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Synthesizing Peer Reviewed & Non-Peer Reviewed Sources: Home

This guide was created for W290 to help illustrate the importance of synthesizing both scholarly and popular sources into student research.

Credibility Exercise

This activity will help us analyze credibility of different sources, and will hopefully illustrate how credibility goes beyond the examination of where a source originated. Analyze each article below and answer the following questions: 

  • Who is the intended audience for this article?
  • What do we know about the authors or sponsoring organization?
  • Does the article provide citations or references? 
  • Is there data in the article and do they provide sources for the data?
  • Do you think this article is a credible source?

Article 1:

http://www.noaa.gov/resource-collections/ocean-pollution

Article 2: 

https://proxyse.uits.iu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=100185765&site=ehost-live 

 

 

Helpful Databases for Add'l Sources

Government Resources

Primary Source Databases at IUS

Librarian

What Can I Get Help with During These Sessions?

There are many ways a librarian can help and many reasons why you might want to meet with us. Here are just some of the reasons to Book a Librarian today:

  • You need help finding relevant databases for the research you're doing.
  • You wonder...what the heck is a database?
  • You need help brainstorming keywords because you aren't having any luck on your initial searches. 
  • You need help understanding what keywords are and how to use them. 
  • You already met with a librarian but you need more help on the same (or a new) research project.
  • You want to brush up on your research skills and want a general overview to prepare you for the inevitable research paper (duh duh duh!!)