CMP-125 (Kelley, Spring 2025)

Currency

The timeliness of the information.

• When was the information published?
• Has there been any updates or revision to the information?
• Are the sources used by the author current or outdated?
• Is the information out-of-date for the topic?

Relevancy

The importance of the information to your context.

• Does the information answer your question?
• Is the information related to your topic?
• Have you looked for other sources before settling on this one?
• Is the information appropriate to your level of study? Is it too simple or too sophisticated?

Authority

The source of the information.

• Who is the author?
• Is the author qualified to write on the topic?
• Has the material been peer-reviewed or reviewed by editors?
• Has the author been cited elsewhere?

Accuracy

The reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the content.

• What types of other sources have been cited?
• Does the information line up with your own knowledge on the topic?
• Are there any spelling or grammar errors in the text?

Purpose

The reason the information exists.

• What is the purpose of the information? Is it to inform or persuade?
• Is the author clear what their intentions are?
• What biases might the author have?

Articles in the Rider University Library's databases

Library database are articles based on paid subscriptions. Most of the content has been reviewed and approved by peer reviewers and editorial staff. You have less a need to evaluate the content. Most probably it is safe to use them.

Internet Resources

Internet resources are not censored or reviewed. Anyone can put up anything on the Internet. Some may be biased and some are fake news. You must evaluate Internet information before use. 

Purpose

• Is there reasoning for the purpose of this information? Is it to inform/explain? Sell a product? To persuade?

• Who is the audience for this website? Children? General public? University students? Scholars?

Author

• Is the name of an author and/or contact information for this person present anywhere on the website? 

• Is this person qualified to be writing about this topic? Can you find any credentials on this person?

• Is this person affiliated with an organization or university?

• Has this person been cited by others?

Date

• Can you find any sort of date/information on when this page was last updated?

• Is it recent research on what you are looking for? 

Domain names

• .edu - Education-related websites, generally university-level (US)

  • .ac.uk - UK universities, .ac.nz - New Zealand universities, etc.

• .gov - Government-related websites

• .org - Organizational websites

• .com - Commercial websites

• .net - Network websites (Originally! Now more or less interchangeable with .com)

Objectivity, Reliability and Credibility

• Is the information found fact, or the opinion of the author?

• Is there any biased language? Does it promote a biased view on the topic?

• Are the tone and style professional?

• Is the information backed up by other sources/does it seem to be well-researched?

Accuracy

• Is the information written well? 

• Are there grammar errors?

• Are there spelling errors?

• Has the information been peer-reviewed?

• Is there a bibliography of sources?

• Can you find these sources to verify the information found on this page?

• Is the information relevant to the subject area/topic?

Links

• What sort of sources are linked, if any?

• Do the links on the page still work?

Does it look professional?

• Websites with credible information often look more professional. However, that is not always the case! Some websites seem to be stuck in previous decades, so this one is not going to be the most important indicator.

• Is it easy to use?