). [see Information Skills > Electronic sources > Planning your Search section].
Consider also whether the material is at a suitable level.
You may need to prioritise amongst the information sources found.
Quality of the information
You also need to assess the quality* of the information you have found.
(*quality = standard, character, status)
You may find a huge amount of information relevant to your topic, but do not take it all at face value. Be suspicious! Think about who the information is aimed at, who has produced it, whether it is up-to-date, reliable, accurate and unbiased.
This applies to all material but is particularly important when you are looking at information found on the internet, since anyone can put information up on the web and make it look quite authoritative.
A Quality Checklist
The following may be a useful checklist when determining quality of information:
(click on relevant text to give more information)
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