Information Seeking Steps
- Plan your information search
- Select information retrieval methods and analyze search results
- Find additional material in the library and eResources
- Use and evaluating search results
How? This site gives a great explanation of how to perform these steps:
https://blogs.helsinki.fi/students-digital-skills/3-seeking-information/
Fact-Checking Sites and Resources That Are Safe and Unbiased
AllSides – An unbiased site featuring news topics from around the world that includes a media-biased comparison chart that shows where the major news providers fall on a given issue.
Deceptive Detective – An infographic from Common Sense Media that helps students become a “online detective” and decipher between fact and fiction.
FactCheck.org – A nice site for fact-checking political news, especially those in which both parties are speaking at the same venue.
Hoax Slayer – Debunks hoaxes regarding email, social media, and internet security, and alerts students to the most recent scams.
NAMLE – The National Association for Media Literacy Education is a great site to find, analyze, and evaluate all forms of communication.
NPR Fact Check – Students can find unbiased information regarding world news, including footnotes to address when news is skewed.
Politifact – Checking facts regarding political news that uses a very fun “truth-o-meter.”
Snopes – One of the most popular sites on the web to find evidenced-based news that is cited so students can do their own research as well.
Ted ED – “How to Choose Your News” is an excellent educational video by Damon Brown that explains to students the difference between fact and fiction in the news.
Washington Post Fact Checker – A great paid site to find news articles that are fact-checked. However, the organization tends to fact check more conservative news than liberal.
Thanks to David Kapuler for this list, cyber-kap.blogspot.com
For some additional resources and tips, check out:
- How to Spot Fake News Video from The Washington Post
- “Don’t Be Fooled: Use the SMELL Test to Separate Fact from Fiction Online” by John McManus (Mediashift.org)
- Breaking News Consumer’s Handbook: Fake News EditionOriginally aired on November 16, 2016. Radio interview (and transcript) with Assistant Professor of Communication and Media Melissa Zimdars of Merrimack College.
3 Ways to Evaluate the Validity of a Website
Evaluating sources can be approached in a number of ways. Several models exist focusing on between four and six facets. One example is AAOCC, which stands for authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage. A set of flash cards based upon the AAOCC model is available.
One of the easiest models to remember is the CRAAP test(Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose). An excellent set of materials is available at Bow Valley College explaining the criteria for evaluating sources using the CRAAP test. A short pdf explaining the CRAAP test is available via CSU Chico.
Dalhousie University articulates the need for six criteria when evaluating websites as sources including: authority, purpose, coverage, currency, objectivity, and accuracy.