chapter 5 summary

chapter 5 discusses evaluation sources. when you are skimming through a source you should be examining the relevance, evidence, author, publisher, timeliness, comprehensiveness, and genre says the Bedford Reader. when you think of relevance you should interpret that into how is this a useful source? how accurate are they and what do they maybe have to gain out of the results. how knowledgeable is the author on the matter? is it a fact or opinions that your are reading. do they provide evidence to the provided information. is the evidence used out of context to one sides advantage or is it straight to the point? if its something that isn't going to address your readers needs, interest, values and beliefs, then its best to move on to another source.

When looking into the author make sure the person is a creditable source. The web may of some information on the author the information. That is one way to tell if the author is reputable. “if the publisher is a scholarly or professional journal, you can often gain an understanding of its biases by looking over the contents of several issues or by reading a few of its articles”, say the Beford Reader

Keep in mind when viewing a source that the information may be too old to be relevant. Or it may be the opposite, maybe it helps strengthen your argument. Make sure you are aware of the timeline and the dates that may have been edited or revised.