FYEX 100 - Business: Evaluating Info

Regardless of where you are getting your information, you need to be aware of a few simple attributes about whatever information you are using.

When evaluating information, here are five helpful considerations:

Currency: timeliness of the information.

Relevance: importance of the information for your need.

Authority: source of the information.

Accuracy: reliability, truthfulness, correctness.

Purpose: reason that the information exists.

Currency: the timeliness of the information

• When was the information published or posted?
• Has the information been revised or updated?
• Is the information current or out-of date for your topic?
• Are the links functional?

Relevance: the importance of the information for your needs

• Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
• Who is the intended audience?
• Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too elementary or advanced for your needs)?
• Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use?
• Would you be comfortable using this source for a research paper?

Authority: the source of the information

• Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
• Are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
• What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
• What are the author's qualifications to write on the topic?
• Is there contact information, such as a publisher or e-mail address?
• Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source?

​examples: .com (commercial), .edu (educational), .gov (U.S. government), .org (nonprofit organization), or .net (network)

Accuracy: the reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the content, and

• Where does the information come from?
• Is the information supported by evidence?
• Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
• Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?
• Does the language or tone seem biased and free of emotion?
• Are there spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors?

Purpose: the reason the information exists

• What is the purpose of the information? to inform? teach? sell? entertain? persuade?
• Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
• Is the information fact? opinion? propaganda?
• Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
• Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases?

Note: all credit for the CRAAP test goes to the librarians who developed it at CSU Chico.

The SIFT method is a way to evaluate any information you find, no matter the source, to determine whether it can be trusted and is a credible or reliable source of information. It was developed by Mike Caulfield, and is adapted here via with a CC BY 4.0 license.

S - Stop

Before you use or share a source, stop!

Ask yourself:

• Do you know the website, journal, author, or company?
• What is its reputation?
• What is your purpose? How do you feel?
• What are your biases about this source?

I - Investigate the Source

Make sure that the source you are about to use is reliable - by leaving it and thinking laterally.

Use trusted information to look up information about the author and publisher of your source.

• Go beyond the "About Us" section or other information directly from the source's creators.
• Use Wikipedia or Google to investigate the source and its creators.
• Is this source worth your time to use?

F - Find Other Coverage

Most topics have multiple sources of information about it - go find them!

Find the most trustworthy sources for the information you want to use.

• Can you find a better or more trusted source?
• Can you find a more in-depth source?
• What do trusted sources agree on about this topic?

T - Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media to their Original Context

Find the origin of the claims, quotes, data, and other media you want to use.

Click through the links in your source, and use outside sources, to find the origin of the information.

• Can you find the original source? What is its original context?
• Did your original source fairly represent the information?
• Does the extracted information support its original context, or is it being taken out of context?
• Is information being cherry-picked to support an agenda or bias?