Evaluating writing sources

1. Evaluating
Resources
Priscilla Tovey-Van Aulen,
Center for Reading & Writing
Hilary Westgate,
Potter Library

2. What We’ll
Cover
Resource
Evaluation -
The AART
Test
Analyzing
News
Resources and
Fake News
2
Part I: Part II:

3. 3
Evaluating Resources with AART
● Authority
● Accuracy
● Relevance
● Timeliness

4. 4
Authority
● Who created this document or information?
● What are the author’s credentials and/or
affiliations? If there is no single author, what
organization is behind it?
● If it is from an organization, what is their
purpose and what are their goals?
● Is there a larger publication of which this is a
part?

5. 5
Authority
*Article
citation in
slide
notes
No author
mentioned!

6. 6
Authority
Many news
websites now allow
you to click on the
author’s name for a
brief biography.
What is their
background and
what are their
credentials?
*Article link in slide notes

7. 7
Accuracy
● Can you verify the information with other
sources?
● Do they build upon and cite other research
resources?
● Is there any bias, or is it more purely factual?
● Do the resources cited also seem reliable
and trustworthy?

8. 8
Accuracy
*Article citation in
slide notes
*Article link in slide notes

9. 9
Relevance
● Does the information fit your topic or your
information needs?
● Are all sides of the argument addressed and
examined, or is it one-sided?
● Is there a purpose or a goal behind the
information? (To convince readers? To sell a
product? To share results of a study?)
● Who is the intended audience?

10. 10
Relevance
*Article citation in slide notes
*Article link in slide
notes
What can we find out about
the group behind this article?

11. 11
Timeliness
● How current is the information? Does it need
to be current for your topic? (Ex.: a history
resource versus a medical resource)
● When was the information published? This
helps provide a context.
● If this is a website, when was it last updated?
● Is this a revised or updated edition? If not,
does one exist?

12. 12
Timeliness
*Article citation in
slide notes

13. 13
A A R T

14. 1.
Let’s talk about
fake news...
What is it?

15. “
Everyone is entitled to his
own opinion, but not to his
own facts.
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, James R. Schlesinger, and Bernard Baruch (versions of this quote are
attributed to each).
15

16. Cambridge
Dictionary
Definition ○ fake newsnoun [ U ]
○ stories that appear to be news, spread on the
internet or using other media, usually created
to influence political views or as a joke:
○ There is concern about the power of fake news
to affect election results.
16

17. How do we identify fake news?
By asking questions about AART:
authority, accuracy, relevance, and
timeliness.
17

18. 18
“How to Identify Fake News in 10 Steps”
ProQuest database worksheet

19. 19
Activity: Learn how fake news
spreads by playing the Bad
News Game!
www.getbadnews.com
Then in small groups, discuss what you
learned and post a group summary in the
discussion.

20. 20
Activity: Evaluating Articles
Evaluate each article (3) posted using AART
and the checklist on how to identify fake news,
indicating how reliable you think each one is
and why.

21. Questions?
For help with evaluating a resource, please see a librarian or
call/chat/text/email: https://www.ramapo.edu/library/research-
help-services/
21

22. 22
References
https://guides.nyu.edu/c.php?g=276562&p=1844739
https://www.library.cornell.edu/research/introduction#2Findingbooks,a
rticles,andothermater
https://pixabay.com/en/detective-searching-man-search-1424831/
http://blogs.proquest.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Fake-News1.pdf