ENGL 1001 - Foundations in Rhetoric: Identifying reliable sources

Course Guide for "English 1001: Foundations in Rhetoric"

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What are reliable sources?

Great question! Reliable sources are sources whose research and argumentation you can rely or depend on to help you develop your own research and writing projects. Reliable sources may be library resources like newspaper, magazine and journal articles, or government documents, white paper reports and electronic books. But not all library resources may be reliable sources for your specific project.

So reliable sources are always contextual; or, they're always reliable or dependable for a specific project. This means reliable sources for one project may not be reliable sources for another project. So when you consider a source's reliability, you should consider it's reliability in terms of your specific project. You should consider if you can rely or depend on the source to help you develop your own research and writing.

Helpful online resources

The Research Process: Evaluating Sources
There is no simple formula for evaluating sources; evaluation always depends on the facts of your own rhetorical situation. Here is a basic framework you can use to evaluate your rhetorical situation and analyze how well your sources support it.
Savvy Info Consumers: Evaluating Information
Not all information is created equal. Remember: Anyone with Internet access can publish on the Web. There is no editor, fact checker, or peer review process for the "free" content that is available on the visible web. As scholars and information consumers, you must choose the best and most reliable information that meets your research needs. This guide provides four strategies for being a Savvy Information Consumer.
Start Your Research: Evaluate Your Info
How can you tell the difference between a scholarly and popular article? How can I get better at sorting truth from fiction from everything in between; at tuning in to the things that matter; at amplifying better treatments of issues, and avoiding clickbait?

VIDEO: Authority is Contextual

This video was developed by W. Frank Steely Library librarians at Northern Kentucky University as part of their online course on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.

DIRECT LINK: https://youtu.be/LnzbCRmIeXM

VIDEO: What is a Scholarly Journal Article?

This video was developed by librarians at the University of Washington. Chances are you'll need to find a scholarly journal article for a research paper or project in the near future. But, wait, what is a "scholarly journal article?" How is it different from a popular source like a newspaper or magazine article?

DIRECT LINK: https://youtu.be/PuyCJnv3auk

ACTIVITY: Evaluating Sources

In this scenario based activity, students are asked to help 4 of their classmates evaluate 3 sources they are considering using for their paper. Students can read the entirety of each source, then write a 2 to 3 sentence explanation of why their classmate should or shouldn’t use the source and why. Based on the concept of Calibrated Peer Review, there is one exemplar source, one substandard source and one bubble source.