Module 4: Evaluate Information, Authority (1 page 1)  what's this?

Question 1: Who is the author?

An important question to answer is who wrote the document.  The author of the document should be a person (or persons) recognized as an authority (or authorities).  In traditional documents, like a print journal or a book,  information establishing authority will be provided (usually in an about the author blurb).  In online documents, it is especially important that you determine the author.  Ideally, the author will list information like his or her job title, occupation, educational background, affiliations, and any other credentials.  Essentially, you want to answer the question—What makes this person qualified to write this information and why should I believe him or her?   Additionally, you may find information written by an authoritative source but without an individual author.  Locher (2002) suggests asking the following question in this case, “Is it backed up by an authoritative source, such as [a] government agency, professional association, or education[al] institution?”

Question 2: Who is the publisher?

In the traditional print world, it’s easy to spot the publisher.  You’ll find it on the cover or within the first few pages of the book.  The “publisher” on the Internet “means the server (computer) where the document lives” (Kirk, 1996). You may need to learn more about the organization sponsoring the page to decide whether the source is authoritative (or is biased). Oftentimes this will be easy, the web source will be clearly identified as belonging to a reputable institution, organization, or agency. You may have to do some investigation to learn more about the sponsoring organization, though.  Look for web pages that describe the purpose of the organization as well as contact information (a physical address and phone number for the organization) to assist you in evaluating the authority of the publisher. 

Copyright 2003 by the Academic Center, the University of Houston-Victoria, and Summer Leibensperger.
Created 2003 by Summer Leibensperger.

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