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BRAIN: Using your BRAIN to evaluate information

What is intent?

What is the purpose of the information provided?  Is it trying to persuade the reader?  Is someone profiting off of the information?  Is it intended to be funny or make a point using satire? Judging intent can be tricky.  This page will help give you some tips on how to evaluate the intent of an article or website.

Things to consider when evaluating intent

  • Who is the intended audience?
  • What is the purpose of the information: to inform, persuade, entertain or sell?
  • Is it trying to elicit an emotional response from the reader?
  • Is this a satirical website?

Types of information

Identifying the type of information can help determine the intent of the source.

Popular source: Popular sources refer to sources that are widely available to the general public.  Magazines and newspapers are considered popular sources.

Trade publication: Trade publications are sources that are published in a specific field.  They may or may not be written by experts, but they are almost always written by and for those within the same field of study. For example, Library Journal, Antique Trader, Dentistry Magazine, Game Industry Report. 

Scholarly or Academic source: Scholarly or Academic sources are published in academic journals.  They are accessed through institutions such as a college or library.  They are written by experts in the field.  

Peer reviewed source: a process by which a scholarly work (such as a paper or a research proposal) is checked by a group of experts in the same field to make sure it meets the necessary standards before it is published or accepted

How to limit your sources in newspaper databases

Newspapers have a range of types of information.  To get the most out of your research, you will want to limit your results to types of information that are meant to inform the reader. 

USNewsstream is a comprehensive collection of national newspapers that includes Christian Science Monitor, LA Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.  To limit to investigative reporting:

  • Try your search
  • Select Document Type
  • Select More Options
  • Scroll down the Document Type options and Include
    • News
    • Article
    • Front Page/Cover Story
    • Statistics/Data Report

Satire and humor

Misinformation intended to generate money