The Pathfinder to the Library II is designed to build upon the basic skills you acquired in Pathfinder to the Library I.  In the first Pathfinder you learned how to find books and articles, in the second Pathfinder you will learn how to decide which books and/or articles are the best to use for your class assignments.  The key idea is evaluation—that is deciding which sources of information are the most reliable and useful.  Students should look at evaluation as a process used whenever information is sought.

One of the most important aspects of the research process is evaluating the quality of each of your sources in order to determine which provide good information and which do not.  The key is to Question Authority.  Not everything in print is true, even if found in a scholarly work on the library's shelves.  Just as novels, films, and music are regularly criticized, so to with scholarly work.  Begin to Think Critically. Learn to utilize library resources such as biographical sources and book reviews to authenticate the information you find.