For example, a fact was discovered by an anonymous source at the White House would have to be corroborated with other sources. In this particular case, while this is a direct source, it must treated with caution. This means that you want to corroborate the information with other direct sources or secondary / third level sources. Normally, if the information can be verified with at least three different sources, it would be considered to be credible information. However, when you are analyzing any of the different kinds of sources you must use flexibility and common sense. This is because some sources can appear to be legitimate, while at the same time they are not. An example of this can be seen in the book, the Red Badge of Courage, where it is a depiction of Civil War battles. Yet, when you look at little deeper, the author (Stephen Crane) wrote the book based on experiences he observed on the football field (which took place over 40 years after the Civil...

("Stephen Crane") What this shows, is how flexibility and common sense must be applied when examining all sources. This will help you to most accurately identify the credibility of the source.
Clearly, analyzing the different sources for the overall quality of information presented and then corroborating it with others will help you to determine the accuracy. This is important because there are a number of different sources that present opinions as facts. Then, after you have examined the overall validity of the source, you must use common sense and flexibility when analyzing them. This is because some sources have been known to present fiction as fact (such as the Red Badge of Courage). Once this takes place, you can be able to separate the information presented by the different sources as opinions or facts.

Bibliography

"Stephen Crane." Kirjasto. 2008. Web. 26 Mar. 2010 http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/scrane.htm