Sources and Their Credibility

This month I'll be getting started by doing a quick study and overview of informational sources.

The Importance of Sources
Sources are the most important part of the research process, and are the first thing you should consider when you look at information that is presented. If someone gives you a bit of information, the credibility of their source of that information is crucial. Not all sources have reliable information. To form ideas or opinions based on unreliable facts, or even outright wrong ones, is a bad idea. It not only leaves you believing something that probably isn't true, but it also gives you bad representation of yourself. This is why having good sources can mean everything, as when discussions arise you want to know that the facts your opinions are based on are well founded.

What Is A Source?
A source can be any place that you can obtain pieces of knowledge. Sources are usually known to be printed materials like books and magazines, but with the age of technology we have now, there are other digital media to be considered. There are plenty of factual blogs, journals, podcasts, and videos which can be very informative. A lot of these can even be highly reliable, but not always. The study I'll be doing should help me determine which sources are better for the kind of research I plan to do.

So let me take a minute here to address what I'll be looking for in the next couple weeks as I collect this information. I have a few guided questions which should help me in my search.

• What makes a good source? How do I know if my source is good?

• Where can I find reliable sources?

• What are some good general sources?

I'll be trying to answer these questions at the end of the month, possibly in an entirely different post, or maybe as a reference page at the top or side of the blog. For now, however, I'm going to use the rest of this post as a kind of workspace. I'll also collect any links or other information I plan to use.

[Note to Self:] Since my goal is to create a reliable list of good, quality sources, perhaps it would also benefit me to keep a record of sources I have discredited and why. It should also be helpful if I were to create a source evaluation page, much like a checklist, so I can review sources quickly.

[April 5th:] The first step is to simply collect places to gather information from. I can read through them to make sure I want to use them, but this first part won't count as "accessing" the source in the bibliography sense.

http://www.wikihow.com/Evaluate-the-Credibility-of-a-Source

• http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/findarticles/credibility.html
• http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/skill26.htm
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/8/

http://aics.education.wisc.edu/LessonPlans/FirstAmericansGreatLakesRegion/credcheck.pdf
http://www.andyspinks.com/researchhelp/web/CARS.pdf
http://pages.towson.edu/lwoznick/docs/general/evaluation_web.pdf
http://www.maricopa.edu/stratplan/envr%20scan/Determining%20Credible%20Sources.pdf

Wikipedia says it's not a credible source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Academic_use
About.com says it is: http://www.advertiseonabout.com/about-us/


[April 10th:] Let's address the first question. What makes a good source?
To know what makes a good source, we have to be able to recognize good, reliable information. In this way, we can surmise that the source itself is also credible. So the real question here, is, What makes good information?

Good information is primarily facts and evidence gathered from those facts. There is a distinct difference from opinions and facts, a difference that should be heavily weighed when doing research. A fact is known. It is concrete and can be proven almost indefinitely to be true. An opinion is how one person perceives the fact, and how they react to it. However, since opinions are as unique as your thumbprint, to present an opinion as a fact is incorrect. There's nothing wrong with giving your opinion, but you need to make the clarification between the two as you do.

Still, sources who present opinions also have the ability to have good factual information to base it on.

What makes a source ideal are a few key things. Is the information presented mostly, if not completely, based on fact alone? Is the information easy to understand and comprehend? Let's make a list of ways you can identify what makes a source good or bad, when faced with accountability and rational logic.

Positives:

• A group or individual is clearly responsible for the information.
• Other credible sources direct to this one, or cite it.
• The information can be verified with other sources, preferably offline ones.
• The topic is covered in great depth and displays understanding of the ideas.
• The information is easy to navigate.
• The contents of the book or website are well labeled. 
• The writing is consistent.

• If it is a website, it is maintained by people who are also credible outside of the net.
• Ideally, a credible website should have a suffix of .edu or .gov, though .net, .com, and .org can still be highly credible
• If it is a website, is there a help feature or a way to search for information on the website?. 
• External links or Suggested Reading has been provided, leading to other credible sources.

Negatives:

• The information is clearly biased towards one opinion or point of view.
• The text contains misspellings or bad grammar.
• Main purpose is to sell a product or service.
• The information contradicts itself.
• The writing is over exaggerated or makes vague generalizations, such as "This is the most important discovery ever"
• There are number statistics given without a source
• There is no source documentation whatsoever.

• A website has broken links.
• A website has no external links at all.
• There is no given author.