After you've selected a topic and done some background reading, you should start searching for resources. Major concerns should be running through your mind, such as:  

WHAT RESOURCES:  Books, ebooks (think netLibrary), journal and newspaper articles, and online reference resources such as Annals of American History, Britannica Online, Encyclopedia of Associations, and Grolier's Art are acceptable sources.   

FORMAT: do I want (need) print? Online? Subscription databases? Government documents? Audio tape? Videotape? Laser disk? Computer disk, PowerPoint, etc? If it is in print, what type of binding is it? (good, poor, falling apart….?) If online, is there authorship indicated? Is the site copyrighted?

Most of the time, web sites that are ".EDU" will be more reliable than others, as they are associated with an academic institution. ".GOV" and "MIL" suffixes indicate government and military sites which would be reliable. Sites with ".NET",  ".COM" (commercial), ".ORG" (non-profit organizations, generally) should be looked at carefully; each has their own interest in what they publish, and (especially if sponsored), advertising will play a major part in what information is provided. You may not receive an impartial examination of the subject.

AUTHORSHIP: Ensure you have a reliable author for your sources. Who is the author? Did he/she write or publish other material?  Is the author associated with an academic institution? Is there an editor instead of an author? If the book is a series of essays or articles, are the articles authored?

CONTENT: Peruse your sources and identify that they have information pertinent to your research. Resources with a table of content and an an index makes it easier to locate the information you want.

ARRANGEMENT:  How is the source arranged?  Chronologically? Alphabetically? By author? By subject? By era?

CLARITY: Does your source used professional verbiage? Or, is it full of slang, misspelled words, bad sentence structure? Poor clarity can mean the source is not highly credible.

COMPLETENESS: After you've used a source for a period of time, can you compare it with others you've used? How complete is it?   Is the information provided adequate for your research needs?


February 2010
Pueblo Community College, Library Services