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General criteria for evaluating information

Once you have established the relevance of the information you have found to your particular information need at that time, you then need to evaluate your sources against a number of other criteria to establish its validity. Can you trust the information it is providing?

There are some general guidelines which can be applied to any information that you find. Ask yourself the following questions - Who, What, When, Why?

Who wrote it?

Knowing who wrote the information can help determine whether it is reliable

What is it?

Knowing more about the source will help you recognise its value to you. Is it a comprehensive textbook on the subject or does it just cover one aspect? Is it a review of all the latest research on your topic or a report of one individual study?

When was it written?

Knowing when it was written can be critical, either because you need current, up-to-date information or because you need to use historical sources.

Why was it written?

Knowing the author's motivation will help you determine whether there is any bias to the information, whether it is presenting one point of view, or summarising research results.