Finding relevant sources of information can often be a difficult and frustrating task. On this page you will find some tools and tips you can use to help make this process less daunting.
Key Words
When using internet search engines and databases it is a good idea to develop some key words from your research topic. Synonyms can also be helpful for broadening your searches for example:
Researching the Roman Senate? – consider words like politics, government, speeches or legislation.
Or Egyptian Religion? – consider words like faith, rituals, myth, customs.
Or ancient Greek Culture? – consider words like people, practices, gender roles.
The CRAP test
This is a simple and effective tool that can be used when evaluating sources. By looking at four major areas, you can generally gain good insight into whether your resource is useful. these being:
Currency
- how recent is the information?
- is it current enough for your topic?
Reliability
- What kind of information is included in your resource?
- Is it objective?
- If it’s a website is it from a credible domain such as .edu or .gov?
Authority
- Who is the Author, and what are their credentials?
- Is the information peer-reviewed?
- If the information comes from a website is there any advertising?
Purpose
- Why was the information published, who is the intended audience?
- Is it factual or just opinion, is it biased or is there balanced argument?
- What is the author trying to do? Are they trying to sell something, or inform or entertain.