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ENGL 057 - Critical Connections in Reading and Writing - Mummert

This guide provides tips and resources for finding article and web site sources for Professor Mummert's ENGL 003 and 057 research projects.

Find a Web Site Here!

Google Web Search

Evaluate Your Web Site Using the CRAAP Test

Unlike books and scholarly databases, it's easy for anyone to create a website or edit a Wikipedia entry. It can provide quick and up-to-the-minute information, but not all of it is true or trustworthy. There is no internet police making sure that everything online is true. So, it's important to apply a simple test to make sure the sites we're using are good enough for research.

Evaluation Practice:  Check these web sites for "authority" specifically. Which are more appropriate to use as sources for a research project?

Currency or the timeliness of the web page

  • When was the information posted?
  • When was it last updated?
  • Are there more recent websites or articles?
  • Are links working and up-to-date? Broken links mean a site is not being taken care of and is not a good site.

When choosing between similar websites, try to pick the more recent one to use.

Modified version of CRAAP Test created by Meriam Library at California State University, Chico.

Relevance or uniqueness of the content and its importance for your needs

  • Does this site talk about your topic?
  • Can you find the same or better information somewhere else?
  • Who is this website for? Make sure it is the same as the kind of people you are writing for.

Modified version of CRAAP Test created by Meriam Library at California State University, Chico.

Authority or the source of the web page

  • Can you tell who is the author or creator?
  • Can you tell the author is an expert?
    • Do they list where they work or talk about their connection to the topic?
    • Is there contact information for the author?
  • What is the type of website? (.edu and .gov are the best for research)

Never ever use a source if you can't tell who the author is or why you should trust wha they say.

Modified version of CRAAP Test created by Meriam Library at California State University, Chico.

Accuracy or reliability or truthfulness

  • Where does the information come from? Does the author cite their sources?
  • Do your other sources support what this site is saying?
  • Are there spelling or grammar errors?

Modified version of CRAAP Test created by Meriam Library at California State University, Chico.

Purpose or the reason the website exists

  • To entertain you?
  • To inform or explain something you?
  • To persuade you?
  • To sell you something? Are there a lot of ads?

The best sources try to inform or explain.

Modified version of CRAAP Test created by Meriam Library at California State University, Chico.