Library Lesson: Evaluating Online Sources

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• Apply evaluation criteria and strategies to information found on online

Check audio on your computer or have headphones ready.

Lateral Reading strategy.. in Action!

Imagine you see a viral social media post sharing information about a research study on a health topic. Instead of sharing it, you:

• Open a new tab and search for the name of the publication where the study appeared. You might find that it's a known disinformation site. 
• Open another new tab and search for the health claim itself. You might find that major trusted news outlets have reported that the study's findings were based on a flawed methodology.
• Open another new tab and search for the author of the study. This search may reveal that the author is known for biased research or that they receive funding from an industry that benefits from their research conclusions. 

Using lateral reading can help you quickly and efficiently determine if the information is trustworthy. 

Website domains alone are NOT reliable indicators of credibility. Anyone can register a .com, .org or .net. A website's credibility is determined by evaluating its content, author, and purpose. 

.GOV Government: A local or federal government site.

.EDU Education: A site affiliated with an institution of education.

.ORG Organization: And advocacy website like a non-profit organization.

.NET Network: A site from a etwork organization or Internet provider, often a personal site.

.COM Commercial: A business or commercial site.

To help determine of you are looking at credible information use this checklist to ask questions about the website or information found.

Use lateral reading to go outside of the website or post you are looking at. If you can't find the answers to most of these questions, then it may be best to look for something else. 

Ask yourself:

• Who is the author, source or publisher?
• Is the author qualified to write on this topic?
• Is there contact information, address, or email?

Ask yourself:

• Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
• Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is the best one to use?

Ask yourself:

• When was the information published or posted?
• Has the information been revised or updated?
• Is the information current or out-of-date for your topic?
• Are the links functional?

Ask yourself:

• Is the information supported by evidence?
• Can you verify any of the information in another source or by your own knowledge?
• Are you able to fact check the information?

Ask yourself:

• What is the purpose of the information?
• To inform? To teach? To sell? To persuade?
• Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases?
• Does the website address reveal anything about the website?

Watch this short video to learn how to apply the evaluation criteria to your sources.