Information Literacy

Who Can You Trust?

Obviously, not all sources are authoritative. But how do you know?

CRAAP TEST

Currency

When was the source written or published?

Is the content up-to-date for your topic?

If evaluating a website, are the links functional? 

Relevance

Is the information relevant to your topic?

How detailed is the material?

To what extent does the information answer your research question?

Who is the intended audience for your publication?

Is the information at an appropriate level?

Authority

Who is the author (person, company or organization)?

What makes them an authority on this subject?

Are the author's qualifications or credentials listed?

If you are evaluating a website, does the URL reveal anything about the author (.gov = from government agency, etc.)?

Accuracy

Does the information seem accurate?

Is the information supported by evidence?

Can you verify the information in another source?

Are sources of information clearly identified?

Has the information been peer-reviewed?

Does the language or tone seem unbiased?

Are there spelling, grammar or other typographical errors?

Purpose

What is the intention of the source (to inform, teach, sell, entertain, persuade)?

Are there obvious biases?

Does the point of view seem neutral, or does it give both sides?

Who is the intended audience?

If you are evaluating a website, is there any advertising on the page?

What if the CRAAP Test did NOT Help?

If you are looking at an online source, the above questions may not be pertinent. Many online sources have no publication date, for example. Some of the questions, such as the audience, may be difficult to determine. And the About page may list "who" they are, but it may be incomplete or misleading information. It may be difficult to determine accuracy of information. If one group puts out multiple sites on a topic, it may seem accurate.

So how do you know?

If you need information quickly, and just don't have time to ask the above questions. Then skip to the information below for a more in-depth look at what questions to ask.

STEP ONE:

First, find the About page or author. Now find them on Wikipedia or other online sources. You have to know the actual source of the information before you can find out who they are and who financially supports them. it might say "staff", "board of directors" (see above) or other related terms.

Search for:

your topic -site:www.url.com

For example, if you want to know about the source of the New York Times you would search for:

new york times -site:www.nytimes.com

Note: There is no space between "site" and the URL.

This will search the for information on the NY Times, but NOT FROM the NY Times's website.

If you use Wikipedia, know that it can be changed by anyone. But if you look at the bottom of the page, sources are listed. You can follow these sources (Wikipedia almost always provides links) and often use their information while you research. Find multiple sources about the Author (or topic). For more on using Wikipedia, please download the Wikipedia Handout in the left column.

STEP TWO:

Use Fact-checking sites. You can use their search box or you can search for the following:

your topic or source site:www.url.com

For example:

rewire.news site:https://mediabiasfactcheck.com

Note: There is no space between "site" and the URL.

This will search the fact-checking site for information on this source or topic.

For a list of fact-checking sites, please check out the Media Bias tab from the left column of this page.

STEP Three:

Find out who finances their operation. Some sites will list this information on one of their pages. For many sites, you can simply search for "who owns. . ." and the source.

For example:

Best Practices

To avoid some of the issues with websites you should:

Always narrow your search by time frame. Go to "Tools" and then switch from "Anytime" the a narrower time frame. The time frame depends on the topic. For the most part, do not go beyond 5 years. New topics should be less than a year.