ENGL 1302 - Dr. Roy - Fall 2025: Web Sites + Evaluating Information

It was the best of sources, it was the worst of sources...

The Internet is a fantastic place to find great sources, but it is also a fantastic place to find not so great sources.

Learning how to evaluate information is one of the most important skills you will learn at ACC. Anyone can publish on the web - you have to be proactive about deciding if the information is reliable or contains bad information.

Tips:

• The author may be listed at the bottom of the webpage
• Domains like .edu or .org can be purchased - just looking at the URL is not enough
• News websites, like newspapers, may not be fact-checked
• A website setup to make money may have misleading information

How can you tell if a web site is trustworthy or not? It's not always easy, but there are things that you can look for that will help you decide.

• Who is the author? Are they qualified to talk about this subject?
• How accurate is the information? You may need to compare what you find with another source to answer this question.
• Who is the audience? This can influence how much detail is included.
• What point of view is being represented? All sites have a bias, but is it obvious or are they trying to hide something?
• How up to date is the site? Does it matter? In the Arts and Humanities it might not be crucial to have last minute information.

The library guide, Finding & Evaluating Information on the Internet, can help you evaluate websites and judge the quality of the information you find.

*Be skeptical when evaluating any information source.

*This is especially true for World Wide Web pages, because there is no quality control.

*Anyone can put information on the web.

Consider these factors when evaluating a source:

Credibility
Who is the author? Are any credentials given? Who is the publisher? If you can't tell or if there isn't any clear information, be suspicious. For web sites, you often have to check the home page or the "About Us" page to find who is behind a source.

Point of View or Bias
There's nothing wrong with a source having a point of view, but you need to be aware of it so you can investigate the other sides. Example: Information on gun control from the National Rifle Association.

Timeliness
Think about your topic and how important recent information is to it. For an art history project , it probably isn't very important. For a paper on genetic engineering, it is very important.

Accuracy
This is the ultimate point. But you may not know enough about a topic to judge. Look for solid evidence, such as research studies and statistics. Is there a bibliography or reference to other sources the author used? These indicate the information is based on research rather than just opinion.

Use the SIFT skills employed by many fact checkers to determine if a news source or claim is factual and trustworthy. Simply put the SIFT skills are:

SIFT method was developed by Mike Caulfield based on the skills used by professionals used by fact-checkers.

What is CRAAP?
CRAAP is a set of criteria designed by California State University, Chico to help you find the best sources for your school work. It is a good starting point for evaluating sources for academic purposes like papers, reports and speeches.

Is it CRAAP?
Use the following rubric to help you choose sources for your paper or other school work.

Created by Austin Community College Library Services, 2017.

Be skeptical of all sources that you find whether online or in print. Use CRAAP or your own personal criteria to find sources that are appropriate for your purpose. Your criteria for sources for academic work may be very different than your criteria for sources for personal use. It all depends on the situation.