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Fact or Fiction: Figuring out the reliability of a source. 

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Fact or Fiction: Figuring out the reliability of a source. 

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Activity for 11th graders

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Learners A. IV. 3
Learners act on an information need by:
3. Making critical choices about information sources to use.

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Research Paper: Two words that strike fear into the hearts of many students. Four syllables that create panic, dread, and anxiety.

But they don't have to.

Writing a research paper takes time and requires effort, but if you have a good topic and credible sources, you're on your way to a great paper.

Wait...what? Credible sources?

Yes, credible.

Are you thinking, "What's the difference? Isn't one source just as good as another?"

No. Not all sources are created equal.

Think about it. If you want to learn about the current texting and driving laws, would you rather learn about the laws by reading some random guy's blog who does nothing but rant about the law because he just got a ticket for texting and driving, or would you rather research the law by reading a .gov (government) website?

I think we'd both pick the .gov site.

But .gov sites aren't the only place to find online credible resources.

Keep reading to learn the 5 best resources to help with writing a research paper.

Why You Should Use Credible Sources When Writing a Research Paper

A research paper is like a jury trial. If you're an attorney trying to convince the jury your client is innocent, you need hard evidence.

Try convincing a jury that your client is innocent by telling them he wasn't at the crime scene, and you can prove it because his best friend said he wasn't there.

It isn't going to work.

Now try convincing the jury that your client is innocent because he was out of town when the crime happened. You have a hotel receipt, plane tickets, and video evidence that he was nowhere near the area at the time of the crime.

This is much more credible and convincing evidence.

When you're writing a research paper, your arguments are on trial. Your job is to convince your readers and demonstrate your knowledge of the subject.

To do this, you need credible sources written by credible authors such as doctors, researchers, and scholars.

You don't want to use questionable articles written by the girl who works at the pizza joint down the street or by your best friend's cousin's uncle who says he knows a lot about whatever you're writing about.

Let's talk about some other sources that won't help you make your point.

Sources You Shouldn't Use

The Dictionary: Don't start your paper with something like, "According to the dictionary, crazy means mentally deranged." Readers already know what crazy means. There's no need to define it.

If you're using complex terms that readers might not be familiar with, it's fine to define words, but use a more specialized definition from a journal or other credible source.

A dictionary is great for looking up the meanings of words, but your professors won't consider the dictionary a scholarly source, so it's best to avoid using it as a source in your research essays.

About.com: About.com is a fine website. It has lots of useful information like fresh ideas to decorate your bathroom, the best new hairstyles, and 10 places to see before you die.

While reading about this stuff can be fun, it's not relevant information for a research paper. These articles are written by people who are passionate about their subject, but the writers aren't necessarily experts.

Wikipedia.com: Wikipedia is a fine website, too. It has lots of cool information about lots of cool topics.

The problem with Wikipedia (and other Wikis) is that anyone can write them.

You could create a Wiki about how Steven Spielberg was the first president of the United States. Someone else could read your Wiki online and write a research paper about Spielberg as president.

You could fall victim to this too, and write a research paper using incorrect information. Did you know that at one point, Wikipedia listed the soccer star David Beckham as an 18th century Chinese goalkeeper? Imagine writing that in your paper! I don't think you'd earn the "A" you were hoping for.

Because you can't be sure that the information is accurate, it's best to stay away from Wikipedia.

But if you shouldn't use the websites I've just listed, what resources should you use? Keep reading to find out!

5 Best Resources to Help with Writing a Research Paper

1. Your School's Library: This is the best place to begin your research.

The library at your school is an academic library, meaning you'll find more academic books, journals, and scholarly sources than you will novels and magazines.

One of the best things about researching at your school's online library is that if you don't want to leave the comfort of your living room or your dorm room to research, you don't have to.

As long as you have your library card, you can login and access tons of great resources, such as online databases, e-books, and other research articles.
Don't tell me you forgot to sign up for your library card! Don't tell me your paper is due tonight and there's no time to get a library card now!
Okay, take a deep breath. Don't panic. There's still hope.

Even if you don't have immediate access to your school's library, I've included four other useful resources that are free and don't require a library card.

2. Google Scholaris a lot like the Google search engine you're probably used to.

You simply type in what you're looking for, and you'll see a list of results. The difference with Google Scholar is that your list of results won't contain websites trying to sell you a cell phone or articles about how to dress your dog for the holidays.

Google Scholar will produce a list of journal articles, .pdfs, and websites focusing on much more credible and scholarly sources appropriate for a research paper.

(You know, stuff you can actually use!)

3. RefSeek This resource is a search engine designed for students and researchers. It searches online sources but produces more scholarly sites than a standard search engine, such as Google.

One of the great features of RefSeek is that it allows you to search specifically for documents, giving you a better chance of finding credible information to help write your research paper.

4. Internet Public Library (ipl2) This resource allows you to search by subject.

It links to websites, rather than scholarly journals; however, it often links to more credible .gov or .org sites (although you may encounter a few broken links.)

You can also use the handy "Ask an ipl2 Librarian" service. If you aren't in a rush, you can submit a question to the site's volunteer librarians, and a professional librarian or grad student will be in touch to help you find the best resources for your topic.

The site says, "Once we have accepted your question, we do our best to answer it promptly. You will receive an answer from us within one week. If you indicate you need a response more quickly, we will try to answer it by that date.

"ipl2 is not a good place to come if you need help right away. We are not a 'real-time' service, and it takes us time to read, research, and respond to questions." Read more here.

5. ERIC (Education Resources Information Center): This database primarily focuses on education, but it also includes a number of related topics, such as social work, psychology, and other social issues. A search will provide a list of journal articles (most full-text).

Searching for Sources in ERIC

If you're searching for sources in most basic search engines, such as Google Scholar, you usually just type in your keywords and read a list of results. Databases, though, are a bit different. They include the standard search box, but they also include a variety of other options to help narrow your results. Because the searching can be more complex, I've included information below to help you get started.
Here's a quick tutorial to help you begin searching on ERIC.
Step 1: Type in your keywords. In this example, I've chosen guns on college campuses.

Make sure you check the box to show only those results available in full text.

Searching for full text articles means you'll be able to read the entire article immediately. You won't have to worry about tracking it down at some library across the country, and you won't have to pay $19.99 to purchase an article you don't even know if you want to use yet!

Step 2: Review the search results.

If you are looking for articles written during a specific time frame, check out the left column (Publication Date).

If you want to read a summary (also known as an abstract) click on the title of the article. (Article titles are hyperlinked in blue in the middle of the screen.)

If you want to read the article immediately, click on the full text option at the right of your screen. (Articles are usually provided in .pdf format.)

It Really is that Simple

As you can see, there's no reason to be panic-stricken about writing a research paper.

Use the resources in this post to help you find the most credible and useful sources, and you'll be on your way to writing an amazing paper.

Once you find the perfect sources, you'll still need to actually write the paper, so review Writing a Library-Based Research Paper and Research Paper Steps for help with putting together your essay.

Have you finished writing a research paper, but still need someone to review it? Contact our Kibin editors for help!

Psst... 98% of Kibin users report better grades! Get inspiration from over 500,000 example essays.

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Writing a Research Paper - The 5 Best Resources

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Research Paper: Two words that strike fear into the hearts of many students. Four syllables that create panic, dread, and anxiety. But they don't have to. Writing a research paper takes time and requires effort, but if you have a good topic and credible sources, you're on your way to a great paper.

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SUMMARY

Find credible sources using tools that are designed to find the types of sources you need.

Here are some fantastic resources and tips on how to use them to their fullest extent:

- Tell one of these people your research topic and ask them to point you towards useful sources. Chances are that they know more about what's available about your particular topic than you do. Depending on the size of your school, you may have a subject area librarian for the particular type of research you are doing. Some universities, for instance, have specialist librarians for topics like music, art, and humanities.

Tip: When asking your librarian or teacher, just be sure to be tactful. Remember: librarians are there to help, but they won't do all your research for you.

Academic journals

- These journals are a great way to find cutting edge research on your topic. Academic journals add credibility and professionalism to a paper. They work well for both humanities and scientific papers. Most schools/universities have a subscription to a large database of academic journals. Some commonly used databases are JSTOR and EBSCO Host. If you don't know what types of services your school subscribes to, ask your teacher/librarian about them.

Another great way to access academic papers is Google Scholar. It is a search tool that finds scholarly articles-academic journals, patents, theses, court proceedings, and more. Google Scholar displays how many times an academic piece of literature was cited, which is a rough numerical indicator of how influential the research was. Google Scholar also has link under each posting to help you find related articles.

Microsoft has a competitor to Google Scholar that is very similar, Microsoft Academic Search. Microsoft's tool works particularly well for technical papers in fields such as physics, mathematics, biology, and engineering.

Books

- Books are still one of the best ways to find credible information about a source. Some fields such as the humanities prefer their students use books for sources rather than websites, since books typically contain more detailed information (and perhaps more in-depth thinking) than websites do. Books can be found on your school or public library website. Type in keywords related to your topic in the search field, and see what kinds of literature comes up. Write down the call number of the book so that you can find it within your library. Ask your librarian for help if you're not sure how your library is organized.

Google has another service, Google Books, that will help you find books related to your topic. Just type your research topic into the field and Google Books will provide you with a list of relevant books. Once you click on a book you like, Google Books will give you a preview of the book and information related to buying the book or finding it in your library.

Websites

- Websites are sources you should approach with caution. Some experts publish great information on the Internet, but there's a lot of bad information out there as well. The trick is to weed out the unreliable information. The section entitled "Evaluating sources for credibility" is all about that process. Here, we'll discuss some great resources that will help you find good information.

Tip: Multipurpose search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo) aren't necessarily trying to provide you with the best academic results. They help people with a lot of things (shopping, searching for flights, comparing restaurants). You don't want all of these sorts of results to get mixed up in your research!

Here are some tools that help you find information for a particular field of interest:

Tip: Many schools have online topic pages, where the school's librarians have grouped together helpful resources dedicated to a particular topic like chemistry, history, or religious studies. The LibGuides at Rice University is one example.

1) A note on large search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo)

SUMMARY

Use Google when you are doing preliminary research or looking for a particular source

In other cases, you're probably better off using a more academically-oriented source.

As far as research is concerned, Google is a double-edged sword. (The pros/cons of Google apply to other major search engines such as Bing and Yahoo as well.)

First, the benefits of Google's search engine: It's fast and provides you with a lot of information.

But the list of negatives is weighty:

Many of Google's search results are biased and non-academic.

Several of the websites that appear in Google's results are written by businessmen who are trying to sell you something. They aren't interested in presenting you with unbiased data.

Google's search results are tailored to you

(based on your past browsing history, your location, the sites you've visited previously, etc.). The problem with this individualization of search results is that Google is not providing you with the best information, it's giving you what it thinks you'll click on. Those may be two separate things.

Google's results are focused on information available on the internet space that is easily accessed.

There is a large amount of great information available on the "invisible web" that Google cannot find. The invisible web consists of sites that are not linked to externally, which makes them hidden from Google's searching and indexing software.

For these reasons, we have a couple of reservations about using Google's search engine for research purposes. To help, we've drafted a couple general rules about when and when not to use Google.

Use Google's search engine...

When you're doing preliminary research (assessing the depth and breadth of your topic).

When you know of a specific source, and you just need to find it on the Internet.

Try using another resource other than Google's search engine...

When you want to find an academic article.

When you're looking for a primary source.

When you're looking for a technical paper.

2) A note on Wikipedia

SUMMARY:

Information on Wikipedia can be edited by anyone-not necessarily an expert.

Use Wikipedia as a starting point for your research.

Check Wikipedia's references at the bottom of the page. Those sources are more likely to be credible than Wikipedia itself.

Like Google's search engine, Wikipedia is a mixed bag. It provides a great deal of relevant information in a very fast manner, but that information is not necessarily credible. Content on Wikipedia can be edited by anyone-not necessarily an expert or credible author.

The editors at Wikipedia have come a long way in policing the site for bad posts and flagging items without citations; but you should always be suspect of information on the site because of its public nature.

Therefore, Wikipedia is best used at the start of your research to help you get a sense of the breadth and depth of your topic. It should never be cited in an academic paper.

Another reason why Wikipedia should not be cited in an academic research paper is that it aims to be like an encyclopedia-a source of reference information, not scholarly research or primary or secondary sources. One must delineate between general reference for general knowledge and scholarly sources for in-depth knowledge and research. Facts from reputable encyclopedias or similar sources can be used to supplement a paper, but keep in mind that these sources won't contain any juicy analysis or scholarly study.

Perhaps the most useful part of a Wikipedia page is the "References" section at the bottom, which contains links to relevant sites that are often more credible than the Wikipedia page itself. Use a discerning eye when viewing these citations and apply the best practices of evaluating credible information (see "Evaluating sources for credibility").

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SUMMARY Find credible sources using tools that are designed to find the types of sources you need. LINKS EBSCO JSTOR Google Scholar Microsoft Academic Search Google Books Google Bing Sweet Search ipl2 PubMed GoPubMed Medline Plus JURN NBER National Criminal Justice Reference Services OAIster Refseek PhilPapers Science.gov Scirus DOAJ US ...

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Government site on how to spot a reliable source

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Government site on how to spot a reliable source

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Many health reports in the media are based on articles published in peer-reviewed journals; however, some reports are not. When you see a report on television, in a magazine, or in a brochure, you must consider where this information came from, who provided the information, whether the source is credible, who did the study, and whether it is consistent with other research.

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Here’s How Fake News Works (and How the Internet Can Stop It) | WIRED

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How to Know If a Source Is Reliable by Shmoop

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Remember how mainstream media's lies and distortions were going to be corrected by people using social media?

Now we have mainstream media trying to cope with fake news distributed through social media.

To add to the drama, we have fake claims by digital moguls that they can do something positive to stop the dissemination of fake news.

Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg, having initially denied that fake news was problematic, now wants us to believe that "we've been working on this problem for a long time." Really? So it is a problem after all?

As for Google, its chiefs seem to think fake news will be strangled to death by removing advertising tools that enable sites to make money by spreading lies.

But the fake news phenomenon is not only driven by shysters seeking profit. Some of it is propagandistic (as was clear during the US presidential election) and some of it is simply mischievous.

Politicians have no right to complain. Down the years so many of them have played fast and loose with the truth. Their spin doctors turned lying into an art form.

This year's elections on either side of the Atlantic confirmed that we may, sadly, be living in a post-truth society.

Americans have elected a lying president in Donald Trump. Britons have voted to leave the European Union in a campaign noted for abundant lies.

Mainstream media has been blindsided by the lying phenomenon. Cynics will surely say that its chiefs are upset by the rise of competing liars who appear to do the job so much better than them.

So be it. But let's also consider how difficult it is nowadays for journalists who think they are being fair and balanced (not in a Fox News way) in their reporting.

Their impartiality tools just don't work any longer. For example, during the Brexit debate, the views of the overwhelming majority of scientists were "balanced" in a BBC discussion by the opinion of a spokesman for a fringe body. There was no equivalence.

Barack Obama made a similar observation in a New Yorker interview in saying: "An explanation of climate change from a Nobel prize-winning physicist looks exactly the same on your Facebook page as the denial of climate change by somebody on the Koch brothers' payroll."

His complaint about is that, in the new media environment, "everything is true and nothing is true." In fact, as the BBC instance shows, it happens across all media.

The real problem with new media is the speed with which falsehoods are spread and the difficulty of providing countervailing corrective information.

I have just faced the consequences of this phenomenon. Last week, the students' union at City, University of London passed a stupid motion banning the Sun, Daily Mail and Daily Express from the campus.

None of the 500 or so students currently studying journalism at City voted for the motion. Indeed, only one of them appears to have attended the meeting (and voted against the ban).

Yet, on Facebook, a number of people - including current and former journalists - misread the stories about the vote and began to criticise City's journalism students for doing something they had not done.

Despite my unequivocal statement about journalism students having had no responsibility for the motion, and similar forthright denials by my colleagues, the lie proved difficult to quash.

People picked up on the story days later and, unaware of the truth, repeated it. So denials had to be ceaselessly reiterated. A myth had been created and it wouldn't surprise me if there are still people who believe it.

It's not the fault of social media (you can't blame the platform), but it is a consequence of it, because lies can be passed on so swiftly and indiscriminately.

And, of course, it is also about human fallibility. Lies that play to our prejudices are more easily believed and we pass them on thoughtlessly, exacerbating the problem.

Quoting Obama again, he said of new media: "The capacity to disseminate misinformation, wild conspiracy theories, to paint the opposition in wildly negative light without any rebuttal - that has accelerated in ways that much more sharply polarise the electorate and make it very difficult to have a common conversation."

Yes, and here's a further irony. There is a well-known adage that "a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its trousers on."

It is usually attributed to Winston Churchill. But the website Quote Investigator, which substitutes shoes for trousers incidentally, suggests it was coined many, many years before Churchill got to it.

So even a quote about how lies gain currency could be false. And we can't blame social media for that, can we?
Topics

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Here's the truth: 'fake news' is not social media's fault

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Remember how mainstream media's lies and distortions were going to be corrected by people using social media? Now we have mainstream media trying to cope with fake news distributed through social media. To add to the drama, we have fake claims by digital moguls that they can do something positive to stop the dissemination of fake news.

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Research Lesson Series: Part 4 | Ideas for Education

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C.A.R.S. Checklist for Evaluating Internet Sources You should evaluate every website you use for research or for personal information. Ask yourself the following questions about each site and try t…

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Clint Eastwood refused to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama.

False

On 22 November 2016, the disreputable web site Departed.co published an article that reported that Clint Eastwood had refused to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama.

The "article" consisted of a sensational headline ("Clint Eastwood Refuses to Accept Presidential Medal of Freedom From Obama, Says 'He is not my president'") and a screenshot of a message allegedly posted by the actor on Twitter:

However, the @ClintEastwoodLA Twitter account is not associated with the actor. The bio for this account claims that it is run by "Walt Kowalski," Eastwood's character from the movie Gran Torino:

NOT Clint Eastwood. I'm Walt Kowalski #GranTorino, Callahan #DirtyHarry & Munny in#Unforgiven. I'm the good, the bad, & the ugly. #Fansite. Now #GetOffMyLawn

Furthermore, we found no record of the Tweet here posted to this parody account, indicating that the message fabricated by Departed.co. The parody Clint Eastwood account confirmed that they never posted the above-displayed message:

The White House announced the list of recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 16 November 2016, which did not include Clint Eastwood:

Today, President Barack Obama named 21 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation's highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. The awards will be presented at the White House on November 22nd.

President Obama said, "The Presidential Medal of Freedom is not just our nation's highest civilian honor - it's a tribute to the idea that all of us, no matter where we come from, have the opportunity to change this country for the better. From scientists, philanthropists, and public servants to activists, athletes, and artists, these 21 individuals have helped push America forward, inspiring millions of people around the world along the way."

That's not to say that Eastwood has not received commendations from Barack Obama in the past. In 2010, the president conferred the National Medal of Arts to twelve recipients, including the actor. While Eastwood did not attend the ceremony, he did not reject the award, and is currently listed on the National Endowments of the Arts web site as an award winner.

Julia, Boccagno. "President Obama Awards 21 recipients with the Presidential Medal of Freedom."
CBS News. 22 November 2016.

Itzkoff, Dave. "National Medal of Arts Winners Include Bob Dylan, Clint Eastwood and Maya Lin."
The New York Times. 25 February 2010.

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FACT CHECK: Did Clint Eastwood Refuse the Presidential Medal of Freedom?

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Clint Eastwood refused to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama. False On 22 November 2016, the disreputable web site Departed.co published an article that reported that Clint Eastwood had refused to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama.

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Information and Videos to teach you how to think about news

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Information and Videos to teach you how to think about news

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Update: Please also see our new, 2017 lesson, Evaluating Sources in a 'Post-Truth' World: Ideas for Teaching and Learning About Fake News

_________

How do you know if something you read is true? Why should you care?

We pose these questions this week in honor of News Engagement Day on Oct. 6, and try to answer them with resources from The Times as well as from Edutopia, the Center for News Literacy, TEDEd and the NewseumEd.

Although we doubt we need to convince teachers that this skill is important, we like the way Peter Adams from the News Literacy Project frames it in a post for Edutopia.

As he points out, every teacher is familiar with "digital natives" and the way they seem to have been born with the ability to use technology. But what about "digital naïveté" - when students trust sources of information that are obviously unreliable?

Even though they know how easy it is to create and distribute information online, many young people believe - sometimes passionately - the most dubious rumors, tempting hoaxes (including convincingly staged encounters designed to look raw and unplanned) and implausible theories.

Below, a roundup of tools, questions, activities and case studies we hope can help reduce this digital naïveté. Tell us what you think - or what we missed.
Getting Started: What is News Literacy and Why Do You Need It? Video and a related lesson plan from TEDEd.
The concept of " media literacy " has been around for decades, but "news literacy" is a new field that is growing as fast as the boundaries around old definitions of journalism are being dismantled.

The Center for News Literacy explains it this way:

The most profound communications revolution since the invention of Gutenberg's printing press seems to make it harder, not easier, to determine the truth. The digital revolution is characterized by a flood of information and misinformation that news consumers can access from anywhere at any time.

News aggregators, bloggers, pundits, provocateurs, commentators and "citizen journalists" are competing with traditional journalists for public attention. Uninformed opinion masquerades as news. Lines are blurring between legitimate journalism and the propaganda, entertainment, self-promotion and unmediated information on the Internet.

This superabundance of information has made it imperative that citizens learn to judge the reliability of news reports and other sources of information that is passed along their social networks.

Teachers can check out Edutopia's Five-Minute Film Festival on News Literacy to find more resources on the concept, or, to explore it in much greater depth, visit the Center for News Literacy's Digital Resource Center to access a comprehensive curriculum series "From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg in 14 Lessons."

Before you embark on a full unit, however, we suggest two exercises.
First, Ask Your Students to Weigh In

More people have died from selfies than shark attacks this year: //t.co/0IcHpOaWgY pic.twitter.com/1Ij5cG6iMs

- Mashable (@mashable) September 27, 2015

Mashable claims that, in 2015, selfies have killed more people than sharks. The Washington Post's Intersect says that's ridiculous. What do you think?
A couple of years ago, we asked students on our blog, How Do You Know if What You Read Online Is True?

One of our daily Student Opinion questions, it was inspired by a Times article that week, "If a Story Is Viral, Truth May Be Taking a Beating," that noted, "viral trumps verified ... as long as the clicks keep coming."

Here are some of the questions we posed in the course of that discussion. You might invite your own students to talk about them in pairs, small groups or as a whole class before you begin a news literacy curriculum - and then revisit their answers after you finish. And since all of our Student Opinion questions are still open to comment, they can also post their thoughts to our blog:

1. How many viral posts - whether articles, videos or photographs - do you click on each week? How many on average do you share on social media?

2. How often do you check to make sure what you are sharing or commenting on is real? How do you go about finding that out?

3. How much do you care if a story purporting to be real actually is?

4. How much more careful are you with online sources when you are doing work for school than when you are simply surfing the web for fun? How do you decide what is a reliable source for your schoolwork?

5. What sources of news do you usually trust? What sources do you rarely trust? Why?

6. What responsibility do journalists and news outlets who post or link these stories have to make sure they are true? Is it their job to make sure something is not a hoax before they cover or link to it? How do you think they go about verifying information?

7. Can embellished, or outright fake, stories have real-world consequences? What examples can you give?

8. In a world where news can be reported by anyone with a cellphone, how do you decide what is true? What questions should you ask to find out? What personal rules might you develop to decide what news you post and when you post it? What harm might be done by not following those rules?
Then, Impose a 48-Hour News Blackout
Another introductory exercise that can help students examine their media habits and show them why and how news matters comes from the Center for News Literacy, as described in a 2007 Times article about its work:

At the outset of the course, students are required to impose a 48-hour news blackout on themselves. They are not to watch, read or listen to the news, including weather reports and sports scores. The idea is to emphasize the role that such information plays in their lives, often without students' realizing it.

You can find more about that idea here.
Tools and Strategies: How to Tell Fake News From Real News Worst Twerk Fail EVER - Girl Catches Fire Mexican Red Rump Tarantula Missing in Brooklyn Post a Facebook Copyright Status to Protect Your Information
These stories all went viral on social media, but if you click the links, you'll see all of them turned out to be hoaxes. And yet, sometimes something that sounds fake - like this story about West Point cadets who "weaponized" a pillow fight - isn't.

How can you tell? Before you hit "share," what questions should you ask?

First, suggests Chad Lorenz in a piece for Slate that explores the need for news literacy curriculums, consider the places from which you routinely get information:

Today a tour through your social media news feed might take you to Mental Floss, Dadaviz, Colossal, Cracked, Dangerous Minds, Uproxx. How is a reader to know what from this assortment of blogs and webzines can be trusted? What about a site like Inquisitr? ( Approach with caution.) What about Before It's News? (Trick question: That one is definitely not to be trusted.) While it might seem easy to distinguish real news from fake news, many people, including experienced journalists, get suckered more often than you would think. Students, as heavy users of social media, where fake news and hoaxes proliferate, should think about their own responsibility to share reliable information and not perpetuate misinformation.

Once you've done that, you might next consult the Newseum's popular Believe It Or Not? lesson plan that walks teachers and students through basic news literacy. Students learn to ask these six "consumer questions" when vetting a story:

Who made this?

How was this made?

Why was this made?

When was this made?

What is this missing?

Where do I go from here?

Another method for questioning sources of information is the mnemonic the students at Intermediate School 303 in Coney Island use: IMVAIN.

Independent sources are preferable to self-interested sources.

Multiple sources are preferable to a report based on a single source.

Sources who Verify or provide verifiable information are preferable to those who merely assert.

Authoritative and/or Informed sources are preferable to sources who are uninformed or lack authoritative background.

Named sources are better than anonymous ones.

Watch a video and learn more about how they use this technique, from the Center for News Literacy, here, then try it yourself with this checklist.

Finally, here are some guidelines specifically about breaking news from NPR's On The Media:
More Sites and Tools for Fact-Checking What You Read Going Further: Applying Your Skills, Reading Case Studies and More Practice With Content From Your News Feeds
Go through your social media feeds or your daily newspaper or both, and choose one news story, then try asking the six questions the Newseum suggests. (To learn more about how to apply each individual question, consult this resource.)

Or, compare two or more news reports on the same topic but from different news outlets to see how the same story is covered in each. You might compare lead stories or, via the Newseum's daily gallery, compare newspaper front pages from around the world, whether from that day or from big news events of years past. Or, pick a divisive or controversial topic and look at how different news sources have handled the subject.

Remember as you read that news outlets feature both straight news reporting as well as opinion about the news, and that sometimes those distinctions can blur. How can you tell the difference?

If you are a teacher doing this with an entire class, you and your students might eventually create a full classroom gallery walk of news items that highlight some of the issues raised in this post.
Learn From Some Famous Case Studies
So far most of the examples we've provided have been fairly silly - pigs rescuing goats, twerking problems - but there can be serious consequences to inaccurate news reporting, and to contributing to viral stories by sharing them yourself.

And sometimes, even generally reliable sources will make mistakes.

For instance, just after the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, the F.B.I. released pictures and video of two young men who officials believed may have been responsible for the explosions, and the Internet quickly offered to help find them. Nick Bilton writes about what happened next:

In a scene metaphorically reminiscent of a movie in which vigilantes swarm the streets with pitchforks and lanterns, people took to Reddit, the popular community and social news Web site, and started scouring images posted online from the bombings.

One Reddit forum told users to search for "people carrying black bags," and noted that "if they look suspicious, then post them. Then people will try and follow their movements using all the images."

In the process, each time a scrap of information was discovered - the color of a hat, the type of straps on a backpack, the weighted droop of a bag - it was passed out on Twitter like "Wanted" posters tacked to lampposts. It didn't matter whether it was right, wrong or even completely made up (some images posted to forums had been manipulated) - off it went, fiction and fact indistinguishable.

Some misinformation online landed on the front page of The New York Post, incorrectly identifying an innocent high school student as a suspect.

Later in the week, the Web wrongly identified one of the suspects as a student from Brown University who went missing earlier this month.

Read Mr. Bilton's article, as well as " The Pressure to Be the TV News Leader Tarnishes a Big Brand" and " Should Reddit Be Blamed for the Spreading of a Smear? " to understand the real-life consequences of the race to be first with news.

During Hurricane Sandy, news and images circulated quickly via social media. ( Poynter reported, for instance, that Instagram users were posting 10 Hurricane Sandy pictures every second at one point.)

Reports that the New York Stock Exchange was underwater and that sharks were swimming in front yards in New Jersey spread widely.

This article from The Atlantic, " InstaSnopes: Sorting the Real Sandy Photos From the Fakes, " explores the stories and photos that circulated, helping readers understand which were real and which weren't.

Why might it be dangerous to rely on social media during a crisis or disaster? What did we learn about social media from Hurricane Sandy?

Finally, you might also consider The Times's Retro Report series, documentaries exploring major news stories of the past and their lasting impact. This one looks at "a moment in 1999 so searing that it is still instantly evoked with a single word: Columbine."

As the related article says, "much of what the public came to believe about Columbine was flat-out wrong. Myths took root from the start, nurtured by frightened and confused students and amplified by news outlets running hard with rumor and conjecture" - and the way the media reports on school shootings today is still affected by those early reports.

To find many more examples of news reporting gone awry, and to consider questions of accuracy and bias in far more depth then this post has room for, we again recommend the Center for News Literacy's 14 lesson series.
News or Satire?
If you spend a lot of time on social media, you've most likely been tricked, or nearly tricked, by taking at face value a story from The Onion or some other satirical news site. In fact, in 2012 the Chinese Communist Party's news outlet may have fallen for an Onion story calling Kim Jong-un, the young, chubby North Korean ruler, the "Sexiest Man Alive for 2012."

Every week in our News Quiz, we save the 10th question for news literacy. Each lists four recent news headlines - three from The Times and one from The Onion - and asks which is which. Though we often feature wacky news as "distractors," these are not trick questions: Close reading should reveal fairly quickly which headline just can't be true.

Try it. Here are two from recent quizzes. You'll notice that not only is the "news" from The Onion improbable, the humor in it is almost always a riff on real news, so keeping up with what's going on in the world in general should make the exercise even easier:
What About The New York Times?
Though most people consider The New York Times, with its reporters, editors, fact-checkers, and ethical reporting guidelines, to be among the most reliable news sources, the paper can still make mistakes - sometimes very important ones.

In 2003, after the Jayson Blair scandal rocked the institution, The Times added more safeguards, including a public editor. This person writes about The Times and its journalism, investigates matters of journalistic integrity and works independently, outside of the reporting and editing structure of the newspaper. The position is now held by Margaret Sullivan.

In her column, you can read her take on everything from the paper's coverage of Iraq in 2003 to its current use of anonymous sources and recent dubious reporting on hipster trends like "man buns." Anyone who has a concern about The Times can write to her at public@nytimes.com.
Related Learning Network Resources 50 Ways to Teach With Current Events News and 'News Analysis': Navigating Fact and Opinion in The Times Three Teacher-Tested Ways to Encourage Your Students to Follow Current Events This School Year Skills Practice | Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion Guest Post | Practical Tools for Teaching News Literacy Guest Post | News Literacy Is Not Optional if You Need to Be Well-Informed

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Skills and Strategies | Fake News vs. Real News: Determining the Reliability of Sources

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Update: Please also see our new, 2017 lesson, Evaluating Sources in a 'Post-Truth' World: Ideas for Teaching and Learning About Fake News _________ How do you know if something you read is true? Why should you care? We pose these questions this week in honor of News Engagement Day on Oct.

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Evaluate the quality of online information

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Evaluate the quality of online information

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The volume of information available on the Internet is astounding, and it just keeps growing. Business intelligence company DOMO estimates that 571 new websites are created every minute. With that amount of information, it can be difficult for students to separate the gems from the garbage, but, fortunately, we can help them navigate online information easily and efficiently.

What Students Currently Think of Online Information

Students today don't know a world without the Internet, but that doesn't mean they know how to think critically about what they see online. Julie Coiro, associate professor of education at the University of Rhode Island, wrote in an Edutopia blog post that middle schoolers tend to focus more on relevance than credibility. Author and publication type are of limited importance to students, and if they do examine these elements, they can't explain why they chose certain websites. Coiro also observed similar issues among high school and college students.

Coiro suggests strategies to help students to effectively evaluate what they see on the Internet, practice refuting what is on the Internet, and cross-check claims. In other words, becoming critical consumers of online material means more than just viewing a website. It requires knowing what qualifies as quality content and how to judge what is good material and what is not.

Identifying Good Content

There are a few checks and balances to ensure that online content is indeed credible. To be considered as such, content will be relevant to the research question, be updated regularly with information that can be verified across other sources, and emanate from a reliable author or publisher, especially those respected in the field. It is also important to detect any personal or commercial bias from which the content may arise.

Most of us shy away from Wikipedia as a resource, but the online encyclopedia lists its own useful standards for credible content. (Ironically, Wikipedia also discourages the use of Wikipedia pages in its own content.) Among those sources considered credible are magazines, scholarly journals, mainstream newspapers, and news blogs written by journalists themselves. Wikipedia further suggests avoiding self-published work if there is no way to verify that the author is an expert in the field.

Learning to Use Websites Effectively

Students may not understand the differences in quality between websites. Demonstrating to students what different websites look like, and their purpose, helps them see how they should use each kind of site. Websites include personal, special interest, professional, news, and commercial sites. Determining the differences among these is also a good lesson in identifying writer bias.

Domain names are also a clue into the credibility of a website. Sites in the .edu, .gov, and .org domains are considered reliable, but those with .com and .net domains require scrutiny. Examining all elements of the web address can clue students into the reliability of a source. George Mason University offers the example of the website "http://www.gmu.edu/facstaff/policy/administrative/60.html," in which each portion of the web address offers a clue into where the website derived the information.

Teaching students to be better web searchers can help them determine good online content. Introduce them to scholarly search engines, such as LexisNexis or Ebsco, which contain credible, peer-reviewed information. If your school does not offer these databases, contact a local college or university for a field trip to their library. Even Google searches can be refined to pare information down into manageable, credible bits, particularly when using the "Advanced Search" option. Google also offers a Books Search and a Scholar search, which will search only scholarly papers. Students can effectively use search operators and Boolean terms to hone in on a particular topic.

Effectively Judging Content

Students should consider the purpose of the project and what sources are valuable in that field. For example, websites such as the OWL at Purdue or the Modern Language Association may be more valuable for an English paper than a more commercial website. Good content is typically attributed to a particular author, except when credible organizations such as universities, governments, or credible media outlets and non-government organizations have published the material.

Teach students how publishing is accomplished by contrasting publication standards for books, magazines, and newspapers versus that of websites, many of which do not succumb to the same rigorous standards as their print counterparts. The discussion can then turn to the standards that students should use to evaluate content since these quality judgments are now up to them. Teaching website evaluation, incidentally, also helps achieve certain Common Core standards.

Cross-checking information is a great way for students to see how credible some online content is, and it encourages them to explore other content and evaluate it for its credibility. If students are able to find the same information elsewhere, it is likely they can prove that the content is accurate and reliable.

Creating Lessons of Web Content

Making a game or class research project out of a website credibility exercise not only teaches students how to determine reputable online information, but it also engages them in a particular topic. You may find this as an excellent way to both introduce a concept and teach important web-navigation skills. The Viking Voyagers activity is a good starting point for such a lesson plan in that it asks students to use the Internet to research Vikings. In so doing, students learn information evaluation skills at the same time as they learn a little history.

Asking students to think about how they use the Internet is a great place to launch a discussion on how websites are used and how they present information. If students don't read carefully through an entire website article (as many of us are wont to do), they may not catch certain nuances that indicate a website is no good. Showing both credible and hoax websites can help reinforce this point.

Understanding Why This Is Important

Students will need to evaluate online material for credibility if they are to build evidence in their arguments. Much of their research will occur online, meaning they will need to understand what qualifies as good evidence to help support their thoughts. Research also challenges students to think critically about their topic and to determine what points are relevant to their research. Being able to construct an effective, relevant argument not only helps students in future academic work, but it also helps them become more persuasive and to communicate clearly in other areas of their lives. Being able to identify and select credible information can be useful to their professional credibility.

In Short

Navigating the Internet can be tricky for students, especially when it comes to determining the validity of information out of the wealth of knowledge available online. Creating lessons that exercise students' evaluation skills will help them become better web consumers and researchers, and it may help them in their later academic and professional careers.

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How to Teach Students to Evaluate the Quality of Online Information

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The volume of information available on the Internet is astounding, and it just keeps growing. Business intelligence company DOMO estimates that 571 new websites are created every minute. With that amount of information, it can be difficult for students to separate the gems from the garbage, but, fortunately, we can help them navigate online information easily and efficiently.

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Research Guides: Information Literacy: Websites

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This guide provides tips to help you find and use information effectively, efficiently, and ethically including how to cite sources, search for articles, select a research topic and much more.

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Detailed ways to think about the reliability of the news

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Detailed ways to think about the reliability of the news

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Back in the old days, when people got their news mainly from papers, magazines, radio and television, it was generally easy to figure out when someone was pulling your leg. Pretty much anything in the National Enquirer was suspect, for example. That tabloid often featured stories with outrageous headlines, such as, "Woman Gives Birth to Alien." We may laugh at such titles, but what's not so funny is that in the last decade or two, with the growth of the Internet and social media, fake news stories and entire fake news sites have proliferated.

Some sites intentionally write false, humorous stories under the satire genre.A prime example is The Onion. Many people realize The Onion is a satirical publication. But if there's any doubt, it's pretty clear if you click on the site's " About Us" tab. The information there says, among other humorous bits, "The Onion now enjoys a daily readership of 4.3 trillion and has grown into the single most powerful and influential organization in human history," and, "The Onion uses invented names in all of its stories, except in cases where public figures are being satirized."

But many other fake news sites intentionally try to pass themselves off as real, either by never disclosing their satirical nature or hiding the disclosure deep within their website. Still others are just peddling false and salacious tales to drive traffic to their site and rake in ad revenue - something easy to do when social media allows the rapid spread of misinformation.

So how can you ensure you're not being bamboozled? We have 10 tips to get you started.

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Back in the old days, when people got their news mainly from papers, magazines, radio and television, it was generally easy to figure out when someone was pulling your leg. Pretty much anything in the National Enquirer was suspect, for example. That tabloid often featured stories with outrageous headlines, such as, "Woman Gives Birth to Alien."

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Purdue OWL: Evaluating Sources of Information

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Evaluating sources of information is an important step in any research activity. This section provides information on evaluating bibliographic citations, aspects of evaluation, reading evaluation, print vs. online sources, and evaluating Internet sources.

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Should questionable websites have their own domain until they are vetted by the government and deemed reliable?
(Domain examples: .gov, .net, .edu, .com)

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and why it happens

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and where to find them

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Steps to judging the reliability of a resource 

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Steps to judging the reliability of a resource 

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*citation below

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Kolowich, S. (2011) What students don't know (Online Image). 

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Kolowich, S. (2011) What students don't know (Online Image). 

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Retrieved March 22, 2018 from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/08/22/erial_study_of_student_research_habits_at_illinois_university_libraries_reveals_alarmingly_poor_information_literacy_and_skills

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Listen to instructions for Padlet assignment.