Evaluating an expert

Sometimes students may wonder how they can tell when doing research at the Thammasat University Libraries if an author is an expert. It may be confusing that a Google search can bring up so many different writings by people who may claim to be authorities in a field. Separating those who have useful expertise in a field and those who are just offering personal opinions may be a difficult task. We may start by suggesting to students that they

Don’t just research the subject, research the people you plan to quote.

Since Google searches are so quick and easy, it takes perhaps a second or two to cut and paste the name of any author into the search engine and see what results. If the authors are professors at noted universities, the student can continue with the research with some sense that what is written is meant seriously, although it may be wrong entirely or in part. In scholarly research, not everyone is right about everything. Trying to find out what is right is part of the exciting journey of academic scholarship. If we decide that an ajarn is worthy to be taken seriously as an authority does not mean that we must believe every single word that they publish. Sometimes even the greatest ajarns are wrong. As science students know, even Albert Einstein was not always correct in his theories. But even if he was wrong on occasion, that does not lessen Einstein’s importance as a scientist. He was also right many times on important issues. And he kept an open mind on unanswered questions, as researchers always try to do. That way, if we get results that we did not expect, we may try to see what is to be learned from these unexpected results of research. This is the process that adds knowledge to the world. When we do our Google search of the author’s name, if they are not listed as ajarns at an established university with a good reputation, we may try to find out if they have earned advanced degrees such as:

• D. – Doctor of Divinity
• Ed. – Doctor of Education
• L.S. – Doctor of Library Science
• M.A. – Doctor of Musical Arts
• P.A. – Doctor of Public Administration
• P.H. – Doctor of Public Health
• Sc. – Doctor of Science
• S.W. – Doctor of Social Welfare, Doctor of Social Work
• V.M – Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
• D. – Doctor of Education
• D. – Doctor of Jurisprudence. Doctor of Laws
• H.D. – Doctor of Humane Letters
• D. – Doctor of Laws
• D. or D.M. – Doctor of Music
• D. – Doctor of Optimetry
• D. – Doctor of Philosophy
• D or Sc.D. – Doctor of Science
• Sc.D. – Doctor of Social Science
• D. – Doctor of Theology
• N. – Bachelor of Nursing
• S.N. – B.S. in Nursing
• N. – Master of Nursing
• N.A. – Master of Nurse Anesthesia
• D.S. – Doctor of Dental Surgery
• M.D. – Doctor of Dental Medicine, Doctor of Medical Dentistry
• O. – Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
• P.T. – Doctor of Physical Therapy
• S.N. – Doctor of Science in Nursing
• Sc.PT – Doctor of Science in Physical Therapy
• D. – Doctor of Medicine
• D. – Doctor of Optometry
• D. – Doctor of Pharmacy

There are many other such degrees, and if the author has received one or more of them, we can look to see at what universities they have studied. Even graduates of the finest universities may make mistakes in published research, but at least if the writer has been through the system at these places, it is more likely at some point, someone found some value in what they were doing. We may also ask the student:

Is the writer associated with an employer who has something to do with the subject of the research?

For example, the student may have found an article on forestry written by an astronomer, who graduated with degrees in astronomy and works as a professor of astronomy. So the subject of forestry is not the specialized field of the writer, and the student may consider that it would be better to focus on articles by full-time experts in forestry. The student may ask:

Where do I find information about where writers are employed, or where they studied?

If the author is a university ajarn, in most countries websites will exist listing faculty, where this information is available. Also, Wikipedia.com, or the websites of publishers, or booksellers such as Amazon.com often have this information. If the student wants to quote from an article, usually some brief information about the writer or writers are given at the beginning or end of articles. Books generally have information on their jackets or somewhere inside. If the student finds nothing at all about a writer, this can be unusual, given that few writers on academic subjects leave absolutely no trace in the world. In some cases, as in trying to Google Romanized Chinese names, there may be difficulty in locating the correct person. In some countries, especially China, there is less of a tradition of people announcing themselves and describing their work online. We may also suggest to the student:

Has the author published much on the subject?

While some writers publish many books, all of which are wrong and without scholarly value, many writers who specialize in a topic over the years tend to have something useful to express about it. If the writer that the student plans to cite has published a series of books or articles investigating a topic, this is further evidence that the citation may be taken seriously. In addition to searching on the TU Libraries website, we may also suggest that the student look at Worldcat.org and other search engines to find a wider list of publications by any writer. The student may wonder what to do if there is no single writer credited for a publication. We may reply,

Who published it?

The source of the information can be researched, and whether it is a reliable, recognized scientific publisher. Who owns the copyright on the publication? Sometimes online materials are unsigned, which is a reason to be very careful about taking them seriously. If we do not know who wrote something, it is difficult to take it seriously for academic research. When in doubt, the student may limit online searches to peer-reviewed journals, which increases the probability that whatever is published has been read by recognized by authorities in a given field, who consider it worth publishing.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)