Students: Evaluating Sources

Always a good way to start looking for information 

You can use book subject headings to find additional resources on the same topic

Thesaurus - browse for more subject terms

BOOLEAN Terms

AND (limits search -fewer results)

OR (expands search)

NOT (keeps a word from appearing in results)

CRAAP = Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. 

Currency: the timeliness of the information

• When was the information published or posted?
• Has the information been revised or updated?  

Relevance: the importance of the information for your needs

• Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
• Who is the intended audience?

Authority: the source of the information

• Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
• What are the author's qualifications /credentials to write on the topic?
• Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source?
  •  examples:
    • .com (commercial), .edu (educational), .gov (U.S. government)
    • .org (nonprofit organization), or
    • .net (network)

Accuracy: the reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the content

• Is the information supported by evidence?
• Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
• Are there spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors?

Purpose: the reason the information exists

• What is the purpose of the information? to inform? teach? sell? entertain? persuade?
• Is the information fact? opinion? propaganda? objective and impartial?
• Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases?

Original Documents created with event 

1st hand observations, accounts of the events, viewpoints

Examples: 

• Interviews
• Reports
• Studies
• Speeches
• News footage
• Creative works
• Diary Entries

Works that analyze, assess, or interpret a historical event, era, or phenomenon - generally using primary sources

Interpretation of info usually written well after the event, reviews, or critiques

Examples: 

• Journal articles
• textbooks
• Editorial articles
• Biographies 
• Literary criticism 
• Book Reviews