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?