1. Who is the author? What are their qualifications for saying this? Does their context effect their view?
2. What is the date on the source? Is it out of date or from a context that will effect it’s content?
3. What audience was the source constructed for? Does this effect the way it was constructed?
4. What was the purpose for construction? Does this effect the message?
5. Has this source any bias? Are there underlying ideas and assumptions or emotive language?
6. Does the source agree with other sources?
7. Evaluate how reliable this source is.

Additional things to ask about a source:

• What does the caption/citation tell us?
• What can we learn from this source: facts, opinions, attitudes/tone?
• is the source private or public in origin?
• is something missing from the source? (implies wider knowledge)