Westby Area High School: Evaluating

The CRAAP test is a set of guidelines developed by the Meriam Library at California State University, Chico to help you decide whether information you find is best for you for a particular situation. Please remember that these are guidelines only and that not every guideline is appropriate for every situation.

Currency

• When was the information published? Has anything changed since then? Does your topic require current information, or will older sources work too?

Relevance

• Who is the intended audience? Is better information available elsewhere? Is this particular information helpful for you in this research scenario?

Authority

• Who wrote this information? Is this person an expert in the field?

Accuracy

• Is this information accurate? Is it supported by evidence?

Purpose

• Why did this person write this piece? What angle or perspective is offered? Is there a bias present?

If you have questions or concerns, please ask your professor or a librarian.

Sometimes you may need information that is scholarly. How can you tell?