Evaluating Information Sources

When evaluating nonfiction, or informational literature, no matter what the targeted age of the reader, there are some specific things you should keep in mind:

• Accuracy is the most important criteria. Material should not be over-generalized, and should not include biased opinions or viewpoints of the authors. Facts should speak for themselves.

• Nonfiction should be well organized and have logical development. Ideally the book will have headings and subheadings that will make it easy for readers to follow the material.

• Books that have an index, glossary, guide to pronunciation, and good table of contents are preferred.

• If the source provides directions on how-to do things, directions should be easy to follow and include safety considerations. This includes books on things like science experiments or cookbooks.

• With some subjects, the author’s qualifications may be relevant. This would particularly include books in the psychological field and self-help area, where research alone might not be sufficient to allow the author to present the best information.

• Illustrations should be used when appropriate and be of high quality. Remember, a picture can be worth a thousand words. Photographs are considered the best choice in many nonfiction subjects, as opposed to drawings.

Let's go through this slide show on Evaluating Nonfiction: http://people.virginia.edu/~lbs5z/Reviewing%20Nonfiction/

http://www.thwink.org/sustain/articles/misc/CriteriaForEvaluatingBook.pdf - Criteria for Evaluating a Book of Nonfiction (PDF)

WORK SHEET FOR EVALUATING NONFICTION

Table of Contents: Indicate how descriptive chapter titles seem and how much information is given about each chapter contents.

Index: Describe length/type of index. Are there a sufficient amount of entries for the length of the book? Is the index easy to read and sorted into subheadings? Does the index include such things as a different colored letter for A, B, etc, to make it easy to navigate?

Introduction: Does the book have an introduction? If so, what does it cover? Is it useful?

Glossary: Does the book have a glossary? If so, are glossary words highlighted in the text of the book, so the reader knows to refer to the glossary? After scanning the text, can you determine if the glossary is exhaustive or are there other terms that you feel could have been included?

Illustrations: Are the illustrations well done? Are they an appropriate style for the contents? Are there sufficient illustrations to support the text and intended readership? Is information about the illustrations provided?

Pronounciation guide: Is there a guide to pronounciation? Should there be?

Headings: Does the book use headings to organize the information into topics under each chapter? Are the headings vague or concise? Can scanning the headings generally show the reader where to find the information they're looking for? Are the headings consistently formatted throughout the book, so the reader can follow the pattern?

Subheadings: Does the book use subheadings to further organize information in subtopics? Are the subheadings vague or concise? Can a reader scan the subheadings to find information quickly? Are the subheadings appropriately formatted?

Sidebars: Do sidebars extend the information of the text? Are there sufficient sidebars? Is the formatting in the sidebars appropriate to the style of the book?

Charts/Diagrams: Does the book contain any charts and diagrams that are required to fully understand the content? Are they well formatted and clearly marked? Do they complement/extend the text and other illustrations?

Supplementary URLs and organizations: Does the book contain supplementary information for readers to explore further? Are the URLs, if used, functioning? Are the organizations still in operation?

Bibliography: Does the book contain a bibliography providing sources for the information? Is the bibliography well formatted and easy to follow?

Other Front or Back Matter: Is there any other front or back matter that makes this book a useful resource?

LET'S EVALUATE A BOOK
Check out the Google books limited preview of Robots: From Everyday to Out of This World

Read a CM Magazine review of the book: http://umanitoba.ca/outreach/cm/vol15/no6/robots.html

Read a Quill & Quire Magazine review of the book: http://www.quillandquire.com/books_young/review.cfm?review_id=6284

Jelly Mom Children's Book Reviews Blog: http://jellymom-bookreviews.blogspot.com/2008/09/robots-from-everyday-to-out-of-this.html

MORE RESOURCES ON THE WEB:
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/subarticle.jsp?id=3740 - Choosing Nonfiction books for children, an article from Scholastic.

http://www.learningwithliterature.ualberta.ca/crit_nonfiction.htm - Criteria for Evaluating Non-fiction books.

http://reading.ecb.org/teacher/evaluating/eval_studentvideo.html - Student unit on evaluating books. Contains short video clips of teacher/student interaction.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4442571_write-evaluation-paper.html - How to write an evaluation paper.

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This material was gathered by Linda Aksomitis

Instructor for Introduction to Internet Writing Markets

and Credenda Virtual High School & College