Source Evaluator

A structured framework for interrogating historical documents. Answer the prompts to generate an initial reliability assessment.

Note: This tool requires JavaScript for interactive scoring, but you can read the evaluation framework below.

1. Authorship Proximity

How close was the author to the event?

Eyewitness or direct participant Contemporary, but secondary (heard it from others) Written significantly after the fact Unknown author

2. Audience & Intent

Why was this created?

Private record (diary, personal letter) not meant for public Official internal record (memo, census, ledger) Public speech or published account (intended to persuade) Explicit propaganda

3. Corroboration

Can the claims be verified elsewhere?

Supported by multiple independent sources (including hostile ones) Partially supported by other sources Unique claim, no corroboration yet Directly contradicted by more reliable sources

Assessment Result

About this framework

This tool is based on standard historical methodology (heuristics). It is designed to flag potential bias, not to declare a source "true" or "false". Even highly biased propaganda is historically valuable—it tells us what the creator wanted the audience to believe.

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