IDS 103 - College Orientation and Research Skills: Website Evaluation

Credit: Video summarizing the CRAAP Test from Vancouver Island University Library.

The CRAAP Test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose) is a list of criteria to help you evaluate websites.  

Currency - the timeliness of the information

• When was the information published or posted?
• Has the information been revised or updated?
• Is the information current or out-of date for your topic?
• Are the links functional?   

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?
• Is the information at an appropriate level for your needs?
• Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use?

Authority - the source of the information

• Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
• Are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
• What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
• What type of website is it (.com, .gov, .edu, .org)?

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

• Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
• Can you verify any of the information in another source?
• Are references/citations provided?
• Does the language or tone seem biased and free of emotion?
• Are there spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors? Poor graphic design and an excessive use of capital letters often indicate that the integrity of a site is questionable.

Purpose - the reason the information exists

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

Credit: Evaluating Sources: The CRAAP Test 

When you are researching for an assignment, websites can be a good way to obtain information. However, websites can also contain personal opinions and misinformation.  All information you gather from websites should undergo some scrutiny to determine if the information presented is accurate and current.

Printed materials, like books and journals, go through a formal evaluative and editorial process before they are published.  The Internet has removed the restrictions and editorial process for print materials and therefore anyone can publish a website. To ensure the websites you use as information sources are acceptable, you should ask questions about those websites.

One of the first things to look at when evaluating a website is the URL which can tell you about the website's author, audience, purpose, and country of origin. The URL is the address you type to access a website. The domain suffix is at the end of the domain name and can offer insight into the type of organization. Generally, looking at just the domain will not give you enough information to determine if a source is reliable. You will need to do additional analysis using lateral reading. 

Internet Domain Suffixes

• .com - commercial website. Information provided by commercial interests is generally going to provide details on the product they promote.
• .edu - educational institution. Websites using this domain name are schools ranging from kindergarten to higher education.
• .gov - government site. If you come across a website with this domain, then you're viewing a federal government site. All branches of the United States federal government use this domain. 
• .mil -  military site. Used by the various branches of the Armed Forces of the United States.
• .net - Used to be a catch-all for websites that did not fit into the categories above or used for businesses that provide a web service like a database or web hosting.
• .org -  organization site. Organizations such as the American Red Cross or PBS (Public Broadcasting System) use this domain suffix. 

Use caution when Wikipedia: Entries from Wikipedia should not be cited in your research paper. It can be a good place to learn preliminary information about your topic, which you should then verify elsewhere. Make use of the bibliographic citations in Wikipedia articles.