Consider Your Source
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Katie Springer and Suzanne Walker discuss the importance of having good sources for information when working with library patrons, other professionals, and for your own informational needs. Resources are introduced. This presentation was given at the 2017 Indiana State Library's Difference is You event.
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Consider Your Source
- 2. I need data on…
- 6. HOW DO WE EVALUATE SOURCES?
- 8. From Purdue University, Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
- 9. •Look for websites from established institutions: .GOV .EDU .ORG •Look for websites with expertise Example: Go to the CDC for medical questions and search using official databases •Steer clear of commercial sites .COM https://www.thoughtco.com/gauging-website-reliability-2073838 • Beware bias, or websites that favor one political party or way of thinking • Check the date, or “last updated” notes • Avoid anonymous authors Look for the name so you can check credentials • Check the links
- 10. *Adapted from the CRAP test, developed by Molly Beestrum and Kenneth Orenic, two librarians from Dominican University.
- 14. ONE PROBLEM WITH WIKIS
- 18. Katie Springer State Data Center Indiana State Library 315 West Ohio St. Indianapolis, IN 46202 317-232-3732 kspringer@library.in.gov Suzanne Walker Professional Development Office Indiana State Library 315 West Ohio St. Indianapolis, IN 46202 317-232-3718 SuWalker@library.IN.gov
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- Hello and welcome to Consider Your Source! -- A program about sharing accurate web information with patrons. I’m Katie Springer, and I work at the State Library for the State Data Center. This presentation will cover the basics in information gathering, share tips and tools for evaluating information sources, and we’ll discuss how we ensure we’re distributing accurate information to our patrons.
- First, I wanted to explain how this program came about, and why it was created – by explaining our story. Last July, I received a request to gather data on homeschooling. This was a fairly typical request for me. I’d been working on data requests for about 10 years, so this wasn’t something I found difficult to do. For this request - I had recently done a project that involved homeschooling, so I knew of some places to start looking for answers… and I knew, (or thought I knew!…) where to find reliable sources. The person requesting this data was the head of the State Library’s Professional Development Office and so, I put a rush on it and answered her request that day with 10 or so different sources after searching the web and looking at national homeschooling organizations. She had told me that this information was being used for a webinar – one that she was putting together for ALA. So, I knew… or should have known… that it was important these figures were accurate and that they were from reliable sources.
- Well, time went by. She presented her webinar to a national audience. And then, in mid-November, she received an email that left her mortified (which she shared with me). Within the research I had done and she had used… was the URL of a heavily biased media source… and it had been broadcast and seen by viewers during the webinar as one of her sources. The author of this email complaint said that it had made her “doubt the legitimacy of [her] research and [it] insulted one of [her] coworkers, since it's a site often used to promote hate speech.” To make matters worse, this very media source was profiled on the news over the next few days in scathing ways. I double checked the source, to make sure the data was correct – and it was. The article itself and the data in it checked out, but the larger website contained politically biased news and commentary. So, the damage had been done.
- This chart demonstrates current media bias in the US We found this after the fact. If we would have had this chart, we would have been in better shape!
- This situation provides a great teaching moment for all of us. It shows that even professionals can be victim to the ‘fake news’ phenomenon that’s so on-topic right now. I should have known better than to use this unreliable, heavily biased source. So, how did it end up on my list of reliable sources? The headline about the data had been deceptively authoritative, so during the web search, the result seemed fine, but what was in question was the actual media source that was publishing the data online. “The other thing to remember is that while you found the initial source (based on good data), it went through me and two staff members of ALA. They were given our slides ahead of time, and I assumed they had checked the slides, at least for a brief look through. One cannot assume that someone else will catch a biased news source.” At times like these, I feel the need to go back to the basics of High School Journalism class. Who What When Where Why How and How Much?
- So, libraries are considered a public service and a source for reliable knowledge, and technically any person could walk up at any time with any question. How do we manage our own risk for error when giving out a resource, especially an online resource? We can practice evaluating our sources before we share them. Today, we’ll demonstrate some of the tools we have to help us do that.
- Fortunately, it’s easier for us to evaluate print resources than it is online sources. A traditional published book has gone through an entire process of writing, editing, and fact-checking by multiple people. Most publishers will not publish a book without verifying that the information within its pages can be shared with the public. But even now, there are many smaller publishers and self-published books that need to be evaluated before sharing. Websites, of course, are much easier for people to publish. Any person who knows how to put up a website can publish information, whether it’s factual or not. Websites are not edited for content by outside editors. If the author chooses to publish opinons, outdated data, or unverified information, they can. So how do we sort out the good from the bad information?
- We can start by asking a question we ask of both print and electronic sources: “How do we know if a source is credible?” Who is responsible for the website? Is it a college/university (mostly reliable)? Or is it a student from a college/university posting humorous or satirical content? When was the website published? If it contains articles, you can check the article dates, or, if you scroll to the bottom of the website, you’ll often find a note about when it was last updated. If you can’t determine how current the website is, you may want to be careful about sharing its content. Why is this website published? Does the entire website have a bias, that is, does it take one certain position – politically or philosophically? Or is it neutral? Is it to distribute facts, or opinions? Also, are there sponsors of the website, and where does the money come from? What kind of organization sponsors it? If you can’t determine reasonable answers to these questions, you’ll want to look for more proof that the website is reliable.
- Here are some simple rules for journalists when determining website reliability – with the main point ‘Beware Bias, Look for Expertise”
- Here is a handy test made for online information, developed by librarians: It’s easy to remember – CRAAP! C Currency R Relevance A Authority A Accuracy P Purpose This test is so well known, you can google CRAAP or crap test – spelled either way – and get a bunch of different versions of it. They’re all good because they make sure you’re taking a second step for your patrons in verifying that the information you’re giving them is good.
- At this time, in the news, it is especially important that we take a second look at what is reported as ‘fact’ As library staff, when a patron comes to us for verification that something is a fact, how to we know for ourselves? Indiana University East has a LibGuide on Avoiding fake news. It contains links to the tests we’ve mentioned, and contains reliable discussion of what distributing fake news can do to your credibility.
- The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) website provides a top ten list of good web tools we can use to quickly fact-check sources. We can share these tools with patrons who are concerned with fake news as well.
- In addition to these tools, there’s a project from Indiana University called Hoaxy which can help us visualize how other web sources are being fact-checked. The nice thing about this is that you can just enter a word or phrase – and it checks the fact-checkers for who else has been checking on the same kinds of things! Say that there was a story that someone told you about the water supply in another town, and it didn’t sound quite right to you. Some of the facts did not seem quite real. Well, hoaxy can let you know whether that story has been searched before and how many times it has been shared on social media. It can give you a quick idea about whether the story is real or not. Remember – just because something is being spread around on social media like Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, doesn’t make it automatically reliable. It still needs to be checked out.
- There’s another topic I’d like to bring up – and that’s Wikipedia. What is it about Wikipedia that it is so tempting to use? (ask audience if they use it) It comes up on Google searches all of the time! Where does the content come from? How safe is it to use? When is it ok to use Wikipedia? How about scientific data?
- Neat slide to show at the end.
- Brainstorming questions and examples from crowd Play the game! http://factitious.augamestudio.com/#/
- Suzanne’s news about ALA
- Questions? Contact us.