Blog Post #3:

The C.R.A.P Test

What is the C.R.A.P test?:

The C.R.A.P test is a series of directions make sure that the source you are using is good and credible.

C: Currency

How recent is the information? If you are researching about politics, you want the most recent information about the economy/politics. If the article is written in 2006, you might not want to use the information.

R: Reliability

How reliable is the information? Does the article quote information from other sources? Are there any other sources listed or a bibliography? Make sure the information is reliable and is good to use.

A: Accuracy

Make sure the the article/website is written by a credible source. Is it written by a professor, or a middle school student who does this in their free time? If the article has a name attached to it, try researching about the author.

P: Point of View

The last thing we need when we are writing a paper is an author with bias. Especially when we are writing an argumentative essay or about a controversial topic. Make sure that the author has a balance of fact and opinion.

My next step is to perform the C.R.A.P test on two sources. The first source is "Opposing Viewpoints in Context"

I am going find an article and perform the C.R.A.P test.

Here's the article: http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.kcls.org/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=true&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&currPage=&scanId=&query=&docIndex=&source=&prodId=OVIC&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&mode=view&catId=&u=kcls&limiter=&display-query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010705135&windowstate=normal&activityType=DocumentWithCommentary&failOverType=&commentary=true

About: Vegetarianism and "Is it good?"

Currency: It was published in 2015, which isn't that far back but it could be more recent.

Reliability: It lists other sources for further research, but it doesn't list any other sources or a bibliography.

Accuracy: The article is written by an author of a book called "Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness.". He is also a vegan. I think this article is pretty accurate.

Point of view: The point of view in this article is that the author believes that being a vegetarian is clearly better for you and can benefit you more than being an omnivore. The author does use a lot of opinion.

Second source: ProQuest - https://search-proquest com.ezproxy.kcls.org/docview/330619345/1E9E2C92132C46E0PQ/3?accountid=46

About: This article explains how to take great photographs

Currency: It was published in 2007. It is not very recent, so may not be the best article.

Reliability: That article has many authors, but none of them cite sources.

Accuracy: The article is written by many people, but they are all from a newspaper called "National Post". Since they are reporters, it does seem like they would know a lot about photography.

Point of view: There is no clear point of view in this article. They are mainly stating facts, but have opinions like what tey prefer.