Geography

You've found your sources. Do they fit your research needs?

• Currency: does your topic require you to use up-to-date information? 
  • Something to think about: often, we need to understand the history of a topic in order to write about the current state of the topic. It is perfectly acceptable (and sometimes necessary) to use an older, foundational source in your research. But make sure that you are simply using it to provide context, rather to bolster an analysis about the contemporary state of the research.
• Relevance: are you ethically referencing the heart of a source, or are you taking things out of context or picking and choosing information that helps your research goal, while ignoring information that challenges your thesis? 
  • Something to think about: sometimes, a source will provide background information on our topic before jumping in to their own research goals or study. If we are using a source simply to cite a bit of background information, it is best practice to find that other source and cite it, instead. For example, in the introduction of scholarly article Source A, the authors cite many articles that related to their research, including Source 1. In their mention of Source 1, you find a very useful bit of information. Rather than citing that information from Source A, track down Source 1 and use it instead.  
• Source Type: if your professor is requiring you to use a peer-reviewed source, how do you know if something you found meets that requirement? Summon makes it very easy! Simply copy and paste your source's title into a new Summon search. In that item's Summon result summary, it will tell you if something is Peer-Reviewed. 
  • Something to think about: if you need other specific types of sources to meet your assignment requirements, such as a Trade Journal or a book chapter, Summon makes it easy to narrow results down to these parameters, too, using the "Refine Your Search" menu on the left side of the Summon results screen.