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LANG 2030 - Technical Communication I

Author (Who)

Author (Who)

  • Who is the author (there may be more than one author)?
  • Is the author's qualification or credential provided?
  • Is the author associated with a reputable institution or organization?
  • Who is hosting the webpage?
In the Hong Kong context, the Mingpao and the Oriental Daily  often cover different types of "news" and when they report the same incident, their perspectives may differ strongly.
 
Another example: the South China Morning Post and the Washington Post are also very different. Readers should take into account the fact that Jeff Bezos (US based Amazon.com billionaire) owns the Washington Post and Jack Ma (China based Alibaba billionaire) owns the SCMP.

Content & Coverage (What)

Content & Coverage (What)

  • Are the claims/conclusions/viewpoints supported by evidence?
  • Are the arguments logical?
  • How deep and wide is the topic covered: General background information? Research oriented, highly scientific and specific? Quick news report? Level of scholarship?

Better to read & quote the actual research article (or patent) rather than a press release of result summary.

General information sources like newspaper or press release do not provide enough technical details. It will be difficult to describe the basis of the technology reported.

Try our Follow-up Activity to gain a better understanding of evaluating the quality of the sources.

Timeliness (When)

Timeliness (When)

  • When was the article written/published?
  • Would the subject matter change with time? Is the most current information always the best?
  • You may need to trace the history and development of a technology and consult some dated journal/research articles.
  • Try also to include newly published articles to discuss the latest innovative ideas, methods or discoveries

Look for a last revised or updated date (top or bottom of the page) or last revised date through the browser.

Using ChatGPT and other Generative AI Tools

A common problem with many generative AI text tools is that they generate plausible but factually incorrect information (hallucinations) or fabricated references (hallucitations), examples:

So, if you are using texts generated by ChatGPT or other generative AI tools, be cautious and cross check the information. Evaluate the information provided, just like anything you plan to use academically.

Just as we've covered in the sections above:

1. Cross-check what it says & do "lateral reading"

  • Check against your own knowledge
  • Check against Wikipedia, Britannica, and/or other reliable sources to see if they state the same information
  • This is not new with generative AI, it's always been good scholarly practice

2. Confirm that any references it provides are real

3. If the references (citations) are real, check that they support the claim

  • This is *NOT* a new issue with AI tools, it's always been important to do so.
  • This is proper scholarly practice when working with sources both in print and online.
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