Whether it's in daily life, academic work, or professional settings, everyone needs information. In our daily lives, we make decisions based on information we seek, encounter, or that is provided to us, whether it's a new recipe to try, a new medication to take, or which car to buy. In academic work, students are expected to learn new information and to utilize it to strengthen the claims and recommendations they make in their assignments. Utilizing high quality sources increases the quality of your work; you draw on their accuracy and authority in order to build your own. In professional contexts, decision-making should similarly be informed by high-quality information.
Our purpose or need shapes what type of information is relevant and which sources we might trust. For example, when selecting a new recipe to try, we might consider a number of factors, including who wrote it, user reviews, nutrition information, or the time and skill level required. When seeking academic or professional information, we want to similarly evaluate our sources to ensure we are selecting accurate and reliable information to meet our needs.
The three techniques below can guide you through evaluating your sources. No one technique is necessarily better than the others, but offer different ways of conceptualizing similar concepts. Feel free to choose one your prefer, or mix and match as works best for your purposes!
Note: The word "text" is used in this guide to refer to a given piece of writing or media (e.g., an article, social media post, video, image, etc.). "Source" is used to refer to the creator and/or publisher of a given text (e.g., the author, artist, website, organization, etc. from which a text originates).
The SIFT method is a technique for engaging with information to verify its accuracy; it is often recommended when evaluating whether a text, claim, or piece of information is "fake news." This method is sometimes called "lateral reading," since you are reading multiple texts alongside each other (that is, laterally). You can use SIFT as part of your process when applying CRAAP or RADAR. SIFT is designed as a process in which one step leads to the next in order. Follow the steps below to implement SIFT:
The CRAAP test is a heuristic, or set of criteria, applied to a text to determine its usefulness to the reader in the context of their information need. Many people choose CRAAP to guide their source evaluation because of its humorous and memorable name. The RADAR test is similar to CRAAP; the SIFT method may be combined with either. Unlike SIFT, the criteria of CRAAP and RADAR can be applied in any order rather than a sequenced set of steps. Use the criteria below to conduct a CRAAP test:
The CRAAP test was originally developed by Sarah Blakeslee at the Meriam Library at California State University (2010).
CRAAP graphic created by Jessica D'Atri, Babson College, using Canva; modeled on graphic from “SIFT (The Four Moves)” by Mike Caulfield, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
RADAR is a heuristic, or set of criteria, applied to a text to determine its usefulness to the reader in the context of their information need. The CRAAP test is similar to RADAR; the SIFT method may be combined with either. Unlike SIFT, the criteria of RADAR and CRAAP can be applied in any order rather than a sequenced set of steps. Use the criteria below to apply RADAR:
RADAR was originally developed by Jane Mandalios of the American College of Greece (2013).
RADAR graphic created by Jessica D'Atri, Babson College, using Canva; modeled on graphic from “SIFT (The Four Moves)” by Mike Caulfield, licensed under CC BY 4.0.