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
Daily newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post, business-focused publications (Wall Street Journal, Forbes or Fortune), and other sources of in-depth and analysis such as NPR, The Atlantic or New Yorker are often sources of information that is not easily found in company filings, financial reports etc. Company databases like D&B Hoovers often include some recent news stories regarding company actions, executives, and other related events, but a news scan in one of our news and article databases is another highly recommended way to learn about a company.
Use the Company field on the main search page in the Factiva database to get started - you can start a search for Microsoft, for instance, and then choose the company to add it to your search. Use the date field to do some limiting to recent news; you can sort by most recent if you like.
Factiva also provides company and industry profile data - click on the Companies/Markets tab at the top of the Search page to search by company and link to latest news, financial and related data.
