Evaluating Information Types

Different kinds of information can be found in different types of sources. This becomes very important for students who think they will find scholarly information on the Internet or 2001 statistics in print. For students to conduct effective and efficient research they must learn the best starting point for particular research topics. This is especially true in the discipline of Black Studies where the internet is often a great source of misleading and biased information. Or where books written in one time period will often present information which was prevalent at the time and not necessarily based on fact.

The most important aspect of incorporating the evaluation of material into courses is to realize that every topic needs to be evaluated for the best information sources. If a student learns in advance of getting an assignment the types of information they are likely to find within a source they are much more likely to find useful information and avoid frustration.

A blanket assignment that makes students find one of each source will not work with every topic. If a topic is extremely new there may not be books or scholarly journal articles in existence. Likewise, some topics aren't adequately treated on the Internet or in popular magazines.

Let's review what types of information can be found in which source:

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