Evaluating Sources

They can focus on a very narrow topic.

They can provide current information.

They can present scholarly research in "Peer Reviewed" journals

Many publications publish book reviews. These are great sources of information IF you want to know about a book, since the review will give you a description and evaluation of that book. Maybe you will even want to look in the online catalog to see if the library has a copy of that book.

But if you are looking for articles with information about your topic, do not use a book review.

How can you identify a book review? At the top of the review, you will see a book citation with the title, author, date, publisher, price, and perhaps an ISBN number and the number of pages in the book.

Is the author identified?  Are author credentials listed?  (Look at the end of the article or at the bottom of the first page.)

Check the date for currency.  Is this important for your topic?

Look at the length of the article.  Is it long enough to provide sufficient content?

What is the level of language:  Easy enough for a child? Generally understood by an adult? Scholarly? Technical?

Does the article contain a list of references at the end?

What is the purpose of the article:  To inform?  Persuade?  Entertain? 

What type of publication is it:  Scholarly? Professional  or technical? General interest? Newspaper? 

Does the publication that the article is in have a bias?  Does it present different points of view? Editorials, op-ed pieces, and commentary will almost always present an opinion or bias, but other articles may, too.

LLMs (Large Language Models) understand and generate human language. AI tools such as ChatGPT and Perplexity AI are two examples that are used for educational proposes. It is still important to fact-check! Potential problems with content created by AI include cultural and gender biases, outdated content and limited sources.

Does AI Have a Bias Problem?