
Accuracy & Credibility Assessment
REMEMBER TO CHECK THE SOURCE’S CREDIBILITY. Here are some tips:
1. How did you find it?
- If it was recommended by your teacher librarian and included on the Pathfinder, you can trust that it is a reliable resource.
- Did you use EasyBib to find the resource? Did EasyBib give it a GREEN light?
- Did you use Sweet Search to find the resource? (these have been vetted by educators)
- Did you just do a Google Search? (proceed to the next steps)
2. Is the site reputable?
- .edu means this is affiliated with a university (good source)
- .gov means this is a federal government site (good source)
- .org means it is an advocacy or non-profit site (might be good, but might have an agenda/bias)
- Is the author(s) listed? Are the author’s credentials included? Are her/his credentials relevant to the information being presented?
- Does the site have a list of resources or bibliography?
- What is the site’s objective? Is the site trying to sell you something or convince you of something? (it may be biased)
3. Is the site and information current?
- Is there a date of copyright and is it recent, or was it updated recently?
- Are the links current and functional?
Sources for evaluation criteria:
Avery, Susan. “Evaluating Internet Sources.” University Library. University of Illinois, 29 Aug. 2012. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. <http://www.library.illinois.edu/ugl/howdoi/webeval.html>.
“Evaluating Information: Applying the CRAAP Test.” California State University, Chico, 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. <http://www.csuchico.edu/lins/handouts/eval_websites.pdf>.
“Evaluating Sources Overview.” Purdue OWL. Purdue University, 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/553/01/>.