English 1: Finding and Evaluating Websites

A librarian named Sarah Blakeslee developed a very efficient way to determine whether an information resource is reliable: the CRAAP Test. 

When you evaluate websites, ask yourself questions according to these criteria:

Currency

• When was the information published or posted? 
• Has the information been revised or updated? 
• Does your topic require current information? 

Relevance

• Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question? 
• Who is the intended audience-- College students? Kids? Potential consumers?  
• Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use? 
• Would you be comfortable citing this source, or is there enough information available to form a proper citation?

Authority

• Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor? 
• What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations? Can you even find this information?
• Is the author qualified to write on the topic? How can you tell?
• Is there contact information for the site's creator, such as a publisher or email address? 

Accuracy

• Is the information supported by evidence? Is the evidence cited or linked? 
• Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge? 
• Does the language or tone seem unbiased and free of emotion? 
• Are there spelling, grammar, or typographical errors?

Purpose 

• What is the purpose of the information? Is it to inform, teach, sell, entertain, or persuade? 
• Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear? 
• Is the information fact, opinion, or propaganda? 
• Does the point of view appear objective and impartial? Can you detect any political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases? 

A website's domain (examples: .com, .edu) can give you a clue about the group or individual who owns the site, and the reason the site's information exists. This is important to consider when deciding how trustworthy a website's content is. 

The most commonly used domains in the U.S. and what they signify:

.edu - higher education college or university
.gov - government agency or organization
.com - commercial organization
.org - non-profit organization
.mil - military

In general, information found on .edu, .gov, .org, and .mil domains will be meant to inform and is fairly reliable.

Information on .com sites is usually either directly intended to sell products, or is supported by money generated by advertisements on the site. Information on .com sites isn't always unreliable-- for instance, most news and other primary source sites are .coms-- but  generally it must be considered more carefully than information found on other domain sites.