I’m not going to lie to you: evaluating sources is time consuming, and when you spend your time finding a source just to decide not to use it, it feels like a waste of time.  It’s really important to remember why you’re doing it. Eliminating a source doesn’t mean you did something wrong. It means you’re doing something right.  Think of it like a major purchase (a house, a car, a REALLY expensive pair of shoes). You aren’t just going to go with the first one you see. Even if you do end up buying the first one you saw, you want to spend some time comparing it to others, checking it out, making sure it’s really what you want.  Sources deserve a level of scrutiny — a word that means careful attention.  Think about these questions as you consider the purpose of evaluating sources:  What would I think if I was reading an article and saw that it used an outdated source?  What do I expect to be true about the research I read?  How do I know I can trust the information I gather?  What do I want my readers to think about my research?