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| What does it mean to "evaluate information and its sources critically"? Let's look at an everyday example - the television. Sometimes when asked where we heard something, we say simply, "TV". Is the TV really the source of the information? Did you see it on 60 Minutes or Buffy the Vampire Slayer? The TV is simply a box, the medium through which we get information. The program itself is the source, and it is what you should be evaluating. In this example, imagine that you heard that a certain drug is good for thinning blood. Would you believe this information more if you saw it on 60 Minutes, a well-respected long-running investigative journalism program, or on Buffy, a fictional program about a young girl who fights vampires? Of course, this is a very obvious example, but you will encounter much less obvious ones while making decisions in your everyday life. When buying appliances or cars, do you believe the salesperson, or a more objective source, such as the periodical, Consumer Reports? This is what we mean when we talk about critically evaluating information and incorporating it into your life. Evaluate information you've found, because it can save you time in the long run, not to mention money, hassle, and embarrassment. | |||||||
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Adapted from: Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Association of College and Research Libraries, a Division of the American Library Association, 2000. (http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilstandardlo.html) Web design adapted by Debbie Anderson and Jill R. Seymour from graphic design created by Mick Welsh. ©MCCCD Library Instructional Council, 2002. Last updated: 4 Nov. 2002. Send comments to Library Instructional Council Chair.