Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Evaluating Sources
84
Evaluating Sources
Presentation By: Jordan Montejano
English Instructor
Crafton Hills College 3-4-2024
Where to Find Sources
Where to Find a Source
Article Databases
craftonhills.edu>student services>library>Article Databases
https://www.craftonhills.edu/current-students/library/library-databases/index.php
EBSCO is a useful resource for most subjects and you can find a variety of scholarly and non-scholarly sources.
US Major Newspapers has access to five major newspaper sources.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context features sources on various current and controversial topics.
Films on Demand has thousands of educational videos.
Depending on your class, Google Scholar may be a good choice for research as well.
The first part of evaluating sources involves knowing where to look.
Library Sources
https://www.craftonhills.edu/current-students/library/index.php
Go to the home page on craftonhills.edu and click the library option under the student services tab.
If you are looking mostly for physical texts, you can type into the Search Catalog box to search for books in the library. After you pick search, you can choose which libraries, Crafton Hills, SB Valley, or libraries worldwide, you want to include.
Research Guides offer suggestions and tips for finding sources for specific subjects.
https://craftonhills.libguides.com/?b=g&d=a
I can't find my source
A Note on finding Sources
There are various types of sources, so depending on your subject and purpose, there are different types of sources to consider.
If your professor assigns you a research paper with a requirement of four scholarly sources and four non-scholarly sources for a total of eight sources, then you will need to know what to look for.
The next section will distinguish between different types of sources as well as the difference between scholarly and and non-scholarly sources.
Types of Sources
Primary and Secondary Sources
A recording of a speech is a primary source since the speaker is the originator of the source.
Here's a place for the second part of your presentation. And to the right, there are subsections for more specific detail.
There are various types of sources to consider for your essay.
Primary Sources
Something from the person who experienced it first-hand like a reporter on the scene. This could be something like a diary, document, artifact, or direct knowledge.
Secondary Sources
A book, object, article or text that is on a subject, but is not the original source of information. A secondary source may refer to primary sources and discuss them.
A textbook on grammar is a secondary source because it discusses things that are already agreed upon. It may reference primary sources, but it is not creating new information.
Scholarly/ Non-Scholarly
Scholarly/Non-Scholarly Sources
Scholarly Article from Gale: Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Commonly, your professor will expect you to have a variety of scholarly and non-scholarly sources.
Scholarly Sources
Articles, books, and similar works that are written and peer reviewed by experts in the field. In college, most scholarly sources that professors want are peer reviewed articles.
Non-Scholarly Sources
Anything that isn't peer reviewed like a blog, website, television show, YouTube video, or work of fiction.
How to Read a Source
Identify the sections of a source, so you will read more efficiently.
Reading an article
Keeping Track
As you collect sources to use in your essay, be sure to summarize them, make notes, and find relevant quotes to use.
Citing an Article
You can either directly quote your source or paraphrase it.
(For citation tips see our handouts or our Research, Essay Writing, MLA, or APA Workshops).
Articles can be quite long, so feel free to read the abstract, introduction, and conclusion first, so you will know if the article is useful for your essay.
Abstract
Read the abstract first. This will give you an idea of what the article is about.
Introduction
Read the introduction to find the argument or hypothesis being presented.
Conclusion
Read this section to find out about the results or findings of the experiment.
Credibility
Biased/Unbiased
A source is only as useful as it is credible.
Biased
Stay away from Biased sources that don't use clear facts or rely heavily on emotion. They sometimes only show one side of an issue.
Unbiased
Unbiased sources present their findings with facts and figures. They don't rely purely on emotion and are logical.
Logical Fallacies
Fallacies
You may find a source that seems reliable, but is guilty of a logical fallacy, a mistake in reasoning. Make note of these fallacies and try to avoid them both in your paper and in your source material.
Fun Logical Fallacy Examples:
- Basketball players are tall, so all tall people are basketball players. -False Cause
- If we install a self-checkout in our grocery store, then the machines will take over. -Slippery Slope
- If you are not a Democrat, then you are a Republican. -Black-or-White
- You're argument can't be considered because you aren't even wearing matching socks. -Ad Hominem
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
You may understand a source better if you understand how they base their argument.
Beware of sources that appear to have a reasonable argument but lack enough support on both sides of the issue.
An argument may only appear strong because they purposely make the opposition weak or avoid it entirely.
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
Ethos
-Appeal to ethics
-Persuade the reader by building credibility and trust.
Pathos
-Appeals to emotion
-Persuade the reader through strong emotion.
Logos
-Appeals to Logic
-Persuade the reader through evidence and research.
Authority
Another important factor in choosing sources is authority, or whether or not what is being expressed is backed by professional knowledge and reliability.
A source may not be a traditional scholarly source but may still present the truth from a trusted person of authority such as an expert in the field.
An example of this would be a newspaper article that presents evidence from trusted doctors or scientists, even though the article itself is written by a journalist who is not an expert on the topic.
Check and see if the person/source that claims to be an authority is trustworthy before selecting it as a source.
Works Cited
Logical Fallacies, Ad Hominem and Critical Thinking, Pinterest, https:/
/www.bing.com/images/search?
view=detailV2&ccid=sJ6A5rMF&id=9C4E9D23D7D577978C117945820010DB74504F63&thid=OIP.sJ6A5rMFfh38KvNPFuU6ugHaMT&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F97%2F1a%2Fd5%2F971ad5f91974a1c7e6227bac9555efb4--critical-thinking-philosophy.jpg&exph=1024&expw=616&q=fallacies&simid=608003270844942196&selectedindex=43&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=0
The Rhetorical Triangle: An Overview of the Three Rhetorical Appeals,
TheVisualCommunicationGuy.com, https://
francinemassue.weebly.com/ethos-logos--pathos.html
"What US Presidents Voices Sounded Like." YouTube uploaded by Whats The Story, 25 July 2017, https:/
/youtu.be/qiiBjayukos