It is important to evaluate your sources for relevancy and credibility. Although this is a particular concern for sources on the World Wide Web, it is also important to consider sources you find in library databases. Although most are vetted in some way, they are intended for a variety of audiences with differing standards of editorial control. These guides give you some ideas on how to evaluate a variety of sources.
Lateral reading is a good practice for evaluating sources. It is the process of "verifying [cross-checking] what you're reading as you're reading it." (Difference Between Lateral Reading and Vertical Reading)
Key points: Remember to stop (to ask what you know about the author/organization of the source), investigate (to find out more about what you are reading), find (to cross-check other sources and find consensus), and trace (to track down the original context/claim).
For practice, refer to this worksheet:
Evaluating Online Information: Lateral Reading (Delaware County Community College)
Video was created by Robert Detmering, Amber Willenborg, and Terri Holtze for University of Louisville Libraries as part of the Civic Literacy project and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
As part of lateral reading, remember to SIFT: Stop, Investigate, Find Better Coverage, and Trace Claims/Quotes/Media!
More information about SIFT:
Introduction to College Research - SIFT
Video Source: Southern New Hampshire University. FAQ: What is SIFT?