From Inquiry to Academic Writing A Practical Guide, 3rd edition

148 CHAPTER 6 | FRom FIndIng To EvAluATIng SouRCES

Writing an Annotated Bibliography

In this chapter, we have suggested some strategies that you can use to

locate information to help you learn more about a topic, issue, or ques­

tion and to assess the extent to which this information can help you

develop a legitimate, credible, and well­supported argument. As you read,

it is important to write down the citation, or bibliographic information,

of each source, including the author’s name, date of publication, the title

of an article or book, the journal title where an article appears, page num­

bers, and publishing information for a book.

Collecting the basic information about each source is useful, but we

also suggest that you write an annotated bibliography to give some shape

Steps to Evaluating Internet Sources

■^1 Evaluate the author of the site. Determine whether the author is

an expert.

■^2 Evaluate the organization that supports the site. Find out what

the organization stands for and the extent of its credibility.

■^3 Evaluate the purpose of the site. What interests are represented

on the site? What is the site trying to do? Provide access to legiti­

mate statistics and information? Advance an argument? Spread

propaganda?

■^4 Evaluate the information on the site. Identify the type of infor­

mation on the site and the extent to which the information is

recent, relevant, reliable, and accurate.

A Practice Sequence: Evaluating Internet Sources

For this exercise, we would like you to work in groups on a common

topic. The class can choose its own topic or use one of the topics we

suggest on pages 145–47. Then google the topic and agree on a Web

site to analyze:

Group 1: Evaluate the author of the site.

Group 2: Evaluate the organization that supports the site.

Group 3: Evaluate the purpose of the site.

Group 4: Evaluate the information on the site.

Next, each group should share its evaluation. The goal is to determine

the extent to which you believe you could use the information on this

site in writing an academic essay.

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