Before you begin to read or take notes, evaluate your sources. Choosing quality sources of information is not only a vital life skill, it also essential for research at both the high school and post-secondary levels.  Of the Top Ten Research Skills for First Year University Students, three skills relate to source evaluation.

TOP TIPS:

• Begin by looking for information in the library’s Digital Resource Hub; the publications in these sources are well-known and considered to be reliable sources of information.
• Understand the differences between academic/scholarly sources and non-scholarly/popular sources, then determine which source types best suits your research topic and purpose.
• Understand the differences between primary sources and secondary sources, then determine which source types best suit your research topic and purpose.
• Evaluate all sources you find — especially those you find on the general internet — in relation to the C.R.A.A.P. test — a well-known method for distinguishing reliable from unreliable sources.

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