Evaluating Sources of Information

The internet can be fantastic for researching a topic.

BUT... Not everything on the internet is true! 😱

When you are researching for an assignment, you have to be a "digital detective."

Use these three steps to figure out if a website (or source on a website) is trustworthy, or not.

Decoding Website Domains

When researching a topic on the Internet, before you even read the first paragraph on any website, look at the URL, which is the www.websitename.com in the address bar. The (domain) of a website tells you who is owns / runs the website and can give you clues about what their goal for this website might be. Some are deliberately trying to trick you with misinformation and disinformation.

The Wikipedia Dilemma

You have probably been told "Don't use Wikipedia," ... but Wikipedia has improved significantly over recent years, so it does have some value if you know how to use it.

The Best Use: Use Wikipedia to get a quick overview of a topic you are learning about or to find keywords for your research. Read the article, so that you have a basic understanding of the topic without accepting every fact or idea in the article as truth.

The Secret Hack: Scroll to the bottom of any Wikipedia page to the "References" section. Many articles on Wikipedia (not all) cite / reference high quality sources that you can click on to find more about the topic and see where the infromation for the article came from.

The CRAAP Test

If a source looks promising, put it through the CRAAP Test. If it fails even one of these categories, you might want to keep looking for more reliable information.

Currency: Is the information timely? If you’re researching Artificial Intelligence, an online article from 2015 is probably out of date, but if you are researching Ancient Rome, a website or article from 2015 is probably still fine, since little has changed on this topic.
Relevance: Does this actually answer your specific research question, or is it just "sort of" related? Who is the intended audience?
Authority: Who wrote this? Look for an "About Us" page. Are they an expert, or just someone with an opinion and a keyboard?
Accuracy: Is the information supported by evidence? If you can’t find the same facts on at least two other (.gov) or (.edu) reputable type sites, then you should be skeptical of it.
Purpose: Why does this page exist? Is it meant to teach you (inform), change your mind (persuade), or get you to click an ad (sell)?

Primary Vs Secondary Sources of Information

Primary Sources

A primary source is a first-hand account by an individual who witnessed or experienced an event. Primary sources allow you to examine the evidence first-hand without the opinions, analysis, and interpretations of others.

Primary sources are original documents, such as: diaries, letters, newspaper articles, speeches, autobiographies, and interviews. Artefacts such as buildings, pottery and even furniture can also be primary sources of information in a particular field as they tell us something about that period of time.

Secondary Sources

A secondary source is a second-hand account or observation at least one step removed from the event. Secondary sources interpret, offer commentary, analyse and draw conclusions about the events described, or shown, in a primary source.

Secondary sources can make the information more accessible to others by interpreting material from a variety of primary sources. The most common secondary sources are school textbooks and encyclopaedias.

IMPORTANT: Information found in books and on the internet can be either a primary source or a secondary source depending on when it was made or created.

Videos

Click on the images below to open the videos. If it is a ClickView video then you may need to sign into ClickView (@schools.vic.edu.au) to watch it.

Research Skills S1 • E5 - Evaluating SourcesWhen you evaluate a source, there are a number of questions you need to ask about it. This video explains how to use who, when ...

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