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UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

UNIV 110A: First Year Experience in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts

This guide will help students in University 110A use library resources.

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Lateral Reading for Source Evaluation

vertical reading vs. lateral reading for evaluating websites. Vertical reading: read the website's about page, look at the web address to see if it is .com, .org, .gov, look for the authors name and any information about them that might be available on the website, look to see when the website was last updated. Lateral Reading: search for the website on google to look for reviews of it, find out who is clting or linking to the website, verify the author's credentials in another source, fact check information from the site in outside sources, look for information about the website's reputation in other credible sources.

Evaluating Sources Chart

 

Source Evaluation Strategies: I found a cool website on my topic! Can I use it? First, ask “who created this”? If the answer to “who created this?” is a person, then you should ask: Is this person an expert on this topic? Can I verify their credentials in another source besides this website? Could they have a bias on this topic? If the answer to “who created this?” is an organization, then you should ask: What does this organization do? What do other sources say about this organization? Do other sources agree with what they say about themselves? Could they have a bias on this topic? If the answer to “who created this?” is a lot of people, like Wikipedia, then you should ask: Who can edit the page? Can I look at the log of recent changes to the page? Does the information match what I see in other credible sources? Could I find a better source for this topic? If the answer to “who created this?” is that you can’t tell for sure, then you should: Look for an “about” page or look at the home page of the website to see what the site is saying about itself. Google the name of the website to look for more information about the site and its reputation from other sources.

 

Using SIFT to Evaluate Sources

SIFT is an acronym that can help you remember a quick method for doing an initial evaluation of a website or other source.  The sift method was created by Michael Caulfield.

stop sign

 

"S" Stands for Stop:

  • Stop for a minute.
  • What do you know about this source?
  • What do you know about the reputation of the source?
  • Do you know enough to decide whether or not to use it?
  • Don't share or use a website unless you know for sure what it is.
  • If you don't know enough about the website, use the other steps of SIFT to find out more about it.   
magnifying glass

 

"I" stands for Investigate the Source:

  • Find out where the information in the source is coming from.
  • Do a quick google search for the name of the website.
  • Look up the website in Wikipedia to find out more about it.
  • Look up any authors listed in the source to investigate their expertise.
  • What can you find out about the reputation of this source?
  • Does the source seem worth using or sharing with others?
computer monitor with webpage displayed

 

"F" stands for Find Trusted Coverage (or Find Better Coverage):

If the reputation of the source doesn't impress you but you are still interested in the information:

  • Try searching for a better source on the same topic.
  • Try looking at multiple sources on the same topic.
  • Does there seem to be a consensus among experts on this topic?
  • What is the best source you can find on this topic?
puzzle pieces

 

"T" stands for Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media to the Original Context:

Many things online are not in their original context, which can make it difficult to evaluate credibility.

  • Examine your source to see if it may have information that is out of context.
  • If your source contains images, are they from another source? 
  • Could videos or images in your source have been altered from the original?
  • If your source contains a video, can you trace where it is from?  
  • If your source contains quotations, can you check the original source?

 

Popular vs. Scholarly

For a quick review of common characteristics found in scholarly articles, watch this short video:

Popular vs. Scholarly video

Subjects: UNIV 110