Evaluate
Finally, now that you've finished you should ask yourself:
- Has your research process yielded relevant and useful results?
- Have you used balanced viewpoints on your topic?
- Have you verified the validity of your sources?
Answering questions like these will help you evaluate both your research process and the answers to your assignment or question.
Evaluation criteria should also have been applied to each piece of the Information Literacy puzzle as you went along:
- Define Task
In this step, you ensured you understood your assignment, you identified key concepts you planned to search for, and you began examining general information sources.- Evaluation: You assessed whether (or the degree to which) your question, problem or topic required refinement or modification to achieve a manageable focus (Was it too broad? Too narrow?). In doing this, you might have realized that you had another question that had to be answered before you could address your original one.
- Evaluation: You assessed whether (or the degree to which) your question, problem or topic required refinement or modification to achieve a manageable focus (Was it too broad? Too narrow?). In doing this, you might have realized that you had another question that had to be answered before you could address your original one.
- Identify Options
In this step, you identified the kinds of information you needed, what format it would most likely be in, and what tools you would use to find it.- Evaluation: You assessed available search tools as well as types and formats of information in terms of your needs. You considered how each might be useful in addressing your assignment, question or problem and identified those most likely to provide the information you needed.
- Evaluation: You assessed available search tools as well as types and formats of information in terms of your needs. You considered how each might be useful in addressing your assignment, question or problem and identified those most likely to provide the information you needed.
- Access & Retrieve Sources
In this step, you used a variety of search tools and strategies to actually gather the specific sources.- Evaluation: You assessed whether your search tools and strategies were supplying the information you needed. Were your search terms yielding relevant results? Were you using appropriate search tools for your information needs?
- Evaluation: You assessed whether your search tools and strategies were supplying the information you needed. Were your search terms yielding relevant results? Were you using appropriate search tools for your information needs?
- Examine & Apply Content
In this step, you evaluated the information you had retrieved and its sources. You applied the most relevant information from the best sources to reach an informed conclusion that answered your question, solved your problem, and met the requirements of the assignment.- Evaluation: You assessed the quantity, quality, and relevance of your search results to identify gaps and determine if follow up searches were required. If you discovered gaps in your research, you returned to earlier steps.
- Evaluation: You assessed the quantity, quality, and relevance of your search results to identify gaps and determine if follow up searches were required. If you discovered gaps in your research, you returned to earlier steps.
- Present Findings
In this step, you effectively communicated what you had learned and accurately attributed information to its sources so that others could access your research and evaluate your work.- Evaluation: You assessed whether you had accurately documented your sources. As you prepared to present your findings, you considered whether anything was missing or unclear in your research or logic. You attributed information to its sources so that others could access them and evaluate your work.
Back to the Information Literacy Puzzle
Information Literacy at Grays Harbor College by the John Spellman Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at Seattle Central Community College Library. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available. For more information, contact the John Spellman Library.