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Research 101: Evaluating Information on the Internet: Credibility

Find out how to avoid a catastrophe when you engage with a web site!

Credibility is "the state or quality of being worthy of trust or belief," as stated in the Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science (Joan M. Reitz), which also reminds us that "the reliability of information content usually depends on the motives and credentials of the author or provider."  So part of credibility is reliability, and part of credibility is the author's expertise, purpose,  & motivation. This is what we will explore in this tutorial. Retrieved from https://products.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_c.aspx

It's All About Asking the Right Questions 

checkmark WHO is responsible for the information? WHO is responsible for the web site?

checkmark WHAT exactly is the information?

checkmark WHERE is the information found?

checkmark WHEN was the source published?

checkmark WHY was the information published?

checkmark HOW is the information presented?

And Separating Fact from Opinion & from Fiction

Recognizing the Real Facts with or despite Your or Others' Opinions

Double-checking the Facts to make sure they're Accurate

Face looking down and smilingCould it be Credible? What to Look For

checkmarkThe Ciriteria:: 
Accuracy * Authority * Timeliness * Documentation

checkmarkPlus Factor in:
Audience * Content * Purpose * Influences  * Scope * Sensibility of Argument

How to Evaluate Using the Criteria & Other Factors

Find out the questions you need to ask and what you can do.

5 Key Points to Remember

To understand fully what you are reading, it is helpful to understand major features behind the creative process of writing, whether considering text, audio, or video.

A piece of writing is:(1)

  1. A complex construction - Created and fashioned through a decision-making process involving decisions as to what to include and exclude and how to portray reality.
  2. A conscious use of language - With a certain level of creativity and a certain level of cultural norms and assumptions. Experienced and understood differently by different people.
  3. An experience - Everyone calls upon different memories, experiences, assumptions, and ideologies when approaching any text.
  4. Full of content and meaning - Embedded with particular viewpoints and values from the author and the author's culture in its sociohistorical context. And potentially full of data, information, and facts.
  5. A product of motivation - There is always reason, motive, and intent behind the words.

To understand the writer's message and be able to evaluate the information provided is to understand what is behind the text! 

Note:

1. Based on the five core concepts presented by Douglas Kellner and Jeff Share. "Toward Critical Media Literacy: Core Concepts, Debates, Organizations, and Policy." Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 26.3 (2005): 369-386. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Ohio Dominican University Library. http://www.epnet.com;