Criteria for Evaluating Resources - A3BCD

Criteria for Evaluating Resources

A3BCD offers six categories of criteria you can use when evaluating resources.

Authority of Source

  • Is a personal or organizational author identified?
  • Does the author provide contact information, e.g., e-mail address, telephone number, street address?
  • Does the personal author provide any credentials...
    • organizational affiliation?
    • education?
    • occupation?
    • years of experience?
  • Do the credentials suggest an inherent bias of particular point of view?
  • Is the author the creator of the document or a compiler of information resources?
  • Can you find other material by or about the author, either on the Internet or using library resources, e.g., reference materials or indexing publications?

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Credits

Adapted from:

Smith, Alastair G. "Testing the Surf: Criteria for Evaluating Internet Information Resources." The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 8, no. 3 (1997).