Running head: craap test

Using the CRAAP Test to Evaluate a Website

Naresa A Peart Robinson
International College of the Cayman Islands

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Using the CRAAP Test to Evaluate a Website

For students to produce well-written research papers, it is important that students have
credible sources to validate their findings. On the 16th November 2016, the SO-301, Courtship,
and Marriage class at the International College of the Cayman Islands (ICCI) attended a
workshop on Using the CRAAP Test to Evaluate a Website conducted by the ICCIs librarian
Mrs. Michelle Gray-Williams.
CRAAP is the abbreviation of Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose
(Does your Web Site Pass the CRAAP Test?). This test was developed by the Meriam Library at
California State University Chico. The Currency of the CRAAP Test focuses on the time frame
in which the information was published and revised or updated. The Relevance of the
information is essential as it concentrates on the target audience and its benefits to the reader.
The Authority focuses on the article's author, his qualification and the publisher used for the
article. Accuracy concentrates on the credibility of the information and its supporting evidence
while the purpose concentrates on the reason the article was written. Was the article written to
inform, educate, persuade, entertain or sell an idea to the audience?
While explaining the abbreviations Mrs. Michelle explained the importance of using the
CRAAP test so that students can avoid wasting time on reviewing articles that are not credible
and cannot be used as valid sources in their research paper. She also advised that student should
avoid citations from articles with anonymous authors. An author that is afraid to include his
names in his article should make the article questionable (Gray-Williams, 2016). The Courtship
and Marriage lecturer, Mrs. Tania Johnson suggested at this point that students should use peerreviewed articles when conducting research as peer-reviewed look at the methodology of the
study. Examples are the sample size employed in the study, the reliability of the data used in the

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research, the authors drive for the conclusion chosen and the professionals in the authors field
that have reviewed the information and came to the same conclusion as the author.
In conclusion, students need credible sources to validate their research papers. Using the
CRAAP Test will assist students with choosing the right sources for their articles. Using peerreview articles proves that the information provided in the authors articles have been
researching and validated by professionals in the authors field.

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References

Does your Web Site Pass the CRAAP Test? (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.emich.edu/library/help/craap/CRAAPtest.pdf
Gray-Williams, M. (2016). Using the CRAAP Test to evaluate a website. Bodden Town.
Retrieved November 16, 2016