Evaluating Sources with the SCRAP Test

Susan King and Paula Myers are Teacher-Librarians at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School
and recipients of a 2017 MSLA Web Seal of Excellence

We want to share a source evaluation tool that we developed along with two teachers from our school. Our moment of inspiration came during the excellent July 2015 workshop, Are You Research Ready? (facilitated by Pam Harland and Rachel Small). In discussing how the library taught evaluation, we explained to the teachers in the group that we did so as needed, sharing questions that students should consider or pointing them to websites that could help. But we librarians were interested in developing a more formalized system for teaching source evaluation at our school—one that teachers would be comfortable sharing in their classrooms.

We were aware of some tools and acronyms that other folks used and decided to build on that work to create another system. Our intent was not to reinvent the wheel; we were just being realistic about what our teachers would get on board with and be willing to share with students (much as students might like the CRAAP test acronym, we knew that some of our teachers would not go for that).  ​
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So we developed the SCRAP Test. SCRAP stands for Sound/Solid, Currency, Relevance, Authority, and Purpose. If at any point a source does not pass the SCRAP Test, then students “scrap it” and seek another source. This system probably works best for students at the high school or middle school level. It is not a scoring tool; it just provides questions for students to consider so they can determine if a source works for their needs.

For students who are just beginning to learn this system during a research project, we often require them to fill out a Google form such as this, as part of their project. We sometimes modify the form, including fewer questions, depending on what makes sense for the assignment. This activity provides an opportunity for us to assess students’ evaluation skills and give pointers to help them improve their evaluation savvy.

Here are some SCRAP Test visuals and questions that you are welcome to use: 
SCRAP Test Poster
SCRAP Test Prezi
SCRAP Test List of Questions

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