Research Notes Issue #1
Vetting sources, listening to books, and taking action
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Welcome to the first official issue of Research Notes! I’m so happy that you decided to join me here and learn a little bit, every other week, about becoming a better researcher, reader, activist, and citizen.
In this issue, we will go over how to review a resource to find out if it is ‘fake news’, how to listen to books for free on your device, and an action you can take this week to contribute to the greater good.
If you have a friend whom you think might also like to become a more informed information consumer, please share this newsletter with them.
Is it fake news?
In the high-speed world of communication that is the Internet, we can often feel overwhelmed by the amount of information that we receive on a daily basis. Each of our social media feeds presents us with different streams of information, and oftentimes disinformation, to wade through. With good critical thinking skills and a few information literacy techniques in our toolkits, we can improve our information vetting skills and, in turn, be better stewards of information for our friends, family members, colleagues, and online acquaintances.
The CRAAP method
The first tool that any good Information Literacy Advocate will provide is the CRAAP method of resource evaluation. Currency, Reliability, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. In academia, sources need to meet this minimum standard of evaluation in order to be considered relevant, but in popular and social media, the bar is often set much lower. Due to the lack of evaluation, in general, that occurs in online spaces, users tend to share sources that are not valid and can be damaging. By using the CRAAP method, you can have more confidence that the resources you are sharing are not what we refer to nowadays as ‘fake news’.
Note: If you are strapped for time when vetting a source, the bare minimum for vetting should be the Authority and Reliability portions of the method below, but if you have the time to walk through all the steps, you will be an information vetting wizard in no time!
Currency
This first step deals with the timing of the piece. Was it written recently or is it old? Is the topic of interest even though it is old? Some articles are evergreen and, therefore, this step can be skipped, but if the article is pertaining to a recent issue and the date of publication is more than a month old, my recommendation would be to skip it and find a piece written more recently.
Reliability
For me, reliability is the MOST important of the 5 steps in this method. In social media spheres, we are inundated with information that seems relevant to our tastes, but isn’t always coming from a reliable source. Taking a moment to google the publication and “walk-around” the website where the resource lives is an invaluable step. Does the site have other articles pertaining to the same topic and do they have a variety of opinions expressed? Is the information on the site skewed toward a specific viewpoint or is it balanced? What is your general feeling about the site? If your gut says the site looks sketchy, go with your gut and don’t share the piece.
Authority
Authority is established in a similar way to Reliability, but in this case, you are looking for expertise, rather than overall relevancy. Focusing on the wealth of information provided by the author or the resource itself can help you to establish the Authority of the piece. Is the Author an expert in their field? Does their title denote that they have a level of education that would give them this expertise? If you cannot locate the Authority of the author, does the site the piece lives on show expertise on the topic at hand? If there are tags to other articles on the site pertaining to the same topic, are those articles written by authors with expertise? Are there any citations/links in the piece that point to resources the author used for reference in writing the piece? If you cannot establish the Authority of the writer or resource, you might not want to share the piece.
Accuracy
Although self-explanatory, accuracy is a key piece of the puzzle to be sure you are not sharing what amounts to fake news. In academia, peer review gives resources a standard of accuracy that is confirmed by experts. In the online realm, it can be difficult to confirm accuracy, since we don’t have a team of experts vetting the materials. Although, as an information professional, I do not recommend using Wikipedia to research in-depth, in this case, it can provide a good first step search. Performing a quick search on Wikipedia helps build your understanding of the topic and that information will help you determine the accuracy within the article. By no means will this give you all the information you need, but it is a good first start. Wikipedia also provides additional links and citations at the bottom of articles to do further research. A site like snopes.com is also a great resource to confirm or deny rumors and conjecture on the Internet. If something you read seems a bit off, or if you just believe a fact check is in order, using Snopes to search the topic will provide clarity. And who knows, this quick amount of research might actually bring you to an even better resource than the one you are vetting, making you a social media resource sharing rock star!
Purpose
The final piece of the information vetting puzzle is Purpose. This can be accomplished through a quick search of the resource to see if the materials presented are truly meant to inform. Is the site trying to sell the reader something and the article is clickbait? Is the article, itself, a work of fact or opinion? Are there resources included to back up the facts? What is the overall goal of the article and/or the publication? These are questions that you should ponder in order to understand the purpose of the piece itself. If it is meant to simply spread disinformation, you will want to think twice about sharing it and contributing to the glut of materials already succeeding in skewing opinions online.
In the end, why do we even need to vet sources?
Using even 1 or 2 of the steps above to do a cursory vetting of a source will be super helpful in combating the wealth of disinformation that is being shared across the web. Over the past 35 years, the Internet has provided a wonderful space for the public to read, write, engage with, and share information and it has grown exponentially over the past 10 years. The rise of social media has brought with it good and bad information resources and the only way to truly make the Internet a great place to be is to use critical thinking skills and take part in a more mindful sharing process. Using this method can help. Logging off and taking a break sometimes can help too. But if you are like me, and you are engaged with these sites frequently, using your vetting toolkit to lead the way is the only path forward.
Now let’s look at a quick example of how to put the CRAAP method to use!
Listening to books for free!
If you are like me, you love reading and listening to books, but you do not necessarily have the funds to purchase every new book that you want to consume. This is where LIBRARIES come in - of course! You probably already know that you can read books on your computer, e-reader, or smartphone, but did you know that you can use the same app to listen to books?
Libby - created by Overdrive - is an app that allows you to not only read digital copies of books from your local library but also listen to audio versions of these same books. And it is all free! The app also allows for interaction with Goodreads, updating progress, and saving your notes to that application.
Simply click the link above and download Libby to your device. Once downloaded, you can log in with your library card information and you will be ready to go! Anything that your local library offers will be available on the app and the audio player is built right in, making it easy to check out, download, and start listening to a book right away.
Ways to participate this week
Read: Check out this booklist from the NYPL - Post-Election Uncertainty: 20 Books You Can Count On
Give: Give to your local food bank via Feeding America
Sign: Bury the Bust!
Do: Take a free course on News Literacy from Stony Brook University via Coursera: Making Sense of the News: News Literacy Lessons for Digital Citizens