History Resources

A simple and fun mnemonic called CRAAP¹ can be used here to help guide you through the steps of selecting a high quality web site.

Students often believe that you can find anything on the Internet and use it for research papers and projects.  This is often not the case.  To help in the evaluation process of Internet materials and to determine if you are using a high quality web site first figure out several things with respect to this material before using it.  Determine its Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose, which is referred to, again, as the CRAAP model for evaluating resources.  Answering these specific questions will give you a clear indication of the scholarly value of the web site or information retrieved from the web site in question and the Internet.

Quick Steps to Evaluating Internet Resources

Step I. Applying CRAAP:

Currency:

Is the information up-to-date or older?  What date was the web page revised or changed?  What is the first written date?  Remember, you may have a date range you have to pay attention to. In history this may not be as much of a concern because you just might want something from the time period of the event being researched.  This is very much acceptable in history reearch.

Relevance:

What do the authors want you to know?  Are you the targeted audience?  What is the value of the web site in comparison to the range of information resources available on this topic?

Authority/Credibility:

Who is the author or web producer? What type of authority does this person have?  Do they have credentials to be speaking on the topic?  For instance, is the author a journalist writing about organizational behavior versus a practitioner or researcher writing about the topic?  Asking this will specifically speak to how knowledgeable one will be on a topic.  Generally, the better web pages for scholarly research are typically from government (.gov), academic institutions (.edu), or reputable organizations (.org).  However, it is important to note that an organization can be biased.

Accuracy:

Can the accuracy of the material be verified?  Is there documentation for the information provided in the form of a bibliography or links to other sources?  How complete is the web site?  Are there gaps?  Was the material reviewed or just posted?  Is the content biased or skewed?  Does the text follow basic rules of grammar, spelling, and literary composition?

Purpose:

Identify the Type of web page.  Is it for the purposes of:

·         Entertainment

·         Business/Marketing

·         Reference/Information

·         News

·         Advocacy/Organizations

·         Personal Page

·         Government

You are not going to use material from a web page designed for entertainment purposes for a research assignment. 

Step II. Evaluate Your Answers

·         Were you able to answer all of the questions?

·         How many "yes" answers?

·         Do you still have unanswered questions such as bibliographic information or content issues?       

The web sites that receive more favorable responses from you are more than likely a useful site for research.  If you have any questions about the validity of a particular web site, please ask a librarian.

Acknowledgements:

¹The CRAAP model was suggested to me by a colleague, Dr. Joy Beatty, and the CRAAP Test from the California State University, Chico was reworked to be applied exclusively to Internet materials for this guide.