00:06 When you are trying to figure out if a source is appropriate to use, there’s an easy way 00:10 to check: CRAAP! 00:13 CRAAP stands for the 5 things we are looking for in a source: currency, relevance, authority, 00:20 accuracy, and purpose. 00:23 Currency refers to the date when a source was created, either when an article or book was published, or when a website was 00:29 last updated. 00:31 The date of publication or creation may or may not matter for everything you’re researching, 00:34 but it is important to know if you need something current. 00:37 Relevance is probably the one that you are going to think to look for first: namely, 00:42 does this information relate to the topic I want to write about? 00:46 It also deals with if the information is written at the right level – most likely academic 00:50 – and who the intended audience is. 00:53 Authority asks who wrote and published the article. 00:57 Most articles should include the credentials of their author, sometimes the institute or 01:01 department where they work, and in some cases contact information. 01:06 The next letter stands for accuracy. You want to make sure 01:10 the work you are pulling information from is legitimate. 01:13 and that any claims that work makes are supported by evidence. The easiest way to check this is to look at who the article cited. 01:20 Make sure they are using academic sources, or at least legitimate ones. 01:26 The final criterion is the purpose of the article. 01:30 Think about why it was written, and what the author wants to accomplish. 01:34 Some authors or publishers might only present one side of an argument, 01:37 meaning that they are biased to present information in a specific way. 01:41 Keep this in mind when choosing sources. 01:45 After looking through these criteria, you should have a better idea if your source is 01:49 acceptable or not! 01:51 Just remember – the more research you do, the easier evaluating resources will get!