Anytime we look for information, for school or in our daily lives, we make choices about what resources we decide to use and trust. Since the information that we trust helps us build our worldview, it is important to have an objective way of evaluating what we read.
Below are two methods you can use, the SIFT method and the CRAP Test.
What is a credible/trustworthy source online? How can we tell? All of us ask these questions. The truth is we have to evaluate everything we look at to determine if we can trust it, especially websites.
The good news is using the SIFT method and other clues can help you decide. We can use the SIFT method to evaluate items found on the open web (using a search engine like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Safari, DuckDuckGo, etc.).
Watch the following video to learn more:
Online Verification Skills - Video 1: Introductory Video by CTRL-F. Video is closed captioned and a transcript is available on YouTube. (Approximately 1 minute.)
If a claim causes strong emotions — anger, glee, pride, vindication — and that emotion causes you to share a “fact” with others, STOP. You must fact-check this claim. In addition, if you get lost, or hit dead ends, or find yourself going down an increasingly confusing rabbit hole during your investigation, STOP. Back up and start over knowing what you know now. You’re likely to take a more informed path with different search terms and better decisions.
Read what other people say about the source (publication, author, etc.). The truth is in the network. What you are doing when investigating the source is a skill called Lateral Reading.
Online Verification Skills — Video 2: Investigate the Source by CTRL-F. Video is closed captioned and transcripts are available on YouTube. (2 minutes, 45 seconds)
Understand the bias and the credibility of news/content providers by using Media Bias Fact Check.
Look around to see if someone else has already fact-checked the claim or provided a synthesis of research or provided coverage that gives more useful information about the claim or the context of the claim. Sometimes, the first article we find isn't the best and we need to look for something with more credibility making the same claim, or discussing the same topic.
Skill: Find better coverage with Mike Caulfield by CTRL-F. Video is closed captioned and a transcript is available on YouTube. (4 minutes, 27 seconds.)
Need to check on rumors or viral claims?
As you become more familiar with news sources you can trust, "trade up" the news topic to them. Then spend your time with a trusted source instead of trying to figure out if an unknown sources is credible and trustworthy.
Watch the following video to learn more:
Online Verification Skills- Video 4: Look for Trusted Work by CTRL-F is closed captioned and a transcript is available on YouTube. (approximately 4 minutes)
Most web content is not original. Get to the original source to understand the trustworthiness of the information. Also, trace any links within a source to confirm that the claims are consistent and from credible sources.
Watch the following video to learn more:
Online Verification Skills - Video 3 : Find the Original Source by CTRL-F is closed captioned and a transcript is available on YouTube. (1 minute, 34 seconds.)
There are many things to think about when looking for a credible website.
Some instructors might advocate use the CRAP test (Where you search for Currency, Reliability/Relevance, Authority/Author, and Purpose).
Let's review each of these elements as you should use them to evaluate each source for your paper.
Evaluating Information by Charles Sturt University Library. Transcript is available on YouTube.