10

English
Quarter 1 – Module 4:
Evaluating Information Sources
(Print Vs. Web)
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 4: Evaluating Information Sources (Print vs Web) First
Edition, 2020

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work of the
Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office wherein
the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such agency or office
may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names, trademarks, etc.)
included in this book are owned by their respective copyright holders. Every effort has been exerted
to locate and seek permission to use these materials from their respective copyright owners. The
publisher and authors do not represent nor claim ownership over them.

Published by the Department of Education

Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones
Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio
Assistant Secretary: Alma Ruby C. Torio

Development Team of the Module

Author: Cherrie Bagayawa-Malucay

Editor: Patricio Dawaton – Regional EPS-English Reviewer:
Lillian S. Pagulongan – Division EPS-English Illustrator:
Layout Artist:
Management Team: May B. Eclar, Ph.D. CESO V - Regional Director
Marie Carolyn B. Verano, CESO V, SDS, SDO-Baguio
Carmel F. Meris – Chief Education Supervisor - CLMD
Ethielyn Taqued, Ed.D., Regional EPS-LRMDS
Edgar H. Madlaing, Regional EPS – AP/ADM Focal Person
Juliet H. Sannad, Ed.D., Chief Education Supervisor, CID, SDO-Baguio
Brenda M. Cariño – Principal IV, Baguio City National High School
Maylyn G. Samidan, HTIII-BCNHS-ADM Focal

Printed in the Philippines by ________________________

Department of Education – Cordillera Administrative Region

Office Address: Wangal, La Trinidad, Benguet

Telefax: (074) 422-4074
E-mail Address: car@deped.gov.ph
 What I Need to Know

This module is designed for you to have a better access of the topic. It
is here to help you compare the contents of materials viewed with outside
sources of information in terms of accessibility and effectiveness. The scope
of this module permits it to be used in many different learning situations. The
language used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of students. The lessons
are arranged to follow the standard sequence of the course. But the order in
which you read them can be changed to correspond with the textbook you are
now using.

The module is composed of one lesson that focuses on how to evaluate

information sources that we see. You can find sources both online and in
printed materials. Sources provide you with helpful background information
that support your own work. There are benefits and drawbacks to each, so
you'll need to consider which is best for you and your project.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. differentiate print sources from web sources;

2. identify the types of sources under print and web sources;

3. evaluate the advantage and disadvantage of each type of source;

4. select a type of source needed for a specific content based on

accessibility and effectiveness; and

5. apply learning through a simple research.

Lesson
Print Source Vs. Web Source
What’s In

Understanding how to assess the credibility of the

information you come across in your study and research is
essential. More information is at our fingertips than ever before and the
amount of information makes it even harder to determine which information
can be trusted. As the terms: post truth, fake news, and alternative facts,
become increasingly prevalent in social discourse and the public sphere it is
essential that you develop the skills to critically evaluate information yourself.
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 If you were writing an essay about gender equality, would you be more
likely to select a journal article written in 1990 or 2020? When investigating
new information, it is extremely important to consider the source, or the origin
from which something is obtained. When you are investigating a topic, the
sources are just as important as the information itself.
One way to analyze sources is through comparing and contrasting.
Compare means to determine the similarities, and contrast means to
determine the differences. The rest of this lesson discusses the steps
necessary to compare and contrast sources of information in terms of
accessibility and effectiveness.

What’s New

Activity: How famous I am.

Given the list of words below, identify each word
whether it is under print source or web source. Write P if the word is under
print source, write W if the word is under otherwise. Write your answers in a
separate sheet of paper.

_________1. CNN
_________2. Almanac
_________3. Blog
_________4. Wikipedia
_________5. Newspaper
_________6. Webpages
_________7. Brochures
_________8. Magazines
_________9. Thesis
__________10. Facebook

What is It

A print source is exactly as its name suggests - material that has been
printed and can be produced in a hard copy. Examples of print sources are
books, magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers. These materials are
commonly found in a physical library when doing academic research.

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 In doing a research paper, look for non-fictions or informational print
sources. Non-fiction print sources can vary widely in the audience they target
or the amount of information they provide. Imagine the difference between a
local newspaper report on air quality compared to a research study on air
quality published in a scholarly journal.
However, printed sources have one benefit. They generally have been
through some type of critical review process that prevents poor material from
reaching the library shelves. In other words, some type of quality control has
typically taken place in order for publication to occur. Unfortunately, this does
not give you the green light to use any book or magazine you find in a library.
You must still evaluate how relevant a print resource is to your topic as well
as its reliability.
While there is no definite tool that can be used to gauge the reliability
of all information, there are a number of memory devices that can help you
remember key factors to consider. One device is the CRAAP test, developed by
the Meriam Library at California State University, Chico. analyzing the
C.R.A.A.P (currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, purpose) in a print source
can help you determine its credibility and suitability.

A. Currency: the timeliness of the information

Key Question: When was the item of information published or

produced?

Determining when an item of information was published or produced is an

aspect of evaluating information. The date information was published or
produced tells you how current it is or how contemporaneous it is with the
topic you are researching. There are two facets to the issue of currency.

 Is the information the most recent version?

 Is the information the original research, description, or account?
The question of most recent version of information versus an original or
primary version can be a critical one. For example: If you were doing a
research on Covid-19, you would need the most recent information on the
symptoms, cause and effect to human. Key indicators of the currency of
the information are:
 date of copyright
 date of publication
 date of revision or edition
 dates of sources cited
 date of patent or trademark

B. Relevance: the importance of the information for your needs

Key Question: How does this source contribute to my research paper?

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 When you read through your source, consider how the source will effectively
support your argument and how you can utilize the source in your paper. You
should also consider whether the source provides enough coverage of the
topic. Information sources with broad, shallow coverage mean that you need
to find other sources of information to obtain adequate details about your
topic. Information sources with a very narrow focus or a distinct bias mean
that you need to find additional sources to obtain the information on other
aspects of your topic. Some questions to consider are:

 Does the information relate to my topic or answer my question?

 Who is the intended audience?
 Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too simple or
advanced) for my needs?
 Did I look at a variety of sources before deciding to use this one?
 Would I be comfortable using this source for my college research paper?

C. Authority: source of information

Key Question: Is the person, organization, or institution responsible for

the intellectual content of the information knowledgeable in that subject?
Determining the knowledge and expertise of the author of information is
an important aspect of evaluating the reliability of information. Anyone can
make an assertion or a statement about something, event, or idea, but only
someone who knows or understands what that thing, event, or idea is can
make a reasonably reliable statement or assertion about it. Some external
indications of knowledge of or expertise are:

 a formal academic degree in a subject area

 professional or work-related experience–businessmen, government
agency personnel, sports figures, etc. have expertise on their area of
work
 organizations, agencies, institutions, corporations with active
involvement or work in a subject area.

D. Accuracy: reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the information

Key Question: How free from error is this piece of information?

Establishing the accuracy, or relative accuracy, of information is an

important part of evaluating the reliability of information. It is easier to
establish the accuracy of facts than it is opinions, interpretations, or ideas.
The more an idea, opinion, or other piece of information varies from the
accepted point of view on a particular topic, the harder it is to establish its
accuracy. It may be completely accurate but corroborating it is both more
necessary and more difficult. An important aspect of accuracy is the
intellectual integrity of the item.
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  Are the sources appropriately cited in the text and listed in the
references?
 Are quotations cited correctly and in context? Out of context quotations
can be misleading and sometimes completely erroneous.
 Are there exaggerations, omissions, or errors? These are difficulty to
identify if you use only one source of information. Always use several
different sources of information on your topic. Analyzing what different
sources say about a topic is one way to understand that topic.

E. Purpose: reason the information exists

Key Question: Who is this information written for or why was the
information published?
Identifying the intended audience of the information or product is
another aspect of evaluating information. The intended audience of an item
generally determines the style of presentation, the level of technical detail, and
the depth of coverage. You should also consider the author’s objectivity. Are
they trying to persuade, to inform, or to entertain? Determining the intended
audience of a particular piece of information will help you decide whether or
not the information will be too basic, too technical, too general, or just right
for your needs.
On the other hand, Web sources include anything you can find on the
Internet, which contains a wealth of high-quality information if you know
where to look. Some web sources are databases of scholarly articles. Scholarly
articles are published in scholarly journals and are sometimes called peer
reviewed articles. Scholarly journals specialize in publishing technical and
research-oriented articles and are mostly intended for students and other
scholars. They are often reviewed by peers in the field in order to ensure that
the article is relevant and accurate.
There are many differences between an ordinary article and a scholarly
or academic article. Magazine articles, administration documents, reports
from different kinds of organizations, essays, opinion pieces, or Wikipedia
resources are not scholarly articles.
Scholarly articles are a full-length document on original research, and
sources of high-valuable information. They are written by an expert, for other
experts, with new information and research results in some fields. The
authors are scholars or researchers with advanced degrees and/or
credentials, like Ph.D. or M.D. and known affiliations.
These databases are a great place to find information. Other web
sources can be self-published with unclear origins.
There is little quality control over the information you find, and anyone
with access to the Internet can publish online. This makes it difficult to avoid
bias or inaccuracies. It can also be hard to locate authors and references.

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Because of these concerns, you cannot assume that information on the web
is accurate. Each web page must be critically examined.
When looking for sources–particularly websites–think about whether or
not they are reliable. You want your paper to contain sources written by
unbiased and professional experts, not businessmen with commercial
interests. There are some other things you may want to consider when
investigating a website:

A. Author
 Who is providing the information?
 What do you know about him/her and his/her credentials?
 Is he/she an expert?
 Can you find out more and contact him/her?
 Search for author or publisher in search engine. Has the author
written several publications on the topic?
 Does the author support the information with works cited or links to
other sources?

Author

Currency Publisher

Website
Evaluation

Purpose Citations

B. Publisher
 Is there a sponsor or affiliation?
 Who is linking to the page?
 Do they take responsibility for the content?
 Is the site personal, commercial, governmental, organizational, or
educational? (.com, .gov, .org, .edu)

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 C. Citations
 Copy and paste a sentence into Google to see if the text can
be found elsewhere.
 Are there links to related sites? Are they organized?  Are
there citations or a bibliography provided?
D. Purpose
 Is the purpose of the website to inform or to spread an agenda? 
Why did they write the article?
E. Currency
 When was the source last updated?
 Does the source even have a date?

A tip, Wikipedia which is a type of free online encyclopedia may seem

like a great source of information. It usually appears among the first few
results of a web search. It covers thousands of topics, and many articles use
an informal, straightforward writing style. Unfortunately, this site has no
control system for researching, writing, and reviewing articles. Instead, it
relies on a community of users to police themselves. At best, this site can be
a starting point for finding other, more trustworthy sources. Never use it as
final source.
As a student, you will be gathering information from a variety of types
of sources for your research projects including books, newspaper articles,
magazine articles, specialized databases, and websites. As you examine each
source, it is important to evaluate each source to determine the quality of the
information provided within it. Common evaluation criteria include
accessibility, utility, the effectiveness or the advantage and
disadvantage. Each of these criteria will be explained in more detail below.

Source Type Access Utility Advantages Disadvantages Examples

Image Source: https://www.clipartmax.co m

Book Print, Research, Thorough May not contain Thesis

(nonfiction) Online information treatment of a the latest Dissertations
topic information; may Dictionary
not be scholarly Memoirs
Biographies
Encyclopedia Print, Research, Good topical Information is  Encyclopedia
Online information coverage; good usually not very Britannica
source for specific
Background
information

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Magazine Print Entertainment, Good for Not scholarly in Times Magazine
information general nature Metro
information; Vogue
contemporary
focus

Trade/ Print Information Articles written Oriented toward Entrepreneur

Professional by specialists in specific fields; not Money Sense
Journal their fields scholarly in
nature

Newspapers Print, Information Good source for Not scholarly; Inquirer

online current events; information may Sun Star
primary be biased Manila Bulletin
sources The Washington
Post
Scholarly Print, Research, Articles written Subject may be  American
Journal Online information by authorities; very focused – Journal of
scholarly sometimes and Sociology 
discussion; may advantage and Journal of
be peer- sometimes not Educational
reviewed* Psychology
Government Print, Research, Many produced; Information is very Bills
Documents online** information cover wide specific Congressional
variety of topics; Record
good source of
statistics Laws
Codes
Research Online Research, Many topics; Access restricted EBSCOhost
databases information articles written to authorized Philippine
by authorities; users; username Ejournals
scholarly and password University of the
discussion; may required; may be Philippines
be peer-reviewed very focused Database
Videos DVD, Research, Good for visual More difficult to Webinars
streaming information, learners; wide mark a useful (Online) Tutorials
entertainment variety of topics. passage than print Vlog
media.
Open web Online Entertainmen t, Quantity of Quality of Wikipedia
information information information is YouTube
uneven; authority Blogger
of some sources
are unknown
Social media Online Entertainmen t, Information Quality of Facebook
information updated information is Instagram
frequently uneven; authority Twitter
of some sources
are unknown

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 What’s More

Activity: Mastery Check

Match the letter of your choice in Column B with its appropriate

description in Column A by placing the letter on the blank provided before the
number.
Column A Column B
______1. Allows you to access most A. Magazine
types of information on the web through
a browser.
______2. Contains citations of articles B. Internet
in magazines, journals, and
newspapers. They may also contain
citations to podcasts, blogs, videos,
and other media types.
______3. Include articles on diverse C. Academic Journals
topics of popular interest and current
events.
______4. Collections of short, factual D. Database
entries often written by different
contributors who are knowledgeable
about the topic.
______5. Articles tend to have a E. Encyclopedia
narrower focus and more analysis of
the topic than those in other types of
publications.

F. Dictionary

What I Have Learned

Activity: Filling in those blanks

To check your understanding of the lesson, read each of the following

statements. Choose the best resource from the following choices in the textbox
for the information needed. Write the letter of your choice in a separate sheet.

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 A. Dictionary
B. Encyclopedia
C. Library catalog
D. Newspaper
E. Telephone directory

____________1. There is no electricity, and Mayor Benjamine Magalong needs

to know what the weather is like in Baguio today. What
resource should he use?

____________2. Miss Cherrie has a report on the different types of volcanoes

to better understand Mt. Taal. What resource should she use?
____________3. Kim Chui needs to find the meaning of the longest word
“Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis”. What resource
should she use?
____________4. Harry loves to read books by J.K Rowling. What should he
use to find the books written by his favorite author?
____________5. Azriel loves to watch the NBA. He wants to know the score for
the game last night. What resource should he use?
____________6. The government imposed a Community quarantine in Baguio
City, people are not allowed to go out. What resource should I
use to order my favorite milk tea?
____________7. Coco Martin wants to find out how to pronounce the words
“Seashell”. What resource should he use?
____________8. The Malucay family is buying a new Toyota Hilux. They need
the telephone number of the company. What resource should
they use?
____________9. Axel wants to know the latest update on the cases of Covid
19 in Baguio City. What resource should he use?
____________10. Rodrigo likes to know how typhoons were formed, especially
that it is already wet season in the Philippines. What resource
should he use?

What I Can Do

Activity: Evaluating Sources

Read and analyze carefully the article below. Afterwards, evaluate the
given article based on the given rubric by checking the appropriate box. The
score will validate the reliability of the given information. Write your final
evaluation in the text box whether it is a good source or not.
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 Philippines is Most Gender-Equal Country in Asia – report
https://www.cnn.ph/news/2018/12/18/Philippines-Global-Gender-Gap-
Report-2018.html

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 18) — The Philippines remains the
top Asian country with the narrowest gap between men and women, according to a global
report released Tuesday.

The World Economic Forum (WEF)'s Global Gender Gap Report for 2018 also ranked
the Philippines eighth among 149 countries in achieving gender equality. It said the country
got its record-high score of 0.799, which means it has closed almost 80 percent of its overall

gender gap. The country also improved two notches from being on the 10th spot in 2017.
The report listed the Philippines among the five countries that have achieved full parity in
political and economic leadership – with women legislators, senior officials and managers.
Other countries with the same achievement are Laos, Bahamas, Colombia, and Jamaica.
The Philippines' gender gap in the educational attainment pillar remains closed, like
last year. This means the literacy rate and enrolment in schools are almost the same for
men and women.

Meanwhile, the report noted that the Philippines managed to narrow its Economic
Participation and Opportunity gender gap "due to increases in wage equality for similar

work and women's estimated earned income," the report noted. Based on the WEF's annual
Executive Opinion Survey, the Philippines closed 79 percent of the gap on wage equality
this year, from 75 percent in 2017. The Philippines, however, got the lowest score of 0.416
in the area of political empowerment, which means it has yet to close almost 60 percent of
the gap, and it is not alone. "Political Empowerment is where the gender gap remains the
widest (globally): only 23% of the political gap – unchanged since last year – has been closed,
and no country has yet fully closed political empowerment gaps," the report said. This
indicator measures the gap between men and women at the highest level of political

decision-making, either as head of state or in key parliamentary and ministerial positions.

In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has publicly said he prefers to appoint
men in government, saying they can get his many orders done.
Globally, a lot more needs to be done. "Today, the Global Gender Gap score stands at 68
percent. This means that, on average, there is still a 32 percent gap to close," the report

said.

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 Source Evaluation Rubric.
3 2 1 0
Author*: What The author’s The author is a The author is It is unclear who
are the credentials indicate reporter OR a named but is not wrote this
author’s that he /she is an known an expert on the information and /
credentials and expert on this organization. topic. or no credentials
affiliation? Is topic. (students, fans, are given
the author an hobbyists).
expert?
Publisher*: Published by: Published by a Published by: Self-published.
Is the source known:
published by *Philippine *organization *a K-12 school (blogs, personal
a *university *an unknown
Government web pages,
reputable
*Scholarly Journal *business business (.com) personal interest
publisher or *magazine / * an unknown
Or pages)
organization? newspaper OR in a organization (.org).
In a Reference or
print
academic book
book/encyclopedia
Content: Is the There is a Works The work cites There is a There is no
information in the Cited list and /or a original research / statement about indication where
source cited? Bibliography. information (may the source of the information
Or include periodical information, but no came from.
This is a primary articles without Works Cited.
source document Works Cited)

Purpose: Why To promote To provide factual To sell something, For personal or

was this scholarly research. information. Some to persuade, or to entertainment
information opinion may be promote an idea. purposes.
published? included.
Currency: How The info is less The information is The information is There is no
current is the than 5 years old. older but is not clearly out of date indication when the
information? necessarily out of for the topic. information was
date. published.
Score Equivalent
0-5 This source is highly questionable. Should not be used in research without
suitable justification.
6-9 The site may be an acceptable starting point for gathering information but
might not be suitable as a cited source in a research project.
10-11 Good source for research. Information should be confirmed in other sources.
12-15 Excellent source for research purposes.

TOTAL SCORE: _________

EVALUATION:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________

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 Assessment/Self-review

For items 1-10, read each statement carefully and choose

the letter of your choice that answers the given description.

1. Which of the following is a true statement about the Internet and the
physical library?
a. They both close after hours when not in use.
b. They both provide up-to-the-minute news and information.
c. They both have an expert librarian or specialist to answer your
questions.
d. They both provide access to information needed for personal,
educational and even entertainment.

2. Which of the following is NOT part of the group as to type of source?

a. Science book
b. Manila Bulletin
c. Reader’s Digest
d. Facebook

3. Which of the following is a reason you might question the accuracy of

an online source?
a. The website doesn’t look professional.
b. The information cannot be verified with other sources.
c. The source cites others in the same field.
d. The source uses long words.

4. Why it is important to be critical in evaluating content on the Web?

a. Anyone can put any information on the internet.
b. It is important to not spread inaccurate or biased information.
c. Web authors are always less professional
d. Your grade depends on it.

5. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a scholarly journal

article?
a. They include references to related articles.
b. They are found in online database as full text documents.
c. They contain exciting images without charts, charts, or tables.
d. They often use the terminology or jargon of a field.

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 6. Which of the following is NOT a benefit of print sources?
a. They can be accessed at local and university libraries.
b. They go through more rigorous screening.
c. They are around for a long period of time.
d. They are more environmentally friendly.

7. Why evaluating information is important in the research process?

a. Sources vary in the levels of authority, accuracy and objectivity.
b. All information available to us is reliable
c. Not all information is suitable for your paper.
d. Fake news is widespread.

8. Which best describes a magazine?

a. Good source for current events or happenings.
b. Good source for general information and entertainment.
c. Most articles are written by authorities or scholars.
d. Articles are written by specialists in their field that provide information.

9. Which best describes Research Databases?

a. Great online sources written by scholars and authorities.
b. Online sources which may be biased.
c. Print and online sources easily accessible to all.
d. Information is uneven and sources are unknown.

10. Why is Wikipedia not a trustworthy source of information?

a. It covers several topics.
b. It has no graphs, images, and illustrations.
c. It has no control system as anyone can write or edit the articles.
d. It is the first to appear when searching the web.

For items 11-15, read and understand the descriptions below, and identify
what is being referred in the following sentences when finding or looking for
a reliable source. PRINT or WEB sources.
_______11. Information from many popular and scholarly sources is free.

_______12. It allows readers to interact and see other related information

through links.

_______13. Information is selected through a review process making it more

reliable.
_______14. It is more convenient to carry around since it is lighter and more
portable.
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_______15. Information sources can be more versatile and can be specialized.
Getting rid of unimportant information is just a click away.

For items 16-20, read and analyze each statement below and determine whther
it is TRUE or FALSE.

_______16. If I can find it online, it must be true.

_______17. I should always compare the information I find online with at

least two other sources.
_______18. There is an email address listed in the website, so it must be a
legitimate source.
_______19. Checking the accuracy of the source of information includes date
of publication, revision, edition, or copyright.
_______20. Inquirer, Sun Star, Manila Bulletin are examples of Newspapers.

Performance Task

Directions:

A. Take a few minutes to brainstorm ideas on a topic you find interesting

from the beginning of this year. Then find your local newspaper and
look for a similar article. The newspaper is not necessarily recent as
long as it was printed this year. Or you can search on the web the
same article if you can.

B. Cut or Print out the article that you find interesting and attach it to
this module.

C. Using the methods discussed, try to analyze the source of your article
to check its reliability. Afterwards, rate it on the reliability scale, then
select the distinguishing features that influenced your decision. Put a
mark on your best answer.

D. Don’t forget to write the title of the article and specify what source was
used.

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Title: _________________________________________________________________

Source: ______________________________________________________________

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 References

Barker, J., & Hennesy, C. (2012). Evaluating web pages: Techniques to apply and
questions to ask. Retrieved from http://www.lib berkeley.edu
/TeachingLibGuides/Internet/Evaluate.html

Bosch, E. (2017). Library Basics: Evaluating Print Sources. Retrieved 07 2017, 10,
from http://libguides.bgsu.edu/c.php?g=227153&p=1505673
Evaluating information sources (2020). Retrieved from
https://researchguides.library.brocku.ca/external-analysis
Information Sources: Uses, Advantages, and Disadvantages. Retrieved from
https://www.svcc.edu/departments/learning-commons
Muthumari, P. (2013). Utilization of traditional and electronic resources in higher
education. University. Retrieved from http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in
Evaluating resources (2020). Berkeley Library: University of California. Retrieved
from https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/evaluating-resources
Lumen candela: Evaluating websites. Retrieved from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/engcomp1-
wmopen/chapter/textevaluating-websites

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