The C.R.A.A.P Test is a list of questions developed by Meriam Library at California state university, USA to help you evaluate the information you find. It works both for web pages and printed information. The different criteria will be more or less important depending on your situation or need.
Currency - the timeliness of the information
Relevance - the importance of the information for your needs
Authority - the source of the information
Accuracy - the reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the content
Purpose - the reason the information exists
By scoring each category on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 = worst, 10=best possible) you can give each site a grade on a 50 point scale for how high-quality it is!
45 - 50 Excellent | 40 - 44 Good | 35 - 39 Average | 30 - 34 Borderline Acceptable | Below 30 - Unacceptable (From Bluford Library, USA)
When writing a paper or thesis you need to use different types of sources depending on the context. You also have to critically evaluate your sources. This brief lecture deals with aspects to consider when using various types of sources.
