The authors recognize that a site's accessibility and user-friendliness are as important as its content. Some sites, while scoring high in terms of content and historical importance (see AFP — Agence France-Press, "considered to be the oldest news agency in the world"), received a low final rating because their sites were poor (one newspaper out of five for AFP).
An appendix lists the ratings for all the sites, from five newspapers down to one. This is very handy, gving the reader — perhaps I should say user — quick access to rankings for specific sites. Though the appendix is handy, I sincerely hope users will read, at least once, the complete critique of each source used. And this leads me to one concern. So many people already don't take the time, or have the critical skills, to adequately determine the value of a given source. This guide, though very useful as a reference for the busy researcher, does not provide, except perhaps by example, access to the tools themselves, the critical skills needed to analyze sources. There are, after all, many more sites on the internet than the hundred discussed here.
Consider the Source should fit comfortably on the busy researcher's reference shelf. Whether you are a newshound, student, journalist, or writer, this guide should save you a great deal of time in getting a sense of the reliability and usefulness of at least 100 prominent, important, and reputable news and information sites. Put it next to your writer's guides.
Article comments