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WRTG 105 Realms of Fantasy (Kephart)

Evaluating Sources with PARTS

When you review a website, remember to review its PARTS

Purpose

-What is the purpose of the information? Entertainment, education, commercial, something else?
-Who is the audience meant to be?

Authority

-Who wrote this?
-Is this author qualified to speak about this topic?
-What biases or beliefs is the author showing, if any?

Relevance

-Does this source answer your question?
-Where did the author get their information (can you tell)?

Timeliness

-When was this published?
-Has the topic changed at all since then?

Situation

-Do you need the information to be recent, or would an older source be just as good or better?
-Is this the best place to get THIS information? If you are using a source that cites another, could you find the original?
-What type of author is appropriate here? If you are interested in information about the government, for example, a government agency might be the most appropriate author type.
- What type of website it appropriate here? If you are interested in a college program, you’d want a .edu, for example. If you are interested in the mission of a non-profit organization, you will want to visit their .org directly.
-Do you need more background information before you can find the answers you need?