History Primary Sources: Evaluation & Citation of Sources

SIFT is a series of actions you can take to determine the validity and reliability of claims and sources on the web. 

The SIFT method, or strategy, is quick, simple, and can be applied to various kinds of online content: news articles, scholarly articles, social media posts, videos, images, etc.

Each letter in SIFT corresponds to one of the Four Moves:

1) Stop
2) Investigate the Source
3) Find Better Coverage
4) Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media to the Original Context.

The SIFT method was created by Mike Caulfield.  The SIFT information on this guide is adapted from his materials with a CC BY 4.0 license.

Evaluate websites by considering the following questions:

Who is responsible for the website?

• .edu = educational institution
• .gov = government site
• .org = organization or association
• .com = commercial site
• .museum = museum
• .net = personal or other site

Who is the author of the site?

• What are the credentials of the author or organization?
• Is there a contact address?
• Is there an "about," "background," or " philosophy" link?

Is there a clear purpose or reason for the site?

• Does the homepage give information on the purpose of the sponsoring organization?
• Does the site present a non-biased, balanced approach?

What is the origin of the document?

• Is it a scanned document?
• Is it a transcribed document?
• Are there links to external documents?

Is the content organized and accessible?

• Are pages legible with clear explanations?
• Are the navigational aids easy to understand?
• Are there clear instructions about software requirements?

Is there a fee for use?

Citation Machine  

Stop! When you land on a page/post/etc. before sharing— STOP. 

 What do you know? 

• What do you already know on this topic?
• What is the reputation of both the claim and the content?
•  Do not let your emotional reaction to a headline etc. guide your decision making.

If you don’t have that information, use the other steps to understand if this source is reliable. Don’t share unless you know its legit (credible)!

 Think about your purpose.

• if you just want to read/share/understand what the information, it’s probably good enough to find out whether the publication is reputable. 
• For college-level research, you will want to dig a bit deeper and independently verify them (through newspaper article or journal article).

The short video that follows explains the Stop step:

This step is the process of finding out more about the author(s).

Do a quick internet search on the author:

• Does this person(s) / group / organization etc. have credentials that qualify them to write or speak on the topic?
• Are they trying to educate, persuade, or entertain?
• Do they have a vested interest in getting you to believe what they are communicating?

The following short videos (less than four minutes) will introduce you to how to investigate your sources. 

This next video introduces you to our second move: investigate the source. Hint: Wikipedia is a great starting point for investigating sources. 

Find Relevant / Appropriate Sources

Sometimes an article or video you find isn't quite what you want or need (i.e. NOT RELEVANT).

You care about the claim the article is making.

You want to know:

• Is it true or false?
• Is there an agreed upon viewpoint, or if it is the subject of much disagreement?
• is it outdated (old)?

Look for trusted reporting or analysis on the claim, by scanning multiple sources.  

Find the best source you can on this topic.

Track Down the Original Source / Content

Much of what we find on the internet has been stripped of context (background).

• What was clipped out of the video or text and what stayed in? 
• Was the claim or content fairly represented?
• Was the information taken out of context? 
• Is the information being used to support bias or an agenda?

You Must REcontextualize the information
 

There’s a theme that runs through all of these SIFT moves: they are about reconstructing the necessary context to read, view, or listen to digital content effectively. You have to investigate to get to the truth.

• Who is the speaker or publisher is?  
• What’s their expertise? What’s their agenda?
• What’s their record of fairness or accuracy? 

Again: Don't let sensational headlines latch onto your emotions. This will cloud judgement as to what is fact or falsehood.

Check out the short video below to learn more about how to quickly find the original source of information for an idea.

The video that follows discusses more about how to verify the information you find using trusted sources.