Evaluate sources by looking at the Who, What, When, Where, and Why.
A source evaluation rubric, similar to SCARAB. Southern New Hampshire University Shapiro Library added some helpful language around online resources.
The original source evaluation rubric. CRAAP looks at the areas of currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose.
Source evaluation framework that considers the factors of rationale, authority, date, accuracy, and relevance.
Uses the criteria of timeliness, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose to evaluate sources of information.
There are many ways to evaluate information to make sure what you have is credible and useful for your needs.
The SIFT Method is helpful to evaluate popular information that you find online.
SIFT stands for Stop, Investigate the Source, Find Better Coverage, and Trace It Back to the Original Source.
This first step asks you to pause for a moment before automatically trusting a source and accepting it as true. Don't share it or use it for your research until you know more.
Ask yourself:
This step asks you to take action on a source. Become a fact checker and read laterally. Go outside the source to learn what other sources say about it.
Start by learning more about the organization and the author.
If the source is making a claim:
Can you find coverage of the claim from other sources? Can you find consensus about the claim? One easy strategy is to copy and paste a headline into a new window followed by the words “fact check”
Does your article contain bias? Use the following tools to help you:
A Word About Domains
The website's domain is not an indicator of its credibility. The domain only tells you what kind of website it is: commercial, education, government, non-profit organization (possibly). You should evaluate the source based on the information it contains, not by the URL.
A website that ends in .gov (government website) is considered authoritative, but you should still evaluate it to make sure it meets your information need.
Think about how much or what kind of information you need. Other coverage might be more in-depth, more reputable, more varied, or more current.
How to Find Better Coverage:
Good information should cite their sources. Scholarly sources will have a list of references at the end. Popular online sources may link to their sources.
Images, Video, and Media
These can also be altered, taken out of context, or misrepresented. This happens frequently on social media.