ENG 110 - Schaaf: Websites

The Digital Commons Network brings together free, full-text scholarly articles from hundreds of universities and colleges worldwide. Curated by university librarians and their supporting institutions, the Network includes a growing collection of peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, working papers, conference proceedings, and other original scholarly work.

The Digital Commons Network includes scholarly work from diverse disciplines like architecture, business, education, law, and the sciences. You can also access humanities, social sciences, and engineering scholarship through the network.

Besides Lateral Reading, another way to evaluate information sources is the CRAAP Test.

C - Currency

• How timely is the information? When was it published? Has it been revised or updated?

R - Relevance

• How does the information related to your needs? Does it relate to your topic? Who is the intended audience? Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use?

A - Authority

• Who is the author/publisher/source? What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations? Is the author qualified to write on the topic? Is there contact information? Does the URL tell you anything about the authority of the source?

A - Accuracy

• Where does the information come from? Is it supported by evidence? Has the information been reviewed or refereed? Are there typos or misspellings? Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?

P - Purpose

• What is the purpose of the information? Is it to inform, teach, sell, entertain or persuade? Does the author make their intentions or purpose clear? Is the information fact, opinion or propaganda? Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional or personal biases? Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?