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International Studies 101

Search WISE - Library Catalog

Find print books, ebooks, journal articles, and more on your country and issue!

To refine your search, try discipline-specific databases on our Online Resources site.

Evaluating Sources

Even if you find books and articles through our library site - WISE or any of the other databases - it's still important to assess their credibility.  Different courses and assignments will have different requirements for the level of credibility needed.  You may have to get peer-review, scholarly sources or you may be allowed to use "good" but not scholarly sources like newspaper articles.

It's critical to make sure what kinds of sources you have to use for any assignment - ask your professor if needed!

If you find a source on the general web, it's even more important to evaluate its credibility.  To do so, start by applying the CRAAP test.  And if you're still not sure, ask a librarian!

Currency - when was it published, created?

Relevance - how closely does the source's information match my needs?

Authority - who created/wrote the source AND who publishes or endorses it?

Accuracy - is the information factual?  Has it been produced using proper scientific, scholarly, and/or journalistic methodology?

Purpose - why has this information been produced/published?  To inform, persuade, provoke, sell something, etc.?

Newspapers

U.S. Major Dailies: Leading national newspapers back to 1980.  Includes New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune.

Nexis Uni:  Local, regional, national, and international newspaper and other news sources; most coverage back to 2000.