3.5 Finding Quality Texts

In the world of academia, our gold standard for texts requires them to be created by people with substantial education, advanced degrees, and life expertise, making them experts in their fields. If I’m reading a cookbook, I want it to be by someone who knows their way around a kitchen—not someone who’s a mediocre cook but decided it would be fun to collect the family favorites into a self-published book.

Look in the Right Places

Start your search in the right place. When looking for a specific piece of evidence, don’t just automatically type a word into Google: instead, ask yourself, “What’s the best place I might find this?” While thinking about the subject, consider the persons or organizations that are considered experts on the topic, and try beginning a search with those names. For instance, if you wanted to answer a question about spaceflight, you might think of starting with NASA.

If you begin in the right place, you’re more likely to find useful information right away, and it’s more likely to be credible. Likewise, try and find the best human sources as well. With a little research on your topic, you can identify the big names in the field.

You can follow the same guidelines given above for finding strong Web materials to find “hard copy” options too. Look at the author, date, and the material itself. Additionally, consider the reputation of the publication itself.

Don’t always start by turning to the Internet and Google. Yes, this may be the easiest way to go, but is it always the best? No—not always. Visit your college library, or search it electronically. Read textbooks or periodicals. Seek out human experts. Put your hands on your topic, if you can, by diving into it in a personal way.

Whenever you identify a good article, printed sourcebook, journal, etc.—go to the end of it and read the bibliography. Voila: a brand new list of potential source materials!

Practice these strategies when you evaluate websites, and you should be able to find strong materials that will boost your college work.

A Few Thoughts on Wikipedia and Other Open Encyclopedias

As a rule, Wikipedia and other ”Wiki” sources are not considered to be acceptable sources for college work.

Why not?

The beauty of Wikipedia is its egalitarianism: It’s billed as a public encyclopedia for everyone. The problem with this is that anyone can create a Wikipedia entry, and likewise, anyone can edit the entries. Unfortunately, ”anyone” is usually not an authority in the field. Remember, we’re looking for sources that meet the criteria and that are written by people with degrees, education, and/or expertise in the field. Wikipedia doesn’t follow this model, and so we can’t rely on it as a reliable source.

However, consider this: studies have shown that the information in Wikipedia is, in most cases, as accurate as that from standard encyclopedias (Taraborelli; Terdimann). Yet despite these findings, two problems remain:

• As discussed above, Wiki entries can be made and edited by anyone.
• There are multiple instances of Wikipedia entries being changed as a “joke” or to defame or damage a source’s credibility.

These problems once again point out why we don’t rely on Wikipedia for academic work.

Wikipedia, however, has two great features that you can use right away:

1. Most entries have long lists of source materials at the bottom of each topic page. Many of these listed materials will be useful when you’re doing research or at least will aim you in a sound direction.
2. Wikipedia can be a great place to start learning more about a topic. Just remember that Wikipedia is a springboard—not a reliable source itself.

In addition to not using Wikipedia as an academic source, you should also avoid Yahoo! Answers, eHow, and other similar public information sites. If you have questions about using these sources, discuss them with your teacher or a librarian.

Speaking of Librarians!

Your college library can help you in several ways.

• Gives you access to a world of source materials that have already been reviewed and approved by the librarian staff.
• Allows you free database access that would be extremely expensive if purchased as a non-student. (For example, accessing an EBSCO online database—one of the best college research standards—online can cost $40-50 per article! Fortunately, the same article would be free through your college library.)
• Provides current, constantly updated sources.
• Allows you to obtain materials that your library may not have. How? Through a wonderful service called interlibrary loan, where your library will contact other libraries—all over the country!—to find the materials you need and get them to you.
• Provides study spaces, tutoring, research assistance, and other help.
• Gives you access to librarians—the library’s greatest resource. Where a library database can give you thousands of results in response to a search, the librarian can help you figure out where to start looking, or what search terms to use. They can answer any of your questions relating to research.

Wander into your college library (or search the library’s online help) to get started—and if you have problems, ask a librarian! They can meet with students online or in person.