Authority
Determine the author's education or professional experience.
- Check the header and footer of a Web page for information or a link to information about the author or sponsor.
- Scan the beginning and end of the source to find a description of the author's credentials.
- Search catalog or a database to locate books or articles by the same author.
Bias
Check out the point of view and purpose.
- Read the "About Us" or the "About this Site" in web sources. Does the website or page have a extremely slanted point of view?<
- Look for footnotes or references that document the information in the source.
- Skim the text of a source to decide if the author is attempting to sell a product or make a false claim.
- Look for descriptions or reviews that acknowledge the pros and cons of a product, service, or opinion.
Currency
Evaluate the currency of the information.
- When was the source written or updated? Is it still accurate or relevant?