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LANG 1408 & 2070 - English for Humanities & Social Science Studies

This online module is designed to complement LANG 1408 & 2070 and help students build skills for doing research and life long learning and development

Evaluate All Sources

 Learning to assess and evaluate diverse sources will help you make more informed decisions and avoid drawing conclusions from potentially biased or outdated information. Mastering this skill will serve you well throughout your academic and professional careers. is.

Remember:

  • Published information is not necessarily trustworthy or useful.
  • Always evaluate the credibility & suitability of information sources.

Remember to Evaluate as you search, as you think, and as you create

Watch this video (2 min 9 sec) to learn more about evaluating information sources.

Lateral reading is a crucial skill for business students to master early on. Rather than simply diving into content, lateral reading trains you to quickly evaluate a source's credibility, identify potential biases, and find more authoritative references. This method helps you stay informed on the latest industry trends and developments, while cultivating critical thinking - key assets for making sound, data-driven decisions.

This video (3 min 33 sec) from the University of Louisville Library discusses how to conduct lateral reading:

CRAAP Framework

Your LANG 1408 teachers have introduced you to the CRAAP test  to evaluate the credibility and reliability of information sources.

CRAAP stands for:

  • Currency: When was the information created and published?
  • Relevance: How the information fits your needs?
  • Authority: Who created the information?
  • Accuracy: How reliable and correct was the information?
  • Purpose: What is the purpose of the information? Why was it created?

These five criteria  can help us critically assess the quality of the information and make better judgment about which sources to trust and use.

Other Methods of Evaluating Sources: SIFT & PICK

What Makes an Information Source "Good?"

“Good” sources include those that provide complete, current, factual information, and/or credible arguments based on the information creator’s original research, expertise, and/or use of other reliable sources.

Whether a source is a good choice for you depends on your information needs and how you plan to use the source.

Evaluating Sources Using Lateral & Vertical Reading

The SIFT* & PICK approach to evaluating sources helps you select quality sources by practicing:

yellow arrow pointing to the right  Lateral Reading (SIFT): fact-checking by examining other sources and internet fact-checking tools; and

green arrow pointing downVertical Reading (PICK): examining the source itself to decide whether it is the best choice for your needs.

*The SIFT method was created by Mike Caulfield under a CC BY 4.0 International License.

SIFT

SIFT

Stop

  • Check your emotions before engaging
  • Do you know and trust the author, publisher, publication, or website?
    • If not, use the following fact-checking strategies before reading, sharing, or using the source in your research

Investigate the source

  • Don’t focus on the source itself for now
  • Instead, read laterally
    • Learn about the source’s author, publisher, publication, website, etc. from other sources, such as Wikipedia

Find better coverage

  • Focus on the information rather than getting attached to a particular source
  • If you can’t determine whether a source is reliable, trade up for a higher quality source
  • Professional fact checkers build a list of sources they know they can trust

Trace claims to the original context

  • Identify whether the source is original or re-reporting
  • Consider what context might be missing in re-reporting
  • Go “upstream” to the original source
    • Was the version you saw accurate and complete?

PICK

PICK

Purpose / Genre / Type

  • Determine the type of source (book, article, website, social media post, etc.)
    • Why and how it was created? How it was reviewed before publication?
  • Determine the genre of the source (factual reporting, opinion, ad, satire, etc.)
  • Consider whether the type and genre are appropriate for your information needs

Information Relevance / Usefulness

  • Consider how well the content of the source addresses your specific information needs
    • Is it directly related to your topic?
    • How does it help you explore a research interest or develop an argument?

Creation Date

  • Determine when the source was first published or posted
    • Is the information in the source (including cited references) up-to-date?
  • Consider whether newer sources are available that would add important information

Knowledge-Building

  • Consider how this source relates to the body of knowledge on the topic
    • Does it echo other experts’ contributions? Does it challenge them in important ways?
    • Does this source contribute something new to the conversation?
  • Consider what voices or perspectives are missing or excluded from the conversation
    • Does this source represent an important missing voice or perspective on the topic?
    • Are other sources available that better include those voices or perspectives?
  • How does this source help you to build and share your own knowledge?

Creative Commons License SIFT & PICK by Ellen Carey  is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Last updated 4/11/23. It was posted on the University of Utah LibGuides site. https://campusguides.lib.utah.edu/RADAR

More to know: Resources for Cross-checking (Optional)

Resources for fact-checking:

Optional: The Tale of Wisdom Stone - Evaluating purpose of information

Optional! 

Play this escape room game: The Tale of Wisdom Stone - Evaluating purpose of information

 

Want some more? Optional!

Check Please!
A course in fact-checking using the SIFT method, split into 5 parts. Total course length: 2 1/2 hours.

Calling Bull: Data Reasoning in a Digital World (INFO 270 / BIOL 270, University of Washington)
Instructors Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West have created a university credit course, Calling Bullshit, and have made their readings and lecture videos available online. In their words, "Our world is saturated with bull. Learn to detect and defuse it."

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