COJO 3310: Public Relations: Company Information

You can learn about a company's history, background, and financials from the sources listed here.

THINGS TO REMEMBER:

Southwest's official name is Southwest Airlines Co.

Southwest Airlines is publicly traded on the NYSE and its ticker symbol is LUV.

Southwest's SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) industry code is:

45129902:  Air Passenger Carrier, Scheduled 

Southwest's NAICS (North American Industrial Classification System) industry code is:

481111:  Scheduled Air Transportation 

Currency

• Copyright date/last update date
• Up-to-date terminology and facts

Authority

• Qualifications or credentials of the author, editor, contributors
• Is the material primary or secondary?
• Publisher’s quality/purpose? (Do they publish reputable material?) 
• What kind of information is the source intended to convey?
• What topics are covered? For what period of time?

• How detailed is the source? 
• How complete is it?  Are there any noticeable omissions? 

Accuracy

• What is the source’s purpose? (What is the author trying to accomplish through the work?)
• Does the content seem credible? (Well-written, well organized, logically presented)
• To what extent does the argument rely on evidence and to what extent does it rely on opinion?
• Is the evidence verifiable? (Sources clearly attributed at the end or in the text of the article)
• Is the information presented in an objective manner? (All sides of an issue presented)
• How does source fit in with other sources in the field? (Does it reference other reputable/authoritative sources? Does it build upon the contributions of others/current knowledge? Is it compatible with known information or explain why it is not compatible?)

General assessment strategies:

Developed by Sara Lowe and Karen Wallace; informed by Libraries Linking Idaho course on evaluating reference sources (http://www.lili.org/forlibs/ce/able/course10/)