Identifying Quality Research Sources

Identifying Quality Sources : 

Identifying Quality Sources The Walker School 8th Grade Project Brian Surkan

Sources by Proximity to Subject : 

Sources by Proximity to Subject Primary Sources In DIRECT contact with the event or subject Account may be written or oral Original documents (including duplicates) Secondary Sources One degree of separation from PRIMARY source Account may be written or oral

The Closer the Better : 

The Closer the Better Direct contact with subject yourself Witness the elephant yourself (e.g., 5 blind men) The more senses, the better Find somebody who had direct contact Interview / survey their perspective Read what they have written about the subject Find some one who contacted a primary source Read / interview / survey their perspective

Printed Materials Pre-Filtered : 

Printed Materials Pre-Filtered Multi-level, costly filtering Selected for printing (time / $$) Printer’s reputation at stake Academic journals are peer edited by specialists in field Professionally edited ($$) Professionally printed and bound ($$) Purchased by customer ($$) Librarian Yourself

Internet Source Limitations : 

Internet Source Limitations No required editing for quality or accuracy Limited filtering by search engines Filtering based on logarithms (formulas) Little validation of reliability Virtually free to all interested publishers Ephemeral / Volatile Constantly changing Potentially temporary availability

Valid Internet Use in Research : 

Valid Internet Use in Research Overview and preliminary topic validation Quality, online-only article access Electronic versions of print resources Locating print resources Finding alternative perspectives

Web: Topic Validation : 

Web: Topic Validation Variety (e.g. multiple perspectives and books) Quality (e.g. reliable sites and formats) Quantity (e.g. sufficient for your needs) Availability (e.g. still in print, site up) Accessibility Translation tools (Babelfish / Google Language Tools) Searchable printed books (Gutenberg / Amazon) Local library availability (Cobb County Libraries)

Web: Search Engines : 

Web: Search Engines Screened / filtered search engines Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) NetTrekker (http://www.nettrekker.com) Unfiltered search engines Google (http://google.com) Microsoft Live Search (http://www.live.com) Yahoo (http://yahoo.com) Alternative Search Engines Specialized search engines (Videos / blogs / audio / etc.)

Web: Identifying Valid Sources : 

Web: Identifying Valid Sources Web editions of printed resources Newspapers and magazines Academic Journals (e.g. via EBSCO searches) Peek inside printed books (e.g. amazon.com) Official sites of trustworthy offline organizations United Nations / Government Organizations First-hand information from source (e.g. our school) Libraries and Museums

Web: Validating Resources : 

Web: Validating Resources Does the identical information exist in print? Do you trust the company posting the information? What degree of filtering is applied? Reputable companies filter Internet postings Do viewers have to pay to see content? Did the author have to pay to post the information? Is the Web site updated regularly? Is there a clear, specific Author? Is there a clear publication date? Does the author reference his sources?

Web: Databases and Archives : 

Web: Databases and Archives Some free, others require subscription Many subscribed by local library Newspapers with historical articles online E.g. WSJ, New York Times, London Times Organizations E.g. ibm.com Famous individuals http://www.waynegretzky.com/ Other databases