Science,
Industry and Business Library
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 Industry Publications
Locating Industry Publications
Evaluating the Information Providers
Assessment
Evaluating the Information Providers
What's the source of your information?
Whenever you locate information about a company, it's crucial that you consider,
critically, the source. Not all information creators/producers are equal and the source definitely shapes the quality of the information provided. Five criteria that you should keep in mind when evaluating are authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage.
Authority
Established publications, like the New York Times for example, are considered reliable and trustworthy. Not all sources, however, enjoy the same reputation for being as authoritative. You should always, therefore, look into the credentials and qualifications of the publisher and/or author of the information you are about to use.
Accuracy
The New York Times has earned its good reputation over time largely because it can be safely assumed to be relatively error-free. This trust has been fostered thanks to the army of editors and other staff employed who verify the information to ensure its accuracy before final printing.
Objectivity
Knowing the source of the information may also help to alert you of possible biases in the information. For example, a company's press release is likely, in the words of the song, to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. Being aware that it is company-derived information, however, will allow you to treat it differently than you would a more objective, "third party" source.
Currency
Depending on the source, some information is available to you immediately or relatively quickly, while other sources make it available with more of a time lag. [Generally- the quicker you get to the information the more it costs to access]. Alternatively, some sources may provide access to historical or "archived" information in addition to more up-to-date information.
Coverage
The resources of a publication such as The Wall Street Journal, whose business is tracking business worldwide, are likely to far outweigh those of a local newspaper. Since their audience is international, it makes sense that their coverage of business news will be broad - maybe too broad for your needs. For example, information on a business that may affect a community only at a local level may not be deemed newsworthy enough for inclusion in such a publication. That community's local newspaper, on the other hand, may be the best source of detailed information about the company as its coverage will likely focus instead on the local business environment.
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