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Research Skills for Engineering Students

This tutorial supports the development of engineering information literacy skills

Frameworks to help evaluate information

Frameworks act as reminders on how to evaluate a source. Here are two useful frameworks for evaluating information. You may have used other frameworks in the past or have one you prefer. There is no one best framework, use one that has proven to be helpful for the information sources you are evaluating.

RADAR is a framework designed to help evaluate online resources.

  • Relevance: How is the information relevant to your project?
  • Authority: Who created the resource and how credible are they? What institution are they affiliated with?
  • Date: When was the information published, and is it still accurate/relevant today?
  • Appearance: Does the resource look clean and professional? Is the language formal and academic?
  • Reason for writing: To your best knowledge, why was this resource created? Was it to refute/discredit another point of view? Was it to sell or promote something?

SIFT (The Four Moves)

SIFT the four moves

"SIFT (The Four Moves)" by Mike Caulfield, re-used and adapted under CC BY 4.0

The videos below provide examples and guide you through the SIFT framework.

 There are four moves to help you evaluate information you find on a website. Using the Library search, Summon, helps find research articles, books and more to help verify information.

 

 

  1. Stop. Do you know the website or where the information is coming from? Can you verify the claims in the website? Before you click "share" make sure you have verified the information.
  2. Investigate the Source. Who is providing the information? What is their level of expertise? Do they have an agenda that might influence what is said and how the information is presented? Using the Library search, Summon, can help verify the information and provide multiple reliable sources.
  3. Find Better Coverage. Look into multiple sources that can help verify the claim. What are the experts saying about the topic? Where else has the story been covered?
  4. Trace claims, quotes, and media back to the original context. Trace the claim you find on social media, or a news clip, or a website you land on back to the source to get the context for the claim. 

SIFT has its own self-guided course split into 5 parts. Check Please!

Test your knowledge

SIFT: Online Verification Skills - Video 1 Introduction

Online Verification Skills - Video 2: Investigate the Source

Online Verification Skills - Video 3: Find the Original Source

Online Verification Skills - Video 4: Look for Trusted Work