Section

 

Defining your information needs

Evaluation involves the ability to decide which references are worth following up and then deciding whether the information found is suitablefor what you need to do.

Every time you check the library catalogue for books on your topic or browse a book on the library shelves, you make a decision as to whether the content is useful or not. You are evaluating the information found to fulfill what you need, i.e. its relevance.

Not all information sources are equally useful, and a source that may be appropriate in one case may not be suitable in another. For example, textbooks can provide a general overview of a topic, but because the publication process can take up to a year, the latest research may not be included, at the appropriate depth, for what you are required to produce.

What exactly are you looking for?

Write down some keywords or concepts to help clarify your purpose.

Take the tutorial on database searching to brush up on how to formulate search strategies.

If you don't know what you are looking for you are likely to spend a lot of time drifting aimlessly either around the Library or through cyberspace!

Save time!

You can start to evaluate the source even before you have the item in your hand or the Web page on your screen by asking following questions to yourself:

For a book:

Check the title, does it contain keywords describing your topic?

Does the library have many books by the author?

Is the date of publication recent?

For a journal article:

Is it published in a scholarly journal?

Does the abstract or summary indicate it is about your assignment topic?

For a Web page:

Check the address or domain. Is it an academic site (.ac or.edu)?

Is it a government site (.gov) or a reputable organisation (.org)?

Is it a UK site (.uk)?