Evaluating Sources Is it C.R.A.P.?
So Many Sources Must be reliable Must be relevant Books, articles, websites, interviews
The C.R.A.P. Test Guideline to determine usability Acronym for… Currency Relevancy Authority Purpose
Currency NOT $ Is the information recent General rule Published in the last 4 years Published at the time of the actual event, discovery, etc.
Relevancy Does it apply to your topic? How much applies to your topic? Is the Information applicable to your topic? Is the information general or detailed, balanced and biased?
Authority Who authored the information? Are they trustworthy? What are their credentials? One person or many? Corporation or Organization? Are there methods/references? Is it peer-reviewed?
Purpose Who is the intended audience? Is the information to inform, persuade, sell, entertain, etc.? Is this a first-hand account of an event or research? Does the author have a vested interest in the topic?
Primary Sources Primary = raw materials of history Original documents Archives and manuscripts Photos, recordings, film Journals, letters, diaries Speeches Scrap books
Primary Sources Cont. Books, newspapers, magazines, published at the time Government publications Oral histories Organizational records Autobiographies/memoirs
Primary Sources Cont. Artifacts Research data, polls, etc. Emails, listsservs Maps http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/finding.html
Secondary Sources Encyclopedias Chronologies Biographies Journal Articles not written at the time of the event Most published books Book, art, theatre reviews
Secondary Sources Cont. Abstracts of articles Paraphrased quotations Dictionaries Textbooks