Module 6 - Use Criteria - Evaluating

Evaluate: to determine significance or worth by careful appraisal and study

Evaluating information can be a complicated process. Since there is plenty of information available that is inaccurate, fraudulent or biased, it is important to determine if the sources you find are factual and verifiable.

Items in the library are usually easier to evaluate because they have already been reviewed twice by the time you see them. First, an editor verifies that the information is accurate and then a librarian determines whether the item is appropriate for the collection.

Freely-available Web sources usually do not pass through this review process, so you will need to look at these items more closely.

How will you judge what is good information and what is not?