Information is all around us. You can find it in various types of sources. Whether a source is useful or not depends a lot on what you are going to use the information for. If you need to get acquainted with a subject, encyclopedias and textbooks can be good, while when you are writing your academic essay you would rather need to go to original research presented in scholarly articles.
How can you assess the quality of the information and how do you tell the difference between good and bad information sources?
It is not easy to be source critical unless you are clear over the aim of the assessment. What am I looking for? Facts? Satire? Scolarly knowledge? Historical information? Information about the present? Primary or secondary sources?
To help you along with this we present you the CRAAP-test! The test consists of a list of questions aiming to direct you toward critical thoughts about your sources.
Currency – The time aspect on the source’s validity.
Relevance – How well does the information source meet your needs?
Authority – The value of the information source.
Accuracy – Is the information correct, credible?
Purpose – Why does the information exist at all, what does it want to convey?
