Comparing & Contrasting the Methods

What Students and Parents Need to Know

When doing research, it is hard to determine what to believe. These two simple tools, CRAAP and SIFT, can help you figure out if the information is reliable and creditable.

CRAAP helps students evaluate a source by asking:

Currency- Is it up to date?

Relevance- Does it fit your topic?

Authority- Who wrote it? Are they qualified?

Accuracy- Can you trust the facts?

Purpose- Why was it created? To inform or sell?

Great for: books, articles, and websites used for school research

SIFT helps students look at the source's background and get a bigger picture by doing 4 moves:

Stop- Don't believe everything at first glance.

Investigate- Who created this? Can they be trusted?

Find better coverage- Is there a more reliable source?

Trace- Where did the information originally come from?

Great for: news stories, social media posts, viral videos

CRAAP vs. SIFT: What's the Difference?

CRAAP focuses on what's on the page. SIFT focuses on what's behind the page.

CRAAP is best for academic research. SIFT is best for digital media like news stories, tweets, viral videos and information.

CRAAP is a slower, more detailed source check. SIFT is faster and good for a quick, online check.

You may be asking: Why teach both?

Using both the CRAAP and SIFT Models together helps students ask smart questions about information, avoid misinformation, and build strong research and media literacy skills.

Both methods share the same purpose: to help determine if a source is credible, reliable, and useful for research or when making a decision. Both methods focus on critical thinking skills and ask questions to assess information. They teach you to recognize false or misleading information. Whether you are researching an article, website, or video, both methods apply. You can use them to evaluate anything, anywhere.

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