INFORMATION SKILLS –

FINDING TRUTH IN THE

FICTION

shuttershock.com
2016 Word of the Year – Post-Truth
Post-Truth - relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less
influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.
“Truthiness”
Search Engines
• How does Google work?
• Is Google really free? How might we pay for it?
• What is the difference between RESEARCH and A WEB SEARCH?

Research Web Search

Complicated questions Simple questions
Multiple aspects of an issue Facts
Types of Information on the Web
• Surface or
Searchable Web
• Deep Web

arvrjourney.com
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Differentiate Fact from Fiction –
• Oped - the editorial page in a newspaper, devoted to commentary, feature
articles, etc.
• Blog - a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual
or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.
• Washington Post Opinion Section
• USA Today Opinion Section
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Determine Intent –
• Political Cartoons
• The Onion
• About The Onion
Persuasive Styles in Opinion Pieces
• LOGOS – logic
• ETHOS – ethics
• PATHOS – values, emotions

owlcation.com
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Identify Fake Images
• Some images are misidentifies, cropped or edited for emotional appeal.
• Examples

• Check the source on photos – use Google images to reverse search

• TinEye.com
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Critique Infographics
• Look for the original sources
of information found in the
visualizations
• Image search the infographic
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Identify Video Origins
• Use Amnesty International to identify the original source of a video – with the
Research links on SES Educational Links and Resources
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Be Aware of Reputations
• Most news sources fall on a partisan spectrum from ultraliberal to hyperconservative.
• The mainstream media falls somewhere in the middle.
• Focus on the reputation of a site as a whole, not an author in particular
• Compare the perspectives you encounter on different news sources to start to determine
the continuum for yourself.
Liberal Conservative Neutral
MS-NBC Fox News Reuters
Huffington Post - news AP
aggregator – most is not original
content!
NPR
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Use Fact Checkers
• Politifact
• NPR’s Fact Check
• AP Fact Check
• Washington Post Fact Checker
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Question Personal Biases
• Confirmation Bias – when we overlook inconsistencies and inaccurate information
when information supports prejudices, belief systems, or preconceptions about a
topic
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Identify Journalistic Quality and Ethical Practices
• Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics

journalistresource.org
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Question Sponsorship
• Opinion pieces and advertisements are often promoted as news stories.
• Start by identifying possible bias in the website itself.
• Use the “about” page on websites to determine sponsorship.
• Native Advertising
• Brand Journalism
• Can you distinguish between advertisement banners, sponsored articles, and
legitimate news and information?
• Smithsonian.com
Should you trust this tweet?
You could try the link in the tweet…

Center for American Progress Article

Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Recognize That Time Provides Perspective
• Immediately after an event, details can be sketchy and the rumor mill can get out
of hand.
• It’s useful to wait a few days and revisit a news article.
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Apply Triangulation Tex.stackexchange.com

• If you’re reading a breaking story, search for other websites to see if others are
reporting the same story. Notice the quality of the sources of repeated sources.
• Be wary of news organizations that cite other news groups rather than original
information sources.
• Verify information by exploring three independent sources.
• Wikipedia can be valuable – it has extensive references, bibliographies, and
external links that you can use in your research.
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Focus on Disciplines
• Junk Science
• UFOS
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Use Primary Sources as Evidence
• Use credible, primary sources – go to the original source

luxagen.ca
Strategies to Identify Quality of
Information
Preselect Quality Sources
• Use effective information sources
• World Book
• Student Resources in Context
• Other Research tools on SES Educational Links and Resources
Conclusion
• Locate the headwaters of any article, image or video you use.
• Like tracing a river back to its origin, strategies are needed to identify the origin of
information.
• Be particularly wary of sound bites
and study condensations

wikipedia.org
Bibliography
“Fact of Fake? Curriculum Challenges for School Librarians.”
Teacher Librarian Oct. 2017
Annette Lamb
“Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning.”
Stanford History Education Group