A strategy to assess source credibility CRAP A strategy to assess source credibility

Red Flags for Source Credibility Anonymity – no author or sponsoring entity Misspelled words and poor grammar Vague or sweeping generalizations One-sided viewpoint that does not address an opposing side Hostile tone or language "stupid jerks," "shrill cries of my extremist opponents")  Overclaims "Thousands of children are murdered every day in the United States." Numbers or statistics presented without an identified source for them 

Is it CRAP Authority Purpose/Point of View Currency Reliability How recent is the information? How recently has the website been updated? Is it current enough for your topic? Reliability What kind of information is included in the resource? Is content of the resource primarily opinion? Is it balanced? Does the creator provide references or sources for data or quotations? Authority Who is the creator or author? What are the credentials? Who is the publisher or sponsor? Are they reputable? What is the publisher’s interest (if any) in this information? Purpose/Point of View Is this fact or opinion? the creator/author trying to sell you something? Is it biased?

An annotated bibliography allows you to justify the credibility of your source in 150 words or less. Content - In one sentence, what is the resource about? Currency- Is it new? Is it up-to-date for the topic? Reliability - Is the information accurate? Is there any reason to believe this article is not trustworthy. Authority - Is it written by someone who has the expertise to author the information? What are the author’s credentials? Purpose - What is it for? Why was the article written?

Sample bibliography and annotation   Gutierrez-Jones, Carl. Deaths at the U.S.-Mexico Border. January 18, 2008. Immigration Debate. January 10, 2016. http://aad.english.ucsb.edu/. This site presents diverse opinions regarding Affirmative Action topics. Hosted and written by the St. Joseph’s University Affirmative Action and Diversity department, it is designed to help lend many different voices to the debates surrounding the issues of affirmative action. This site is an academic resource and it provides scholars, students, and the interested public with on-site articles and theoretical analyses, policy documents, current legislative updates. The author is an immigrant himself, and gives both first and second hand accounts of the dangerous conditions involved in crossing the US/Mexican border. Although it was written eight years ago, the situation has not changed and it is still a relevant article today.

Read the following article and determine it’s CRAP level Read the following article and determine it’s CRAP level. Once that is determined, write an annotated bibliography for this source. These Disturbing Fast Food Truths Will Make You Reconsider Your Lunch http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/20/fast-food- truths_n_4296243.html