ACA 122 AAY College Transfer Success

• Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority.
• Authority is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required.

• Authors have varying degrees of credibility based on:
  • Education (Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, PhD)
  • Experience (Carpenter for 30 years)
  • Recognition (awards)
  • Institutional Authority (Johns Hopkins, NASA, MIT)

• Based on informational needs, the level of authority should be comparable.

For example, if you need to know how to put air in a bike tire, you don't need as high a level of authority as Lance Armstrong to show you how. One of your neighborhood friends would suffice. But, if you need an expert cyclist's analysis of the various stages of the Tour de France, then you should consult a source, like Lance Armstrong, with more authority on the subject than your neighborhood friend. 

• If needed, investigate the level of credibility of an author to determine if it suffices based on your informational needs.
  • Note the author &/or institution associated with the source in question and utilize a quick Wikipedia search if unfamiliar with either. 

• Popular articles are not necessarily written, nor edited by experts in the field of study being discussed, and are typically found in potentially agenda-driven magazine publications.
• Scholarly articles are written by experts in a particular field of study, and published in scholarly journals. However, these articles are not necessarily peer-reviewed. 
• Peer-reviewed articles are written by experts in a particular field of study, have been examined by other experts in that same field of study, and are published in scholarly journals.