SANTELLA Humanities Source Evaluation Form Name of Source Origin •Who created the source? •Where was it published? •Is it a primary or secondary source? You must provide the academic credentials of the author or the background of the group that published the piece; if you cannot find anything on the author in the book, search the Net. If you still cannot find information on your author, SAY SO. It is not necessary to put in every academic post or professorship the authors have held. If it was produced by an organization, give some background information on that organization (purpose/goals, when founded, etc) Purpose •What is the intent of the author? •Why was this document produced? •Who is the intended audience? •What is the authorʼs bias/ perspective? The best authors will typically express purpose in the preface/ introduction/first chapter, though you may have to search for the purpose, especially on primary sources. Also, you may have to “read between the lines” to figure out the purpose of a source, as some authors do not want you to know the specific purpose. NOTE: even narratives have a purpose. If you cannot locate a clearly articulated purpose, you may use language such as: “It appears that the author’s purpose is…” Value •What makes this source valuable to you or to others interested in the topic? Explain why this source is valuable in general, and address why it is particularly important to your research. Make specific references to the text and its sources; use quotes. You may comment on footnotes of the book, what kinds of sources the author used, etc. NOTE: even extremely biased sources can be valuable. For example, they may show a meaningful perspective on an issue. Limitation •What about this document needs to be questioned? •Why would someone use caution when looking at this document for evidence and analysis? Again, you must be specific, providing examples from the text, quotes, etc. Limitations could include a critique of sources; a critique of whether or not the coverage is too broad to meet the author’s objectives; if the author is using out of date scholarship, relying on only newspaper articles, etc. Has the source been translated? Does it give a limited/biased view? Do we not know the origin of the source? Could we misinterpret the source? Do we know the context of the source? Why might a historian need to show some degree of caution using this source? A few words on using BIAS to assess VALUES AND LIMITATIONS: Remember that all sources are biased, none are completely objective. You need to provide a interpretation of how much “bias” there is. Explain WHY the source is biased, and how this bias affects your research. If you claim that the source is quite objective, be specific: Does the author present a balanced perspective by providing multiple points of view? Does the author present statistical data that is difficult to manipulate? Keep in mind that NO SOURCES ARE COMPLETELY OBJECTIVE, even statistical data can be “massaged” to make a point. Adapted from: "IB History Internal Assessment." Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, MD. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. <http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/rmhs/departments/socialstudies/ibhistoryia/ sections.htm>. SANTELLA Name of Source __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Origin •Who created the source? •Where was it published? •Is it a primary or secondary source? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Purpose •What is the intent of the author/ artist? •Why was this document produced? •Who is the intended audience? •What is the authorʼs bias/ perspective? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Value •What makes this source valuable to you or to others interested in the topic? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Limitation •What about this document needs to be questioned? •Why would someone use caution when looking at this document for evidence and analysis? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Overall Assessment of the Source: ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________