The CRAP Test- Criteria for evaluating websites*
CRAP stands for Currency, Reliability, Authority, and Purpose/ Point of View
Criteria |
Evaluation |
Currency How recent is the information? When is the last time the website updated? |
☐ Yes ☐ No |
Reliability Are there spelling or grammatical errors? Are references or citations provided? |
☐ Yes ☐ No |
Authority Who is author? What are the author’s credentials or organizational affiliations? Who is the publisher or the sponsor the website? |
☐ Yes ☐ No |
Purpose/ Point of View Is it objective or biased? Is the information fact or opinion? What is the agenda of the website? Trying to sell something or advocating group’s point of view? Who is intended audience? |
☐ Yes ☐ No
|
*Meriam Library, California State University, Chio (https://www.csuchico.edu/lins/handouts/eval_websites.pdf)
Top Five Helpful Google Search Tips
1. Use quotations for phrase searching: "global warming"
2. Limit search results within a site or domain: "global warming" site:nytimes.com or site:gov
3. Limit search results within a specific time frame: Click "Tools" and choose "custom range"
4. Expand your search results using OR: "global warming" OR "climate change"
5. Exclude words using a minus symbol (-): Javascript -coffee