How to judge a source by its cover

Clark, Bruce Allen. “French Model State Farms Commercial. ” Youtube. 2012. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.

“Teens Vulnerable To Fake Digital News Stories, Stanford Study Finds” (Stanford Graduate School of Education) “Having research skills isn’t just an optional part of your education—they’re essential. ” Dan Russell, blogger

How can you tell if a source is good? • You should be checking 5 things to determine if a website will be valuable to your research: • Currency • Relevance • Authority • Accuracy • Purpose

Currency • • • Some information is timeless Updated recently Links are current Few/no dead links Information up-to-date

Relevance • Information relevant? • Comprehensive? Or only one aspect? • Appropriate level?

Authority • • • Author separate from webmaster Expert on topic? Contact author Credentials listed Publishing institution reputable Site domain credible—what does URL reveal?

Photo credit: icanhascheezburger. com

Accuracy • Does information seem accurate? • Supported by evidence? • Peer-reviewed? • Unbiased language • Spelling, grammatical or other typographical errors? • Verify on other sites?

Purpose • • • Teach? Sell? Inform? Entertain? Persuade? Objective/impartial point of view Obvious biases? Watch out for fake news! Intended audience? Ads?

• “All news has bias, always look for it. That’s our • • responsibility” (as defined by Brooke Gladstone, NPR) Political bias – Conservative v. Liberal Commercial bias – Whatever will sell gets priority Bad News bias – “If it bleeds, it leads” Status Quo bias – All things equal, most readers don’t want things to change Access bias – What reporters have to give/give up to gain access to sources Visual bias – Stories that have visuals get noticed more Narrative bias – Tendency to make sense of the world through stories – pattern-seeking

What else should I check? Are you on a personal page? • You may/may not recognize the domain name or extension of a URL. Keep reading past the last forward slash “/” for more clues. If you are on a personal page, the information you are reading may/may not be trustworthy. • Any individual can create a website; it may contain useful information, links to important resources and helpful facts, but sometimes offers highly biased opinions. • The presence of a name in the URL such as jsmith and a tilde “~” or % or the word users or people or members frequently means you are on a personal website. • Even if a site has the extension. edu, you still need to watch for personal pages.

Recap: What are you looking for? • Author: Should be clear on page; “contact us” • Name of webpage: in URL • Date of posting/revision: Most recent date on website; also check Internet archive • Name of Institution/Organization: Listed on homepage? • URL: What else does it indicate? • Be skeptical! • Do “lateral reading; ” open other tabs to check your information quickly • Take bearings; what can you find out about your source?

Websites that fail the CRAAP test • About. com • Ask/Answer websites where • • users reply Blogs – Anyone can write a blog/post it on the Internet Ehow Face. Book Gossip Magazines • Huffington Post/Huff • • Post You. Tube Social Media/Social Networking websites Twitter Wiki – Any website that contains Wiki. • Yahoo Answers

Fact-checking websites • • Snopes Politifact Factcheck. org Truth be Told NPR Fact Check Hoax Slayer Washington Post Fact Checker • Lie Detector (Spanish/Univision) • Sci. Check • • • Facts. Can (Canada) Trudeau. Metre (Canada) El Polígrapho (Mexico) The Hound (Mexico) Guardian Reality Check (UK) • BBC Reality Check (UK) • Channel 4 Fact Check (UK) • Full Fact (UK)

How do you cite a website? MLA 8 Style Web Page ____________. _______, ____. Author(s) Last, First, M. “Article Title. ” Website Title, Date. ______________________ URL. Accessed Date Month Year. Example: Satalkar, Bhakti. “Water Aerobics. " Buzzle. com, 10 Nov. 2006. www. buzzle. com. Accessed 16 Jul. 2015. Source: Purdue OWL 2016

DON’T FORGET BOOKS! Fun. Maxi. TV. “Emma Toilet Paper. ” You. Tube. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.

Some other sites to consider • http: //www. thedogisland. com/ • http: //www. dhmo. org/ • http: //abcnews. go. com/Lifestyle/bunny-island-foxvillage-cat-island-japans-paradises/story? id=28830838 • http: //zapatopi. net/treeoctopus/ • http: //www. bbspot. com/news/2005/06/crossw alk_button_hacks. html • https: //www. onegai-kaeru. jp/2013/10/15/how-to-getcat-islands-in-japan-aoshima-and-tashirojima/

Example websites • http: //archer 2000. tripod. com/1940. html • http: //www. salemwitchtrials. com/ • http: //www. history. com/topics/salem-witchtrials • Don’t forget databases! • Pro. Quest/Public library • Google Advanced Search • ERIC