When I receive information, I usually. . .
accept that the information is true.
or do I . . .
consult a credible source to verify the author’s claims/facts.
Know Your Personal Biases
Do I tend to look at things as either:
“right/wrong” OR “good/bad” ?
Know Your Personal Biases
•Insecurity
•Fear
•Ignorance
•Peer/Family influence
• What type of website is it?
• Who is behind the website?
• Is the information supported with verifiable evidence?
What type of website?
•promoting an opinion or political agenda•selling a service or product•offering tips/advice•news or blogs•governmental •scholarly article•Wikipedia-type
Top Level Domains
•Products, Services, Ideas, Agendas (.org, .com)
•Non-profits (.org, .edu)
•Scholarly/educational (.edu, .org)
•Popular press (.com, .org)
•Governmental (.gov, .mil)
•Personal (.com, .edu, .net)
Author: Who’s Behind the Website?
Who pays for the site?
Who maintains the site?
Who writes the information?
Check to see if site provides an identifying link:
“About Us”
“Who We Are”
“Mission Statement”
credentials: the education, work, or other experience that qualifies an individual or organization to address a particular topic.
Do You Want Friend or an Expert?
Know when writers are masking personal opinions as factual statements.
Writer’s personal opinion:
I think gays do a poor job of raising healthy, well socialized children.
Writer states personal opinion as fact:
Gays do a poor job of raising healthy, well socialized children.
Your response to such statements should be:
How does the writer know this claim to be true?
Does the writer support her opinion with credible evidence?
reliable evidence: authoritative, balanced, and accurate source whose claims can be verified through credible sources.
to verify: determine the accuracy of a statement, fact, or statistic
Unsupported Statements
Student’s claim: According to Ebreastaug.com, Americans spent $12 billion on cosmetic surgery (ebreastaub.com).
Cited source:
Supported Statements
Revised claim: “In 2007, Americans spent approximately $8 billion on surgeons’ fees for cosmetic medical treatments (Sarwer, 2006).”
Supported Statements
Student discovered statistical source in the following article:
Sarwer, D. “Physical Appearance & Cosmetic Medical Treatments: Socio-Cultural Influences.” Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology 2 (2006): 29-39.
Verifying Sources
Check credentials of author:
Listed in library databases?
Academic Search Elite
Reliability of Author: Credentials
Is author the subject of internet chatter?
Google the author’s name
How to Tell a Reliable Site
• What type of website is it?
• Who is behind the website?
• Is the information supported with verifiable evidence?
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