Evaluating Material on the Web using CRAAP

1. The purpose of this assignment is to help you develop the skills youll need to search
for and evaluate specific topic selections on the World Wide Web (WWW).

2. Below are two tables. The first table lists questions to ask yourself in assessing
whether a piece of material found on a site is current, relevant, authoritative,
accurate, and purposeful.

3. The second table includes a scoring system to help you determine whether the sites
youre visiting are, in fact, current, relevant, authoritative, accurate, and purposeful.
The scoring ranges from 0 100, 0 being the lowest for very poor content.

4. The criteria you use to evaluate web resources in this assignment is also relevant for
hardcopy material you find in the library.

5. For the purpose of this assignment, choose a topic youre interested in, search for it,
find a site youd like to evaluate, and assign a score (0-20) for each criteria based on
the answers you found to each question. For example, if the information you find
published is recent, if its been updated recently to reflect current changes, if the
information is current for your topic, and if the links are function, you would likely
give a score of 20 in the area of Currency. Do this for each section and total your
score at the end.

Topic I am Evaluating: interested in this at the moment because of other classes

Site URL: http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572

Questions To Evaluate Internet Material Scoring Range

Currency: The timeliness of the information.
When was the information published or posted? 2012
Has the information been revised or updated? yes 20
Is the information current or out-of date for your topic? no
Are the links functional? yes
Your Total Score for Currency
Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs.
Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question? yes
Who is the intended audience? Beekeepers, different types of biologist
and the general public
Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too elementary or 19
advanced for your needs)?kind of
Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one
you will use?yes
Would you be comfortable using this source for a research paper?
Your Total Score for Relevance

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Authority: The source of the information.
Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor? USDA, American
government
Are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?Yes
What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
USDA, Agricultural Research Service,
http://prntscr.com/7jb3ze
20
What are the author's qualifications to write on the topic? Well unless
youre into conspiracies the US government want America to keep
running smoothly and bees are the primary pollinator. United States
Department of Agriculture
Is there contact information, such as a publisher or e-mail address?
yes
Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source? examples:
.com .edu .gov .org .net yes .gov
Your Total Score for Authority 20
Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the informational
content.
Agricultural Research
Where does the information come from?
Service they collect data collaborate with field works and
make statistical data out of it and do research to improve
way of trying to manage this data
Is the information supported by evidence? yes
20
Has the information been reviewed or refereed? yes
Can you verify any of the information in another source or from
personal knowledge? Yes but not a lot of cites publish as much raw
data
Does the language or tone seem biased and free of emotion? For the
most part
Are there spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors? I am
horrible with everything above, but to me it seems all there
Your Total Score for Accuracy 20
Purpose: The reason the information exists.
What is the purpose of the information? to inform? teach? sell?
entertain? persuade? to inform
Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear? yes
Is the information fact? opinion? propaganda? Facts 18

Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?

Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or
personal biases? There may be political biases on how to handle the
data

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Your Total Score for Purpose 18

TOTAL SCORE FOR THE SITE YOU EVALUATED: 97

OUT OF: 0 - 100

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Interpretation of Internet Content Evaluation Scores
A: 80- Excellent material; feel free to use it, but give the rationale for how it fits into your
100 research.
B: 70-79 Very Good material: use it with caution. Be sure to include an explanation of why you
think the material fits in with your research as well as your cautionary measures.
C: 60-69 Good material: use it only with great caution; put more emphasis on material from
other internet or non-internet sources.
D: 50-59 Poor material: only use it under exceptional circumstances; clearly justify your use.
F: 0-49 Very poor material: do not use it. If you insist on using it, make a very strong case for
your decision. Be willing to back up your arguments.

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