Librarian
Tools to Evaluate Sources
In the wake of the increase in misinformation, disinformation, and fake news, many organizations have created tools to help you determine the legitimacy of sources and claims. Find a few such tools on this page.
Fact Checking Journalism
- The Trust ProjectThe Trust Project is an international consortium of news organizations promoting standards of transparency and working with technology platforms to affirm and amplify journalism’s commitment to transparency, accuracy, inclusion, and fairness so that the public can make informed news choices.
- SnopesWhen misinformation obscures the truth and readers don’t know what to trust, Snopes’ fact-checking and original, investigative reporting lights the way to evidence-based and contextualized analysis. Snopes always link to and document their sources so readers are empowered to do independent research and make up their own minds.
- PolitiFactFact-checking journalism is the heart of PolitiFact. According to PoltiFact, "Our core principles are independence, transparency, fairness, thorough reporting and clear writing. The reason we publish is to give citizens the information they need to govern themselves in a democracy."
The CRAP Test
The CRAP Test
Currency
- How recent is the information?
- Can you locate a date for when the resource was written/created/updated?
- Based on your topic, is it current enough?
- Why might the date matter for your topic?
Reliability
- What kind of information is included in the resource?
- Is content of the resource primarily opinion?
- Is it balanced or biased?
- Is there a Bibliography? In other words, does the creator provide references or sources for data or quotations?
Authority
- Can you determine who is the creator or author?
- What are the credentials (education, affiliation, expertise?)
- Is the publisher or sponsor reputable?
- Are they reputable?
- What is the publisher’s interest (if any) in this information?
- Are there advertisements on the website?
Purpose/Point of View
- What's the intent of the article? (to persuade you, to sell you something?)
- For web resources, what is the domain? (.com .edu, .gov?) How might this influence the purpose or point of view?
- For web resources, are there ads on the webpage? How do they related to the topic of the web resource? (for example an ad for ammunition next to an article on firearm legislation or against gun control)
- Is the author presenting fact or opinion?
Adapted from Dominican University