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Micro/Macro Economics (Wright): Finding Credible Web Sources

Evaluating Information for Academic Quality

Wikipedia or not?

Wikipedia can be good place to start your research … but NOT to end!

Use it to get some general background information and links to other resources, but beware errors and inconsistencies. 

Evaluating Resources: The CRAAP Test

How can you tell if the source you are looking at is credible or relevant?  

1. Consider your specific informational needs.  
    ex. Do you need a scholarly journal article on a cultural group or are you looking for a review of the latest smartphone?

2. The CRAAP Test is a way to help you determine whether a source is credible and relevant.
Remember: A source isn't always great or always bad.  There is a lot of gray area.  
After considering the CRAAP test, are you abe to defend to your instructor why you chose the source using CRAAP criteria?

CRAAP criteria. Currency. When was it published? When was it last updated? Are older sources appropriate for your topic? Are the links working? Relevance. Does it relate to your topic? Who is the intended audience? Is it written at your reading level? Have you considered other sources before deciding on this one? Authority. Who is the author? The publisher? Did anyone this publication? Who? What makes the author/publisher qualified in this topic? What does the URL tell you? .gov, .edu, .org. Accuracy. Where is the info coming from? Is it supported by evidence? Has it been reviewed by others in the firld? Can you verify the info elsewhere? Is it unbiased and free of emotion? Is it free of spelling or grammar errors? Purpose. Is it intended to teach, sell, entertain, inform, persuade? Are the author's intentions clear? Is the point of view objective and impartial (does that matter for your purposes?)? Are there underlying biases (political, cultural, ideological, religious, institutional, etc.?

Recommended Websites

Better Searching

Did you know....Google organizes sites by popularity not relevance? Here are some tips for finding better results:

 Use quote marks to search for an exact phrase.

Example: "study skills"

 Limit your search to a specific type of domain by typing site:edu for education or site:gov for government

Example: lymphoma site:gov

 Word order matters so use the most important words first.

Example: blue sky brings back different results than sky blue

 Advanced search allows Google to search a single specific web site for all the occurrences of a keyword or phrase.