Research Guides: HI 218: The Holocaust: Internet Resources

Evaluating Websites

Evaluate your web sources! Do they pass the CRAAP test?

Currency: the timeliness of the information

When was the information published? Has the information been revised or updated recently? Does your topic require current information, or will older sources work as well?

Relevance: the importance of the information for your needs

Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question? Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use? Would you be comfortable citing this source in your research paper?

Authority: the source of the information

Who is the author? What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations? Is the author qualified to write on the topic? Does the URL tell you anything about the author or source? examples: .com .edu .gov .org .net

Accuracy: the reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the content

Where does the information come from? Is the information supported by evidence? Has it been reviewed or refereed? Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?

Purpose: the reason the information exists

What is the purpose of the information? Is it to inform, teach, sell, entertain or persuade? Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear? Is the information fact, opinion or propaganda? Does the point of view appear objective and impartial? Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional or personal biases?

Source: Chico pdf

Recommended Websites

The Holocaust
An overview article of the Holocaust from the National World War II Museum.
Facts about the Holocaust
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), established aboutholocaust.org with the goal of providing young people with essential information about the history of the Holocaust and its legacy.
This website includes facts about the Holocaust and testimonies from survivors.

You can find additional websites about the Holocaust on the Primary Sources page.

Evaluating Images

Images should be evaluated like any other source to determine their quality and reliability. Here are a few things to consider:

Visual analysis:

What do you see in the image?
What is the subject?

Technical analysis:

Does the image have clear resolution?
Does the image show any evidence of being cropped or altered in any way?

Source evaluation:

Does the source provide any information about the origins of the image?
Where did you find the image? Is it a reliable source for images?
If you are unsure of an image's origin, try doing a Reverse Image Search in Google.

Contextual analysis:

Is there any information accompanying the image, such as a caption or description?
What is the purpose of the information? Is it meant to be factual and informative, or is it meant to influence how you see the image?
What kind of context does the image provide? Does it provide any insight into why the image exists?

Here are some resources to help you learn more about visual literacy and evaluating images:

Evaluating Images
This guide from the Library at the University of Washington, Tacoma gives a good overview of how to evaluate images.
Visual Literacy
This guide from the Libraries at the University of Indiana, Bloomington provides a thorough explanation of visual literacy, including how to evaluate images and use them effectively.
Evaluating Images & Media
This guide from the Campbell Library at Rowan University provides strategies and information about evaluating images and other forms of media found online.
Document Analysis Worksheet: Photographs
This worksheet from the National Archives is a quick and easy exercise that can be used to evaluate images.