User:DGG/Lbrarian's Criteria for Reliable Soources

Librarians' criteria for reliability:

General criteria

 * 1) Recognized authority
 * 2) Widespread use in relevant places
 * 3) Citation in appropriate contexts
 * 4) Evaluations by reliable outsiders
 * 5) Credentials and reputation of publisher
 * 6) Credentials and reputation of authors & editors -- roles
 * 7) Controls for quality --peer review, editorial review, subsequent reviews, citations,
 * 8) Format and medium: online, print, etc.
 * 9) Technical quality
 * 10) Interface
 * 11) Text
 * 12) Illustrations
 * 13) Consistency
 * 14) Degree of detail
 * 15) Freedom from bias
 * 16) Currency of information
 * 17) Confirmation by other known reliable sources
 * 18) Sources given for information
 * 19) Reliability of sources
 * 20) Appropriateness of sources
 * 21) Currency of sources

and above all
 * Acceptance in context of proposed use

Specific Types of publications

 * 1) Academic journals
 * 2) Research
 * 3) Reviews
 * 4) {Published conferences)
 * 5) Magazines
 * 6) Academic news magazines
 * 7) Professional magazines
 * 8) General magazines
 * 9) Specialist hobby magazines
 * 10) Newspapers (Newspapers as a primary historical source)
 * 11) Academic books
 * 12) Research monographs
 * 13) Standard treatises
 * 14) Advanced textbooks
 * 15) Standard textbooks
 * 16) Popular books
 * 17) Web sites
 * 18) Specialist web sites
 * 19) Specialist academic web sites
 * 20) Documents and archives
 * 21) Data collections

Uncertain factors at present

 * 1) Reliability and stability of online-only sources
 * 2) Accessibility of restricted sources
 * 3) Repositories & preprints: arXiv, etc.
 * 4) Publishers versions vs database versions (Proquest, Ebsco, etc.)
 * 5) Republication: J-Stor
 * 6) Aggregators: MUSE

How does Wikipedia fit in here as a source?

 * 1) recognized (within limits)
 * 2) reputation
 * 3) credentials of authors
 * 4) Controls for quality
 * 5) Format and medium: online, print, etc.
 * 6) Technical quality
 * 7) Degree of detail
 * 8) Freedom from bias
 * 9) Currency of information
 * 10) Confirmation by other known reliable sources
 * 11) Sources given for information
 * 12) Reliability of sources
 * 13) Appropriateness of sources
 * 14) Currency of sources

positive factors affecting reliability

 * 1) Large number of contributors
 * 2) Varied background of contributors
 * 3) Education
 * 4) Interest
 * 5) Geography
 * 6) Language knowledge
 * 7) Specialist contributors
 * 8) WikiProjects and Workgroups
 * 9) Screening of contributions
 * 10) Recent Changes
 * 11) Edit filters
 * 12) New Pages
 * 13) Patrolled pages for Biography of Living people (forthcoming)
 * 14) Quality ratings: featured articles,...
 * 15) Blocking
 * 16) Policy on sourcing
 * 17) Policy: Not Censored
 * 18) Edit histories
 * 19) OTRS

Negative factors affecting reliability

 * 1) Concentration of editors on popular topics
 * 2) Anonymity
 * 3) Impermanence
 * 4) Pressure groups & cabals
 * 5) Cultural bias
 * 6) Recentist
 * 7) Anglocentric
 * 8) Political inclinations
 * 9) Philosophical inclinations
 * 10) Taboos