Evaluating is about determining and assessing the quality and credibility of the information you find. It encourages you to think critically about the reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, point of view or bias of information sources.
Please see our in-depth guide to Evaluating Sources for tools which help you to assess websites, discussion articles, guidelines and other general sources.
One of the comprehensive tools listed is the CRAAP tool which looks at the Currency, Relevance, Accuracy, Authority and Purpose of an item.
As with any evaluation tool though, remember to factor in your needs to the answers. For example, an item from the 1990s will probably be relevant if you are looking at how a theory has evolved. However, an item of that age will not be useful if focusing on current practice.
Prefer other tools, e.g. the checklists listed below, when evaluating the quality of research in clinical trials and other health-focused research studies.
The Barts Health Knowledge & Library Services series of videos demonstrate how to assess a randomised controlled trial using the CASP RCT checklist.
Also see: