Tuesday, March 11, 2008

See through the CRAAP

MedlinePlus

Currency
This site looks like its updated pretty often. At the bottom of the page it says the last date where it was updated and it lists today’s date. Each of the links still functions and leads somewhere. I think it’s safe to say that this site is very up to date and is taken care of often.

Relevance
Relevance depends on what the paper is going to be on but I’d say that this is a very versatile website. It has a ton of different subjects and manages to explain them in a way that’s not too basic or complex. I would use this site as a source if I had to write a paper on a medical topic.

Authority
The National Library of Medicine is the source for the information. It’s a trusted source and would be appropriate to use in a research paper. Under their “Quality Guidelines” link they have a list of how they evaluate their information and the sites they link to. They use a system that relies on reviewed and trusted information. They are also a .gov site and don’t have any ads, which helps their legitimacy.

Accuracy
Their information all comes from trusted and reviewed sources, as listed on their “Quality Guidelines” page. Their tone is very professional and all their proof of the accuracy of their data is legitimate.

Purpose
The purpose of the site is purely informational. They state that they don’s support any products and just want to give people access to medical information. They aren’t trying to promote or sell any products and all the information is just stated as fact without any hints of being biased or based on opinion. Reading this site feels similar to reading an encyclopedia.

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