You should carefully evaluate all information, whether from a book, article, or website, by asking the following questions.
MLA Handbook. 8th ed., The Modern Language Association, 2016, pp. 11-12.
When evaluating information, it is useful to identify if it's a Primary or Secondarysource. By doing so, you will be able recognize if the author is reporting on his/her own first hand experiences, or relying on the views of others.
Image: MacMeekin, Mia. "How to Choose a Good Online Source." An Ethical Island, Mar. 2015, https://anethicalisland.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/how-do-you-choose-good-online-sources/. Accessed 31 May 2017. This file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
A useful skill when evaluating material is to look for information about the author or organization responsible for it. This method is called lateral reading.
The University of Louisville Research Assistance & Instruction has an excellent explanation of Lateral Reading in the video "Lateral Reading." The video is under four minutes. The UofL also has a series of useful handouts on the topic.
