Michigan Ross Summer Business Academy: Industry environment research - News and article resources

• An article search can often turn up all kinds of information on your company or industry.
• Be creative with your keywords describing your issue or topic. Search on terms like "business model canvas", "lean startup" or "customer discovery" and use quotation marks or other database-specific commands to search by exact phrase. Be on the lookout for research articles related to your topic--look for the data section to see what resources the authors cite.
• Articles are a great source for independent discussion of your company's involvement in social issues, and may also pick up local news sources with additional information about your company. Try searching by company name or use the fields in the databases to search by company, industry or topic.

Sarah Blakesley at California State University, Chico developed the CRAAP test as an easy to remember acronym to help provide a checklist of things to consider when evaluating an information or data resource:

Currency – when was it published? Has it been revised or updated? Do the links work?

Relevance – does the information answer your question? Who is the intended audience?

Authority – who is the author/publisher? Is there contact information? Can you use the URL to figure out the source?  (.com, .org, .edu)

Accuracy – where does it come from? Is it supported by evidence?

Purpose – why the information exists