A session on Information Evaluation presented to the Logistics Management 214 students at Stellenbosch University

1. Information Evaluation
Pepler Head
Faculty Librarian: Economic and Management Sciences
peplerh@sun.ac.za

2. In this session we’ll be looking at
▪ Information evaluation
▪ Quality
▪ Relevance
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3. Evaluating the literature
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Photo by Raquel Martínez on Unsplash
 Quality
 Relevance

4. Exercise 1
Find the article below and evaluate the it
for quality, using your own criteria:
Article:
▪ Wilson, M. & Goffnett, S. 2021. Reverse
logistics: Understanding end-of-life
product management. Business Horizons
[Electronic], in press. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2021.10.
005
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5. Exercise 1
Following the first exercise, can you think of
a few specific criteria that we could
consider to evaluate quality?
Look at what the person next to you wrote,
and add the criteria to the link provided on
the guide.
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6. 6

7. 7
Quality Evaluation
CURRENCY:
It is important to make sure that you are using the
most up to date information. Ask yourself:
◦ What is the date of publication?
◦ Does the source use recent information?
◦ Are the references and/or links current?
◦ Does currency matter for this topic? Why or
why not?

8. 8
Quality Evaluation
RELEVANCE:
All of the sources you use in a project should be
relevant to your topic. While you may not find the
perfect source that exactly captures all of your
ideas, the sources you use should be related in
some way. Ask yourself:
◦ What aspect of your research question(s) does
this source answer?
◦ Is the intended audience appropriate for
academic research?

9. 9
Quality Evaluation
AUTHORITY:
Authority lets us know that someone with
expertise or experience in the topic is sharing their
knowledge. Remember, though, that authority is
contextual, the expertise or experience needs to
be relevant to the topic. Ask yourself:
◦ What credentials related to the topic at hand
does the author have?
◦ Does the author have any relevant affiliations
with a respected university or organization?

10. 10
Quality Evaluation
ACCURACY
Determining the accuracy of a source ensures that you are
using information that is supported and free from errors.
Ask yourself:
◦ Does the source contain any false information or errors?
◦ Does the source use reputable sources to support the
claims made?
◦ Does this source align with other sources that discuss
this topic?

11. 11
Quality Evaluation
PURPOSE:
Sources may be written to entertain, inform,
persuade, or some other purpose. Ask yourself:
◦ Is this information clearly biased in one way or
another?
◦ Why did the author or creator decide to share
this information?

12. 12
Quality Evaluation
Evaluating url’s:
.org - organization
.gov - governmental
.ac - academic
.edu - educational

13. 13
Exercise 2
Find the article and website below using the
reference provided and evaluate it according
to the CRAAP test that we discussed.

14. 14
Skim Reading
First
sentence of
each
paragraph
Introduction
+ conclusion
Table of
contents
Abstract
Title, author,
journal, date

15. 15
Skim Reading

16. 16
Exercise 3
Find the article listed in the worksheet, and
evaluate how relevant it is to the topic below:
Topic
Unpacking the technical and perception
barriers to electric vehicle uptake in South
Africa

17. 17
Reflection