Evaluating Information Sources

Evaluation activity

Important considerations for evaluating information sources include:

• 
  • Who wrote the document?
  • Is there information about the author's qualifications for writing about this topic? (Education, experience, position?)
  • What organization provides the information?
• 
  • What appears to be the purpose for publishing this information?
  • Does what you know about the organization suggest a bias?
• 
  • When was this document created or last updated?
  • Are there errors in spelling and/or grammar?
  • Can you spot any errors of fact?
  • Does the document list the sources of its information?

There are many pages that talk about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Here are some to evaluate:

1. Search for Alien Life Gains New Impetus
2. Library of Halexandria: Extraterrestrial Life
3. NASA's Mars Exploration Program: Goal 1, Determine if Life Ever Arose On Mars
4. The Russell Park Incident
5. Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems

Finding magazine and newspaper articles

To find magazine articles on a particular subject, search in a periodical database. A periodical is a magazine, newspaper, or other publication that comes out more than once a year. Many of the databases Chemeketa's library subscribes to include the full text of the articles as well as a description.

A good database to use is General OneFile, one of the Gale databases.

Chemeketa's database page allows you to access library databases on or off campus. If you are off campus, you will need a user name and password; please use the same login that you use for My Chemeketa.

Updated by Reference.