Speaker 1: Today we're talking about informational text and in specifics how to identify a credible source to use. So it's good to remember to develop a skeptical eye when reading anything whether it's in print or online. So the skeptical eye is needed because anything written by another human, no matter how much he or she tries to stay away from putting opinions into their writing, it's not written from a strictly neutral point. No matter who we are we bring our interests, our values, and our beliefs to our writing. So then how do we evaluate sources? Well in an academic setting being able to critically evaluate information is necessary in order to conduct quality research. Each item you find must be evaluated to determine its quality and credibility in order to best support your research. In order to evaluate your source you should consider the following. The who and where, what authority is here? The currency, the when, how relatable is it to today? The purpose, the what, what is the topic? And then the domain, how, how is it comparison to others? How is it compared to what your topic is? So let's go a little bit more into those four different types of credibility. Let's start with the authority, the who and where. First, who is the author? What are the author's credentials? Credentials mean anything from their educational background, their past writing, their experience in life. Have you seen the author's name cited in other sources or bibliographies? The publishing source itself, is it a university press? Is it a large reputable publisher? Is the source from a government agency? Is the source self-published? What is the purpose of the publication and where does the information in the source come from? Does the information appear to be valid and well-researched or is it questionable and it's not supported by evidence? And then finally, is there a list of references or works cited that you could go back to to look for authority? Next, you want to know the when or the currency. When was the source published? Is this source current or is it out of date for your topic? Some of your topics it's okay if a source is several years old, but for many topics you should find the most current when possible. The next is the what's of your essay or the purpose. What is the author's intention? Are they doing some sort of how-to? Is it to inform? Is it to argue? Is it to describe? Is the information fact? Is it opinion? Is it propaganda? Is the author's point of view objective or are they trying to be impartial? Is the language free of emotion-rousing words or bias? Is the publication organized logically? Are main points clearly presented? Do you find the text easy to read or is the author repetitive? Then we come to the domain or the how. How the content is delivered to you is important to check as well. Depending upon where you find it, it may be a clue as to how reputable the source is. Usually books are considered credible, reputable sources because a publication company has staked their reputation on it, but nowadays most of us have a tendency to go out and research online. So when we look at the domain or the how, is the site's domain last part of a .edu, a .net, a .org, a .gov or a .com because they all have different credibilities. If it says .edu, that's an education site and those are typically from colleges and universities. Typically those are trustworthy sites for your research. A .gov is used by the United States government entities and once again is typically trustworthy. A .org is used for nonprofit organizations. Once again, typically trustworthy, but be careful and look at the language. Maybe it might be emotional rousing. There may be some bias on some .orgs. A .com is used for commercial and non-commercial purposes. Are they trying to sell something? How many number of ads do you see on here? We're starting to get away from the trustworthiness. And then .net is an alternative to .com. They just started running out of a lot of .coms, so we've moved on to a .net. Thanks for stopping by guys. If you liked this video, please like and subscribe and check out my other videos on my channel.