Evaluating information sources
Your assignment grade will depend on the quality of information that you use. Reading is an essential part of learning at the university. With appropriate methods and strategies, you will find academic reading more managable.
Reading for an assignment
What to read?
If you are reading for an assignment, you will need to read widely. Depending on your research topic, you will need to read books that cover specialized subject matters, research articles, conference proceedings, reports, theses, or more. Use ISU library online catalog and EBSCO EDS to identify your needed books, journal titles and articles.How to read?
Some academic concepts and terms may be difficult to understand. Yet understanding is not enough to read for an assignment. You also need to read critically. To grasp the main ideas of an academic work, taking notes is also a must. Below are some techniques to help you read more effectively.Evaluate your sources
Before deciding whether or not to incorporate what you have found into your assignment, you need to evaluate the resources to make sure that they contain information which is valuable and pertinent. This is especially true when the resources you retrieved are not collected by an academic library, but conveniently accessible through Internet search. Web resources need more careful thought to ensure their quality.Thus it is always a good practice to begin your search using our Library and databases for more authoritative and reliable resources.
Questions to ask
Accuracy
Is the information reliable?
Is the information error-free?
Is the information based on proven facts?
Can the information be verified against other reliable sources?
Authority
Who is the author?
Does he or she have the qualifications to speak/write on that topic?
Is the author affiliated with a reputable university or organization in this subject field?
Objectivity
What is the intended purpose of the information?
Is the information facts or opinions?
Is the information biased?
Currency
When was the information published?
Is the information current or out-dated?
Does currency matter in this topic?
Coverage
Does the information covered meet your information needs?
Does it provide basic or in depth coverage?
Fact versus Fake News - Resources to navigate digital literacy
Fake news is the promotion and propagation of news articles via social media that are false or misleading. These articles are promoted in such a way that they appear to be spread by other users, as opposed to being paid-for advertising. The news stories distributed are designed to influence or manipulate readers' opinions on a certain topic towards certain objectives.
(Gu and Yarochkin, 2017)
Test your ability to recognize fake news with these online games:
Bad NewsFactitious
Fakey
Media Literacy Mission
Sites to help you evaluate news sources
AllSides.com "Unlike regular news services, AllSides exposes bias and provides multiple angles on the same story so you can quickly get the full picture, not just one slant.CrossCheck Google's News Lab Verification Project
The Poynter Institute
Media bias/fact check
PolitiFact
Hoaxy