Prince George's Community College

301 Largo Road
Largo, Maryland 20774

Evaluating Sources
Module 7

Introduction

In today's information driven society, a vast amount of resources are available in print and nonprint from the Web. Using information that provides facts and opinions from credible sources is one key for developing and writing a scholarly paper. Since the development of the Internet there has been an infinite amount of information made available from purchasing merchandise online to getting medical information. Unlike books, journals, magazines, and newspapers, most information on the Web is not checked and evaluated by publishers and editors.

Critically evaluating information sources is essential as you gather information from books, magazines, journals, newspapers, and from the World Wide Web. It is important that you can document and support your findings accurately. In this module you will learn about basic criteria for evaluating print and online resources. This module will focus on:

• Evaluating books
• Evaluating articles
• Evaluating Web site