HIST: Historical Investigation

Use the 5 W's:

• Who: ...wrote it? Are they an expert?
• What: ...is the purpose of this resource?
• Where: ...was this information published? ...does the information come from?
• When: ...was this published or last updated?
• Why: ...is this resource useful? ...is this resource better than other ones?

Learn more!

The Evaluating Information guide covers lateral reading, fact-checking, how to Google like a pro, and more.

Think about Context:

• How might the circumstances in which the document was created affect its content?
• What was different then? What was the same?

Compare and Corroborate:

• What do other documents or people say?
• Do they agree? If not, why?
• What documents are most reliable?

Close Reading:

• What claims does the author make?
• What evidence does the author use?
• How does the document's language (words) show the author's perspective?

Adapted from the Historical Thinking Chart by the Stanford History Education Group

Search Examples

• To find U.S. government (state and federal) websites:  
  • site:.gov “World War I” chemical warfare
• To find higher education websites (archives, colleges, and universities): 
  • site:.edu James A. Garfield assassination Guiteau
• To find organization based websites minus Wikipedia pages:  
  • site:.org archives "Korean war" video -wikipedia

Helpful Tips

• DO NOT PAY for articles that you find on the Internet. The Library can usually get them for FREE. Just ask!
• Look for primary resources from government, library, museum, or other trusted sources.
• If you are not sure if a primary source found on the Internet is authentic, ask a teacher or librarian BEFORE writing the paper.

Search the Internet

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

Determining if resources are credible is challenging. Use the SIFT method to help you analyze information, especially news or other online media.

Remember, you can always Ask a Librarian for help with evaluating information.

Before you read the article, stop!

Before you share the video, stop!

Before you act on a strong emotional response to a headline, stop!

Ask yourself: Do I know this website? Do I know this information source? Do I know it's reputation?

Before moving forward, use the other three moves: 

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

• Use Google or Wikipedia to investigate a news organization or other resource.

• Look and see what other coverage is available on the same topic
• Keep track of trusted sources
• Use fact-checking sites

• Click through to follow links to claims
• Open up the original reporting sources listed in a bibliography if present
• Look at the original context. Was the claim, quote, or media fairly represented?