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Introduction

Never in human history have such vast quantities of
information been so easily available. Within the
brief space of a few decades, the acquisition, stor-
age, and retrieval of information has been trans-
formed from the realm of a labor-intensive manual
process to that of a digital, multidimensional vir-
tual medium. Societal thinking and language have
been enriched by new technologies as well as the
new meanings engendered by their processes and
products.
Nursing exists on the cusp of continual change,
with interfacing technological revolutions taking
place in nursing education, practice, and research.
The rapid advance and integration of technology has
not only affected practice (Sparks, 1999), but has
also affected ways in which nurses investigate, eval-
uate, think, and speak about practice (Turley, 1996).

Why Evaluate Resources for

Nursing Inquiry and Research?

The value and reliability of any contribution to
nursing knowledge is enhanced by the quality of
the resources used. In the tactile, physical world of
books, journals, and media recordings, emphasis
rests upon evaluation of the author and contents of
each resource. In the utilization of the Internet as a
resource for “discovery” (Boyer, 1996, p. 3), another
dimension requiring evaluation is realized: The
host of the virtual environment, now ubiquitous
and often fleeting, also must be identified, exam-
ined, and evaluated. Authorial responsibility and
veracity in books and journals that are closely scru-
tinized and monitored by publishers, editors, and
review boards may or may not be present when the
owner of the Web site is an individual or group not
subject to such review. Role-blurring between Web
site author and owner is subtle yet insistent. The
author of the Web pages, or the “webmaster,” is
most often another party hired to create and main-
tain the look of the Web site environment and is
therefore not responsible for the content.
The explosion of available knowledge and acces-
sible data has also created a paradox: The sheer vol-
ume of information has created a gap in the human
ability to process and evaluate it (Jenkins, 2001).
Finding relevant information is difficult (Sparks,

1998). Where does one begin? And if one begins,

can the information that is often “here today and

gone tomorrow” be relied upon as accurate and

trustworthy? How can the information be evalu-

ated? Given the complexity of data now available,

can nursing theory resources even be evaluated

across various types of media? Will the process be

congruent with the theory and the values of the re-

searcher?

Resources in nursing should be authoritative,

accurate, and current and should be characterized

by rich content. The guide for evaluation of theory

resources presented within this chapter moves to-

ward a realistic appraisal by the researcher of the

applicability and utility of theory resources.

Theory as a Guiding Framework

for Evaluation

Theory-based practice provides nurses with a per-

spective (Raudonis & Acton, 1997) and expresses

the essential activity of nursing care in the enacting,

adapting, and adding to the nursing human knowl-

edge base. The framework for practice also becomes

a framework for education, research, and adminis-

tration (Boykin & Schoenhofer, 2001). A call for

nursing is also a call for transforming knowledge

and information; therefore, the response from

nursing should be with clarity, conviction, and

trustworthiness. In this way, nursing theory is inte-

grated, lived out in the personhood of the nurse

and continues to shape, guide, and focus the nurse

in all activities. The consistent evaluation of re-

sources is therefore an extension and affirmation of

the values grounding the practice of nursing.

Ways of studying nursing are also becoming

more creative and reflect rapid changes in technol-

ogy and societal values. Publishers of educational

media routinely complement traditional textbooks

with the virtual world of Internet Web sites that

offer sensate immersion in motion, color, and

sound. Browsing on the Internet frequently results

in traveling through a succession of hyperlinks that

offer entertaining but specious information with-

out traceable or verifiable sources. The thoughtful

study of nursing theory, therefore, includes not

only consideration of works contributed by the the-

orist, practitioners, and critics of the theory, but

also the host media of the resource.

28 SECTION I Perspectives on Nursing Theory