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Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources: A Guide to Information Types.

This guide explains the differences between types of sources to help students choose the more appropriate type of information for their work.

 

Evaluating Sources

Before deciding whether or not to use a source, you should evaluate the information and determine if the source is appropriate for your assignment. Information is all around us and just because you find something that is written on your topic it doesn't mean that it is in fact a useful source to include in your assignment. There are many factors to consider such as authority, currency, accuracy as well as bias and perspective of your source.

There are various frameworks or checklists that can help guide with the evaluation of your sources.

 

SIFT

The SIFT method was developed by digital literacy expert Michael Caulfield to determine if online content are credible sources of information.


SIFT Infographic

 

SIFT includes four moves:
Before sharing and emotionally reacting to your online content, stop!
Investigate the source, who created the information and for what purpose.
Find better coverage and trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context.


 

 

CRAAP

The CRAAP Test is a framework used to evaluate the relevance of information sources both in print and digital format particularly in academic research and writing.  It was developed by Sarah Blakeslee and a team of librarians at California State University, Chico, in 2004. 

CRAAP is an acronym that stands for,

Currency

  • Refers to when a source was published or produced and how current and up-to-date the information is.
  • Helps determine whether a source may qualify as a primary source.
  • Key indicators of currency include:
    Copyright and publication dates I Edition numbers I Patent or trademark date

Relevance

  • Refers to if the information supports your objectives.
  • Do the conclusions drawn from this source support your thesis statement?

Authority

  • Refers to when a source is trustworthy and and credible.
  • Who is the author?  What are their credentials?  
  • Learn more under the "Authority" section of this research guide.

Accuracy

  • Not all information can be trusted and you should avoid using sources that are unreliable.
  • For example, Wikipedia can be edited by anyone, even though the information is audited by Wikipedia there can still be unreliable information.

Purpose

  • Ask yourself what was the author's purpose to create  and share this information.
  • Was for political reasons?  to sell you something?  to share new research findings?  to spread biases and stereotypes?