What does T.R.A.A.P. stand for?
T
Timeframe
Art, Science, Medicine, and Pop culture sites should be updated in...
The last 2 years
Which letter: is the website up to date?
What is T, or timeframe?
You are looking for a site on pop culture. You find this: A pop culture site updated yesterday, on topic, created by a writer of a pop culture magazine, no false statements. Is it reliable?
Yes. Pop culture sites should be as current as possible, the author has experience with this topic, and every detail has no bias.
R
Relevancy
If you are searching for pufferfish and you find a site focused on clownfish, it is not this.
What is relevant?
Which letter: is the website on topic?
What is R, or relevant?
You are looking for a site on porpoises. You find this: A marine biology site updated last year, mainly on dolphins, author is marine biologist, no spelling errors. Is it reliable for your topic?
No, since the site is not on topic. Even though dolphins are closely related to porpoises, they are very different.
A
Authority
If a history site is created by a person who taught history for 30 years, is it reliable?
Yes
Which letter: is _ experienced?
What is A, or authority?
You are looking for a site on bees. You find this: A site on bees updated one month ago, but you do not understand the words, written by a person who has little experience, multiple errors. Is it reliable?
No. The site is not on your reading level, the author has little experience, and there are spelling and grammatical errors.
A
Accuracy
If a site has this, statements that are not correct, it is not reliable.
What are false statements?
Which letter: are there any spelling/grammatical mistakes?
What is A, or accuracy?
You are looking for a site on Orthodox Judaism to compare with the other two forms of Judaism. You find this: A site on Orthodox Judaism updated 2 years ago, on topic, written by an Orthodox Rabbi, tries to convert people to Orthodox Judaism. Is it relevant?
No. The website is very bias. The purpose of a site is to inform or teach, not to persuade or sell!
P
Purpose
A website should be used to inform or teach, not these reasons.
What are to persuade or sell?
Which letter: does this site seem to have bias?
What is P, or purpose?
You are looking for a site about Ancient China. You find this: A site on Ancient China updated 5 years ago, on topic, written by a history teacher who taught for 30 years, no false statements or spelling/grammatical errors, used to teach. Is it reliable?
Yes! The site was written by an expert on the topic, it is on topic, there are no errors, and it is okay to have a site on history that was last updated 5 years ago except if there were any new discoveries.