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Information Literacy Toolkit

Evaluating Information Sources

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"Many people assume that because young people are fluent in social media they are equally perceptive about what they find there. Our work shows the opposite to be true" (Wineberg, 2016). 

Lynn Student Learning Outcomes that address this skill include: 

  • SLO IL 100.1 Use reputable sources

  • SLO IL 100.2 Avoid using sources with inappropriate bias, deception, or manipulation

  • SLO IL 200.2 Use reliable, accurate, authoritative, and timely sources, drawing conclusions from this information 

  • SLO IL 400.1 Use reliable, accurate, authoritative, and timely sources to draw conclusions about a research topic

ACRL Standards that address this skill include:

  • Standard #3 The information literate student critically evaluates the procured information and its sources, and as a result, decides whether to modify the initial query and/or seek additional sources and whether to develop a new research process

Activity: Would you use this source?

Description: Are these peer-reviewed articles appropriate for your assignment (if divorce was your topic)? Give one reason why or why not. This is effective for helping students identify academic research articles and improve the quality of the sources they use in their papers.

Duration: 10 minutes

Activity: SMART Evaluation Method

Description: Students evaluate a pair of websites, then learn the SMART Evaluation Method and reevaluate the websites.

Duration: 20 minutes

Activity: Reading Empirical Articles

Description: Use this worksheet to pull relevant information from each section of an empirical article. Use one provided to you by the instructor. This can help students to evaluate if the article is relevant for their topic. Created by Dr. Rachel Pauletti

Duration: 15-20 minutes