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Research Process

Get help with any part of the research process.

It is especially important to evaluate websites for reliability and accuracy before you use them in your research assignments.

Using Websites

It is important to evaluate all information you encounter, but it is especially important to be critical of the information you find on the web.  Does it pass the CRAAP test?

Currency:  Is the site up-to-date and edited regularly?
Relevancy:  Who is the intended audience for this information and is the information unique?
Authority:  Who is the author and what are his or her credentials?  Is there contact information?  Is it a company, organization, or university?
Accuracy:  Where does this information come from?  Are there sources listed?  Are there typos or spelling or grammar errors?
Purpose:  Why was this site created?  Is it intending to sell a product?  What is the domain name (.edu, .gov, .com, .org)?

 

How Search Engines Work

by Google