Use Valid, Credible Sources for Information

Just because you have located a book, article, website, or other resource on your topic, does not mean you should automatically use it in your paper or project.  You need to choose your resources carefully to make sure you get the best and most useful ones.

How can you tell if the book, article, website, or other resource you located is a valid, credible source?  It may be helpful for you to ask yourself six questions:

• Who is the author? What are his/her credentials?
• What information is available from this resource?
• Where did the author(s) get the information? Are citations provided?
• When was the resource produced? (For books, check the copyright date. For articles, check the publication date. For websites, look for a "created on" or "last updated on" date.)
• Why does this resource exist? Is the purpose to entertain, persuade, inform, etc.? Is the resource biased?
• How comprehensive is the resource? Does it go into the depth you need?