After reading thls chapter, you should be able to

answer the following questions:

r \)fhy should information and information
sources be evaluated?
I Which criteria should I use to evaluate
information and information sources?
I Which factors may make it difficult to use
information sources?
! How can I analyse Uniform Resource Locators
(unrs) to predict the quality and reliability of
web information sources?

I Audience
I Currency
I Evaluation
I Information source
I Objectivity
T Path
I Peer-reviewed publication
T Protocol
I Reputation
T Resource name
: Server domain
T Uniform Resource Locator (unl)

[wa umtümS t rxfmrru?ffi€*mnx

X

Have you ever found information to write an assignment or

Chapter 10 do research, or for personal reasons such as to buy a new

cell phone? You might have found so much information that
you were overwhelmed and didn't know which information
and information sources to use. You probably wanted to find
out what was quality information that would meet your
information need and what was a waste of time. ln this
chapter you will learn about evaluating information and
information sources. ln a society marked by information
overload, you need to be able to distinguish quality and to be
selective in the information that you use.

152
arEd lnfnrmatüon sources
it difficult to evaluate information sources. You
is
should not expect to be able to make confident
judgements about the quality of the information
sources you plan to use and the information they
contain immediately. It is even more difficult to
judge the reliability, accuracy and trustworthiness
of information. However, the criteria for evaluating
information and information sources that you will
iearn in this chapter will help you to make evalua-
tions.
Although there is a slight difference in criteria
that apply to traditional information sources
such as printed sources, and sources available via
the Web such as websites, web pages and online
journals, there is also considerable overlap between
the two. You will focus on the criteria in general,
and only distinguish between the two where
necessary. For example, you wiil learn how to
analyse a Uniform Resource Locator (unr-). Apart
from knowing which criteria to apply, you should
also understand the rationale for evaluation, the
rationale for each criterion and the effect it may
have on the quality of your work.
It takes time and effort to find and use infor-
mation sources, and sometimes there may even
be costs involved, for example through subscrip-
tions. You need to make sure that you use the best
available sources. In an academic context your
marks will also be influenced if your information
sources do not meet with the requirements set for
| )J
 academic work. Even if you are selecting informa-
tion sources for
a personal reason, you need to
ensure that they will offer you the right informa-
tion and that they will not take you on a wild goose
chase.
1 What is the process of
evaluatirrg information and
informati0n s0urces?
Once you have searched the literature and used
resources such as databases and platforms to
identify sources with potentially useful informa-
tion, the next step is to evaluate the information
and information sources. There are a number of
steps ln the process of evaluating information and
information sources:
n Assess the information source.
E Evaluate further if the information source is
potentially useful.
E Get the information source and assess whether
it is useable.
f Study the information source and evaluate the
information.
I Use the information to produce an end product.
I Evaluate the end product.
n Submit or use the end product.
You can see how these steps develop a roadmap
to the evaluation of information and information
sources in f;e u¡:c x*.f . In this chapter you will
learn about the first four of these steps in more
detail. You will learn about the last three steps in
Chapter t.
1.1 Assess the inforrnation source
You need to identify informatíon sources that may
be potentially useful. Once you have found records
of information sources, such as bibliographic
records, or full-text publications, your first step will
be to determine if the records or full-text sources
deal with your topic or problem. Depending on
the type of record or publication, you can do the
following to assess whether an information source
meets your information need:
r Scan the bibliographic record (the represen-
tation of the publication). Look at the titIe,
descriptors and abstract.
f Ifit 1s a full-text article, you can also scan the
conclusion or summary and the headings and
subheadings.
t In the case ofa book, you can scan the table of
contents, headings, subheadings, introductions
and conclusions ofchapters. The index at the
baci< of the book may also give a good indication
of the content.
154 NAVT6ATTNG rNr0RMAJl0N LrrSenCV I rO I
TVAIUAIING INFORMATION AND INTORMATIOI\ SOUI?IES
E For web pages you should consider the title,
unl and the brief description displayed with the
search results.
Ifan information source does not appear to deal
with your toplc or problem or if it seems as if it
will not be able to help you to meet your purpose
such as writlng an assignment, then you should not
use it. You will have to consider the other sources
you have identified, or adapt, refine and repeat
your search strategy until you find more suitable
sources.
If an information source seems to be dealing
with your topic or problem, there are further ques-
tions you should ask to determine if the publication
will help you to meet your purpose or not. The
questions will not necessarily apply in all situations.
f How much information such as depth and
detail is included? For example, if you need only
a summary of the hunting behaviour of lions,
it might be more appropriate to use an article
or chapter in an encyclopaedia than a bool< of
2oo pages. If it is only a two-page newsletter
or brochure, it might be better to search for a
more detaiied discussion. If you do not need to
deal with the topic in-depth, less detail might
actually be better. However, it should still
provide enough detail to help you to achieve
your purpose.
t Does it provide a general overview or does
it deal only with a specific facet in detail?
Depending on your reasons for wanting the
information, either may be acceptable.
3 Does it cover all facets ofthe topic or problem
or only some of them?
tr Does it cover the right time period, for example
South African political history between r994
and zooT?
I Does it cover the right geographic area, for
example New Zealand and not France?
ñ Is the slant taken by the publication suitable for
your purpose, for example a marketing slant, or
a political, advertising, advocacy, educational or
entertainment slant?
If it seemsas if the publication addresses your
needs or problem and might be useful, you can
move on to the further evaluation.
1.2 Evaluate further if the information
source is potentially useful
In this step you need to determine whether you
willbe able to use the source, whether the source
meets the requirements and standards of the
specific situation in which you find yourself and
whether the information source is reliable. There is
no prescribed order in which to ask and answer the
 RcaCnap to the evaluai!on cl !nlotnalrcn ¿nd
inlo¡rnalion scL¡rces

tNF0RMATI0N AND lNr0RMATl0N s0uli 155

NAVIGATTNG tNF0RMATI0N LITERACy lro lrvnLunTrNG

5earching databases and assessing
infornration sources
When searching databases, you can sometimes
choose to display only the titles of publications.
This is an easy way to determine at a glance
which publications seem relevant and need to be
considered in more detail.
For example, the following search was done on
ERIC, an educational database available through
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts and EB5C0host as well
as free on the Web (htlp:/r/www.eric.ed.gov/). The
search for the topic 'The effect of media violence
on young children' was done on all content fields
including title, keyword and abstract. The following
titles were retrieved on the topic:
x Beyond banning war and superhero play:
meeting children's needs
X 'Good guys don't wear hats': children's talk about
the media
X Social development of the young child: why can't
Johnny share?
t Violence prevention for families of young children
ü Media culture and media violence: making the
television work fo¡ young children, childhood
educators and parents
0nly the last title is obviously relevant. Would you
consider reading the abstracts 0f the bibl¡ographic
records to see if any of the other sources may also
be useful? You could either waste a few minutes, or
you might come across very interesting and highly
.{ejev3qtjnlorñatjo.o.iThis is.one$.-lhe reasons.Íou
:,nééd tó¡i'[dáe éiioqqh:ti m e f qlrésea rc h...:,:.'i::...,
questions that will help you to evaluate an informa-
tion source further.
* Is the information source suitable for you?
& Is the information source suitable for your
requirements?
K Is the information source accurate. reliable and
trustworthy?
ffi \X/hat does the Uniform Resource Locator (unl)
reveal about an electronic information source?
'l.2.1 :5 'ii¡::: i;¡":trr.:¡-:,¿:11 t*\1tt*:*ii*:;II t*; Vr:t:1
You may find excellent, very reliable information
sources that seem to be perfect in every way. They
may even be written by an expert in the field.
Unfortunately they may not be suitable for you
as a person. No matter how good an Ínformation
source is, you should be able to use it. To be able
to use an information source, you need to be able
to read and understand it, and use the information
to form your own ideas. If the publication is too
complex or written in very academic language, it
might not be suitable for you. Here are some of the
156 ,,1 A!','q,"!'. '\t{'11'rr:Clt ;-:ttli/.íY I t(r I
.VAi.UATING
questions you can ask to determine whether you
will be able to use a particular information source.
m Who is the information source's audience?
K \Vhat is the level of presentation of the
information source?
\üflhat language is used in the information
source?
What is the reading level of the information
source?
'.lj;i",r:1, tat*
1ii,:i'::,J,-itili :){.:.-tir..,:'t; ,al:.{:,:;.t.e: The
audience is the type of person at which the infor-
mation source is directed. Is the audience a lay
person, subject specialist, professional, academic,
practitioner or student? Most textbooks are aimed
at students and encyclopaedia articles are aimed
at the general public. Other types ofbook can be
aimed at practitioners in which case they will have
a more practical slant or they can be aimed at
subject experts and academics. The same applies to
articles and other publications. You need to be sure
that you are included in the target audience.
t¡.:7t-=1 i:, i?,e 1*v;:i ,sí
i::t+it:i;t::i.,:.:- i'í 1i.{:. i*!t;i;*;,:-
'..;i.¡¡. t :.:t:i;:,:,? Is the level of presentation suitable
for your current knowledge and understanding of
the topic or problem? Do you have the right prior
or background knowledge to follow the discus-
sion and arguments? The presentatlon can be too
technical, theoretical, philosophical or math-
ematical for you to fully grasp the content. On the
other hand very complex concepts can sometlmes
be explained in a very clear and simple wa), which
would be ideal for undergraduate students. Are
concepts and theories explained in sufficient detail
. or is lt assumed that the reader is a subject expert
that is familiar with the concepts? You need to be
sure that the level of presentation is suitable for
you.
*lz:,:r.12:t**;t3í,: t;:,t:l: tr: til* irtiiltiti4,ti;:t: tt...y¡.:¡..r:!
ii
It is always easier to read publications in your first
language. However, these are not always available.
You need to consider how complex the argument
and the use of language are ln an information
source, and whether you will be able to follow
the discussion. Ifunderstanding the language is
a serious problem, you may need to search for
another publication(s). Howeve! most academic
publications are written in English. So, you would
be well advised to work on your command of the
English language if that is an issue for you. You
need to make sure that you can understand the
language used in an information source.
.lé/z¡¿1 i* l.\z* ru:4irer.: it:v;,:i t:! l*t i*tr:r;**t:**
;:'¿::¡:? What is the level of the language used
in the information source? Does it use subject
terminology that is understandable to a lay person
or is it written in very academic language where it
is assumed that the reader fully understands the
subject terminology? Is the reading level suitable
I!,] FCRMATIOI..] AND INTORMAT:CI\ SOüC{ES

Oealing with complex publications
lf a publication is too complex for your needs, you
should refine, adapt and repeat your search strategy
to find more suitable sources. At the same time,
you should also realise that you need to work on
your subject expettise, knowledge of the subject
terminology and reading skills.
. ..* - '*.. ''. :* : r
for your understanding? Sometimes a publication
can be well-structured, with detailed definitions
and background information, but it can still be too
difficult to read. There are reading indexes which
offer formulas that authors can use to see if the
reading level might be too high for their audience.
Unfortunately these are not always used, and it
would also not help you if the audience is 'expert
researchersl You need to assess whether the infor-
mation is clear, weli-organised and at a reading
levei that you can access and follow.
1.2.2 ls thn: i*fq:s¡::at!*i'¡ 5ü¿Jt{e uitaí;l* itx y**t
requir*nr*nls?
If you are a student, you are working in a situa-
tion with requirements of academic standards and
quality. In your personal life and professional 1ife,
there may be other requirements that will influence
the information sources you are expected to use
such as culture and ideology.
Many academic disciplines have their own
requirements with regard to the sources you may
use. For example, in history it is very important to
use primary sources. Primary sources are sources
with original information and no interpretation by
other authors such as letters, diaries and contracts.
In religious studles there might also be prescrip-
tions on the religions or ideologies you may use or
cite in your discussion.
The dominating ideology or culture in a country
may also prescribe the information sources you are
allowed to use. For example, Hitler's Mein lQmpf
is forbidden in some countries - even from that
particular country's access to Amazon.com (a web-
based bookseller).
In this chapter the focus is on academic require-
ments. There are some specific criteria that apply
to information sources in an academic setting. In
an academic setting you can ask these three ques-
tions:
r Is it a peer-reviewed publication?
I How curtent is the information source?
I Is it a key publication or by key researchers?
isit a peer-revi*s¡ed pe.:bl!c*tie*? As a student,
you will be expected to use peer-reviewed articles,
journals and conference papers. Sometimes the
NAV:GAltNG tNF0RMAll0fi LrTIRAry lro lrvnLunTrNc
procedure for peer review the editorial advisory
board or the names ofthe referees are indicated
on the first page or the inside cover of a journal or
conference proceedings. Your lecturers may brlng
such publications to your attention. Textbooks and
books for subject experts, and reference works
such as encyclopaedias and dictionaries discussed
in Chapter z, normally also go through some
processes ofpeer review and quality checking. It
will be worth your while to get to know the peer-
reviewed publications in your field of study if you
intend to continue with postgraduate studies.
i4+w rtJrf*r'ri ¡s {l-le ini*l¡n;zztsti l¡:*:t:*7 You will
generally be expected to use current and up-to-
date sources. First determine the year in which the
source you intend to use was published. For web
information sources the date of publication or the
last time the site was updated is not always indi-
cated. If this is the case, you would be well advlsed
to consider not using the website. Rather look
for other sources. The most current publicatlons
normally have the latest views on a topic. They
also cite the older sources, so they can be used to
identify important sources for a topic as well as
the key researchers in a field. Journal articles are
generally more up to date than books because there
is a shorter time span in publishing an article than
a book.
How current you need the publication to be
will depend on your purpose, the discipline and
the topic. For example, for political science and
economics, recent daily newspapers might be
considered essential sources of information. \Xhen
using web news sites, always check to see how
often the site is updated. For mediclne, chemistry,
physics, computer science, and topics concerning
information technology, the latest information is
considered essential.
For histor¡ archival information sources are
essential. Archival information sources are histor-
ical sources such as contracts, diaries and birth
certificates kept in the archives. For topics such as
the history of medical education, it mlght often be
necessary to consult older publications which are
not necessarily archival documents.
What is a peer-reviewed publication?
A peer-rev¡ewed or refereed publication is a
publication that is read and evaluated by experts in a
field of study. ln the case of an art¡cle, it is evaluated
accotding to the criteria of the journal. ln the case
of a conference paper, it is evaluated accord¡ng to
the criteria of the conference committee. lt is then
accepted, returned for revision or rejected.
*ii.i::',n*'!i,.i¡. ' .l¡; 'r i
!0ñtr1AT!0N AN0 lNl'cRMAT!0N SclJR(ts 157
tt,l

How current does an information
source need to be?
It is sometimes difficult to decide on how current
an information source should be. Use your common
sense and think about the following examples to
help you to decide:
¡ lf you plan a trip to London, would you use
a 1980 travel guide to work out a budget for
accommodation?
a lf you need to choose a university, would you use
the 2000 yearbook?
f lf you are studying the social circumstances of
South African women beiween 1970 and 1980,
would you,.use articles.published.during,this
period?
u,',,,r*,.::.*'rr,.. .**r¡r+.**,¡it!,i*¡:,.!,,-;1.:,fiiiiliti,iji
Depending on the topic, it might sometimes be
necessary to consult both the older and the latest
publications.
b iL a ít*y p**2it¿tt*rz a; b'¡ t*.*'¡ r*s*.a¡r..'**-rg7
At postgraduate 1evel, university students are
expected to consult the key publications or
seminal works as well as the ongoing publications
by key researchers in the field. For example, Ben
Schneiderman is widely accepted as an expert on
human computer interaction and even at under-
graduate leve1 students are introduced to his work.
Although some key researchers are very successful
in explaining complex concepts in easy-to-under-
stand language, some of these publications may
be too complex for undergraduate students, If it is
difficult for you to understand such publications,
it might be an indication that you need to work on
your subject understanding and reading skills.
1.2.3 2s the t*l*rm*li*r? s,.l:Jrí* ¿tti.)túte,
1¡i;stt¿.:*r1,hV7
A number of aspects can be an indication of
the accurac¡ reliability and trustworthiness of
an information source. Some of these might be
difficult to judge. The information sources to which
a library or information service subscribes, such
as the online journals or the bibliographic and
full-text databases you may search, are mostly asso-
ciated with reliable information. The same applies
to peer-reviewed articles and journals, and the
books and other publications forming part of the
collection of a library or information service.
The criteria for evaluating an information
source for accuracy, reliability and trustworthiness
include the following questions:
ü Is it written by a reputable author?
i Is it published by a reputable publisher?
I How extensive is the reference list/bibliography?
I How reliable are the hyperlinks?
158 \Ay:üATlt!G !\fclI,1A;;Oti Ltrtnarv lt;
i; i?. r.yritt** by a r;:pt:t*t:1e e',:l*er? Your lecturers
can bring the names ofreputable authors and
the key researchers in the field to your attention.
Prescribed and recommended reading as well as
the authors cited in that reading can also give you
an indication of authors whose work ls respected.
Ifyou are not sure about an author s expertise,
you can try to check for his or her qualifications
and other publications on the \X/eb. There are also
databases such as the Science Citation database
that can be checked to see how often an author
has been cited. For web-based information sources
it is important to determine whether an author
or at least the corporate body or organisation is
indicated and whether there is any contact detail
available. If not, you would be well advised to
ignore the site.
lt il pa;fuii2fu¿fi'*'g z* t*.gzstabl* pa;blish*r? Some
publishers specialise in specific fields and build
up a good reputation for their work. For example,
Sage Publications specialise in quantitative and
qualitative research, and are respected for the
quality of their books. University publishers often
also have good reputations, as do many series. Each
discipline will have its own list of reliable series. In
Computer Science the Lecture lx[otes in Compwter
Science (rrvcs) Series is highly valued. In a more
general sense the For Dummies series and the
Schaum's Owtline Series are also highly respected.
**w *xl*fttt\J* is r"** :et*r*ntr lis\/*i?:li*gr*pky7
An extensive reference list/bibliography can indi-
cate that a publication is well researched. Howevet
it does not guarantee quality and accuracy except if
it has been peer reviewed or quality checked.
?4*w relia*i* are t?ze hyp*riink*? 'W'hen
using a
website, you need to check whether the iinks are to
reliable sites and whether they are working.
1.2.4 What ú** lke Nlrzil*rm P"*s*wr* L*rütsr iUR:,)
rtii*'*i* zt:ú rru*ül a* tteí*üfitt tn*Nmatri*x:¿:urre
fihr]¡-!1 ?
Every document on the \üleb has a Uniform
Resource Locator, more commonly referred to
as a uRL, for example www.up.ac.za. The unr
reveals useful information about an electronic
document, such as the owner and the nature ofthe
organisation and the document or web page. It is
easy for anyone to publish on the Web, so you need
to be able to analyse the unr of a website to get an
indication of what to expect from the website in
terms of quality and before going to the trouble of
accessing the site.
For example, it is important to recognise when
you are using a commercial site, and to bear in
mind that the information will be biased towards
the product or company. This does not mean
that you cannot use the informatlon. For some
information needs it may be essential. However,
you should be alert to the bias. It is also important
to be able to recognise websites which you would
I
tvALuA1r¡.]e IN ;:tltMAtIt)i AN ü I \ ICÑüA¡I0l.,t 5;¡J n{a5
 hftp // wr¡¡wup.ae-z¿/ research/eng/ ethies.html

lk&bt¡1/#Id&
.! t'érse r)' i:i t#) rd¡. ,, lram¡ie rl a wrb q;ge
;
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I fkíilr d.oññr.¡¡cBib1
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d{,¡@¡*Mq ú¡tetÉañlenceas Blffrdtl.mdla€d h e4ad ¡ñtJ 4l ¡nfGfñals¡ tegarding regul3lon6 3¡d
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http://www.up.ac .za / esearch/ eng/ethics.html
r

assume offer accurate information such as the You can look at each component ofa unr and
websites of professional organisations, digital ask the following questions:
libraries, governments and academic institutions. g What does the unl protocol reveal?
Academic institutions may host web pages with ffi !f hat does the uRL server domain reveal?
information on the institution and the courses ffi What does the unr path reveal?
offered, as well as the personal web pages ofthe M \X/hat does the uRL resource name reveal?
lecturers with their work experience, iists of
publications and research interest. Although you t"ilt t:*,". i"tl&t"{:},..i.ti tr';í:,zi: There are
'ili'¿at, i.:.:tt:,:
may assume that some websites such as those of different types of protocol such as Hypertext
academic institutions are reliable, they may also Transfer Protocol (http) or File Transfer Protocol
include information of a marketing or promotional (ftp). For web addresses, the protocol is http:// and
nature, for example on the quality of the courses for secure sites (for example, when purchasing
and the importance of studying at the instilution. something) it is https://.
A complete uRL has four components: protocol, ;.';',t:iu. ,.it;*l ir¡* tjít:,i. it""vt" ¡|t:li'¿r1í': ,ttr::tia The

server domain, path and resource name. The
different components of a unl can help you to get
some idea of what to expect from a website.
í¡z*e"a:*.: shows an analysis of a unr. The unl
is http: //wr'vw.up.ac.zalresearch/eng/ethics.html.
It is the unl fo¡ the web page of the University of
Preloría website shown in ; ,; i',, -
server domain specifies the name of the web server
on which the page is located. It often starts with
www followed by the domain name, for example
up.ac.za. The domain name includes:
I an indication of the name of the company,
institution or organlsation, for example, up (for
'' . . University of Pretoria), microsoft, iboro (for

g0v' Govenment srte httpl/www:govza

.cot{t 0l .co Commercial site http://wwwvodacom.co:za
.er:kr of ac. touc¿Ir0n SrIe http:f/wwwup.ac.za
, net Network site httP,/rlwww.safagoal.net/

-0rg 0rganisation site http:/,1sanqonel.uq.ra I,

¡\¡ A !r I ü ,X T I it ! ¡ f,J l ü ;i ;.1 4 1 ¡ 0 \ Lr;rl*rr lrr I

!vl ! ! Al iN € r ¡i I ü ll 11 ! 0 \¡ A l',1 ) ¡ l! lc :? llAl ¡ ü ll 5 il ii ( t a: 't
59
^¡
 University of Loughborough), bankofbotswana
(for Bank of Botswana) and acm (for Associa-
tion for Computing Machinery).
t the generic code such as .ac (for academic)
which gives a good indication of the type of
group or the nature ofthe institutlon. It is
important to note this part of the domain name
since it can give an indication of the slant and
qualify that you can expect. 1e*'""1 11J.2 onth,e
previous page shows you examples of some of
the most common generic codes.
il the two-letter country code such as .za (for
South Africa). For the United States of America
no country code is indicated since the Internet
started there. It is important to note the country
code because when conducting a search it
may be an indicator of the material being in
a language other than English, or it may have
implications for download tlme. The networks
in countries to the East of South Africa such as
Australia may not be as busy as those in Europe.
In the later afternoon and evening the United
States networks are very busy and it may take
a long time to download lnformation from
sites based there. Country codes include: .au
(Australia), .ca (Canada), .ch (Switzerland) and
.uk (United I(ingdom). One of the most recent
geographic locations to have a domain is .eu
(the European Union).
The server domain is extremely important in
deciding whether to access a website or not,
i;e*r-t l* ..3 shows you examples of server domains
and how you can analyse these to determine the
possible value of a web page or website for your
purpose or information need. Some of these
examples are fictional examples with simplified
addresses. They are there to illustrate the princi-
ples. In real life, add¡esses may be more complex
and less straightforward to analyse.
'fí*e! 4*rs lh* tj*í" patlt ;*ueal7 The path speci,
fies the locatlon of a document or page on the
server. It can include the names of subfolders. The
path is sometimes also referred to as the directory
or subdirectories.
z?,i*al.4*rs t1:e ttftL r*t{}t}{tz *,}m{¿ t*\¡*}t7 A
resource name is a file name with an extension
such as an'.html'fiIe, sound fi1e or graphics file.
The resource extension such as'.html' or'.htm'
indicates the type of file. Some other extensions
are'.ppt' (rr.rs PowerPoint), ldoc' (rts Word),'.ps'
(Postscript) and'.pdfl 'Pdf indicates that the file
is in portable document format and a special'pdf'
reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader is required
160 \Á ,';^t'"1: ¡\r"{r.¡r'a" ;i:;;.^., I l: I
atAtiJA¡!Ne :il;ütt¡¡AIlri!
to read it. Images might have the extension'.jpg'
and sound might have the extension'.mp3l
Even though analysing the unl is not an
infallible method of evaluating information, it is
definitely worth your while doing so. The uRL can
give you a very clear indication about the quality of
the information.
1.3 Get the information soeice and assess
whether it is usable
If you decide that an information source is suitable
for your needs and situation, and that it meets
with all the criteria, you need to get the full-text
publication and assess whether it is usable or not.
Sometimes you may find sources that meet all the
criteria, but there might still be extraneous factors
(factors outside the information source) that make
it difficult or impossible for you to use the source.
The following are some of the factors that may
inhibit your use of an information source.
I Are there subscription fees?
E Are there any hardware and software
requirements?
K Are the websites stable?
H Are the websites suitable for disabled users?
X Are the links active?
13.1 Atz 1**rc sts?:sr"riplic;t l**s7
You may come across websites or documents that
are only available to subscribers, for example the
newsietter of a professional organisation, journal
articles and reference works. Libraries and infor-
mation services subscribe to many information
resources, journals and reference works. These
should be your first port ofcall. In case you decide
to subscribe to an information source on your own,
you should bear in mind that security of payment
is an important factor. You must ensure that your
credit card information will not be abused.
1.3.2 Í¿r* th*r* a*7 h;tr*war;: ¿firJ st:i11¡J*r€
i*{:4*iNt;TTt*'{t1.t7
Sometimes there may be special requirements for
sound equipment or additional software for video,
audio, older graphics formats and even compressed
files. Additional software that is often required ls
Adobe Acrobat Reader for documents in pdf (port-
able document format). Adobe Acrobat Reader can
be installed free from wwuiadobe.com.
1.3.3 fz.r* th* wsbr"it::s tt**li:7
One of the disadvantages of the Web is that it is
often very unstable. Sites are often temporarily
Aft D I r\.i | 0 I l¡AT; C ¡l tl i.l [: ¡t

http,//on lin e.vodafone.co.u k
http://www.mtn co.za
http://www.bankof botswana.bw
http:l/www.bankof scotland.co.uk
www.ohio.edu/esl/help/plagiar¡sm.html
wwwlib.berkeley edu/TeachingLib/
assignrents nlml
wwwlazy.com.za/excel lent/forsale/
mediabviolence/assiqnments.html
www.up.ac za/sa-media-lournal/
peerevieweo ar | ;cre/mecr¿8violen,-e.pr.Ll
re ul¿Iulf_ : -.
A commercial site forYes, if you want to buy a cell phone in the
a company selling cell
united Kingdom.
phones ir tl-e United No,'lyou are looLinq fot a tonparison o+
Krnqdon cell pl-one Drites (Orlra(Ls ¿rd'e¿tules. A
web page from http,7/www.wirelessguide.
orglohone/comDat sor-shopp;ng.him nighl
be more suiiable.
A commelcial srte fot Yes, if you want to buy a cell phone in South
a company selling cell Ai'ic¿.
phones in South Africa No, if you are looking for the heallh-related
dangers of cell phones. A web page from
http,//wwwnaturc I healthweb.c om / arlicles /
Serrabol.html m¡ght be more suitable.
A commercial site for vs5, i'you are looring lor bankirg lac I ties in
the Bank of Botswana BoLsw¿n¿.
A commercial stte fot No, it yor are looking for banking facilities in
the Bank of Scolland South Africa you will not consider the Ba¡k
of Scotland, except if you are interested in
offshore nveslments.
An educ¿tional siie tor Yes, if you ate looking for guidelines 0n h0w t0
the Univetsity of Ohio avoid plaglarism. Although you could assume
that the information is accurate, you need to
reallse thar i. is 'lot ¿ peet-teviewed docurent,
so a((ur¿cy ¿nd qu¿lity ate rol guaranLeed.
An educational site ve: if you are lool ing i6r gu,delines on wtrting
for the library of the assiqrments. ,+linougn you could ¿ssume th¿[
University of Betkeley the inform¿tron is accurate, you need to realise
that it is not a peet-teviewed document, so
accur¿cy and quality ate not guatanteed.
A commercial site N0, even i'y0" a'e teal y o,essed fo- l,me
selling assignments in to complete your assignment on the 'Effect
south Affica of media vi0lence', it would not be a good
iclea to use this site. Words such as'laty',
and 'forsale' in the addtess should give you
an indication that this is not a peet-reviewed
assrgnnerl. There is no q.arantee of lhe
quality and accuracy of the information, ¿nd
the assignment might even be purely based on
plagiarism. The authot of the assignment could
be anyone - someone who knows slightly
more about the topic than you or someone at
hig\ school.
An educational site
ves lyo- ¿,e lool'irg fo''rlorn¿tior io
for the Univetsity o1 complete your assignment on the'Effect of
Pretoria media violence'. lf you follow the link, you
will see that the joutnal is published by the
Department of Media Communication, it is
av¿ilable ftee, and the afiicle has been wtttten
by Prof. Expert. The editorial board of the
journal is indicated on the cover page and
includes ¿c¿demics from other 50uth Afrlcan
universities, an exPert ftom industry, and four
academics from universilies in Europe, the UK
and the U5A. They are responsible for peet-
reviewing t0 ensure the quality and standatd of
rne arI cle.
Al: ! iilllr!il1l0l',1 5l¡na:5 t6t

tvalualing informalion
0nce you start using an information source, you need
to closely monitor the accuracy and usefulness of
the information. Even if it is a reliable source, it may
contain inaccurate or biased information. Evaluation
of information is an ongoing process. Once you have
actually used the information, for example in your
assignment, you need to evaluate again whether
unavailabie, or a site that you accessed today may
no longer be available tomorrow. However, you can
expect the sites of academic institutions, digital
libraries, online journals, government bodies and
professional organisations to be more reliable than
some of the other sites.
1.3.4 Are lhe websites suitable for disabied users?
Although there is an international trend (in some
countries even through legislation) to cater for the
needs of disabled people, you may still come across
websites that are not suitable for disabled users. For
example, websites may not allow for colour-blind-
ness or for enlarging the font.

1.3.5 Are the links aetive?

Another problem with some documents is inactive
links. Often the list of results from search engines

In this chapter you covered the importance of

evaluating both the information sources you intend
to use and the information in these sources. You
learned about the steps and criteria for evaluating
information and information sources. You iooked
at criteria such as usefulness, quality and accuracy
of information. You also learned how to analyse
unrs and how to use that analysis as an important
indication of the quality of websites.

162 NAvr6Ar¡NG rNÍ0RMATt0N lrrnncv I ro I

EVATUATING ¡NFORMAT¡ON AND INFORMAT¡ON 5OURCE5
may seem useful, only to find that some of the sites
have many links that are not working.
1.4 Study the information source and
evaluate the inforrnation
Once you have the information source, you need
to evaluate the information it contains in terms
of accuracy, reliability and trustworthiness. \)lith
regard to the accuracy of information, you can
check for the following:
E Are there obvious errors and mistakes?
I Is it objective?
I Is there inaccurate factual information?
1.4.1 P,rr ther* *]r¡ui*t¿s *rrcrr" **4 mistakesi
You need to check that the publication is free from
obvious errors such as typing errors, and spelling
and grammar mistakes.
1.4.2 ls i\ *?siert|v*7
You need to check whether the publícation is
objective and unbiased or if it tries to sway your
opinion. A subjective publication is not necessarily
bad. However, as a reader, you should either be
lnformed that a specific point of view is supported
as would be the case in most academic works, or
you should at least be aware of the bias in the work,
so that you can supplement it from other sources,
and verify the statements, arguments and factual
information.
1.4.3 !s the re inae*ur*te tat\wal r*l*imata*rat
If you come across contradicting factual informa-
tion when using different sources, you need to
verify the facts by using further sources. It should
also be a warning to use information from that
particular source with care.

What are the pitfalls of not evaluating informa-

tion and information sources?
¡ Why are peer-reviewed informatlon sources so
important in writing assignments and research
reports?
t How can you improve your skills in evaluating
information sources?
t Why is it important to work on your ability to
deal with more academic information sources?
t How can you find a balance between sources
that are easy to use and the need for quality,
reliable and authoritative information sources?

NAV:GA]IIIG iNICI?MATION L¡IERACY lro livnLuaTrNc rNr0RMATt0¡\ AND tNtoñMATl0N s0uRC:s 163