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Different information evaluation strategies to help you more effectively engage with digital information today!
Check out the tabs below for more information. Adopt the strategy that you're comfortable with and remember to clarify any doubts with your Professor or Librarian.
The SIFT section was adapted from Michael Caulfield's “Check, Please!” course. The canonical version of this course exists at http://lessons.checkplease.cc (licensed under CC BY 4.0 International License). "FakeOut Skill Checks" videos by CIVIX are used with permission.
Watch this video by the University of Louisville Libraries, which has Lateral Reading clearly explained.
To summarise,
| Vertical Reading | Lateral Reading |
|---|---|
| Refers to staying on a single site and reading about what the site says about itself. | Advocates leaving the site, opening multiple new tabs on the browser and checking out what other sources say about the site. |
 |
 |
Lateral Reading is a strategy used by many professional fact-checkers and savvy researchers to judge the credibility of unfamiliar sources. It can provide a big picture view of the site that is being evaluated.
Learn more from this Lateral Reading Tutorial.
Watch this video by the University of Queensland Library, which introduces the CRAAP Test.
“Evaluating information sources” by UQ Library is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 International License.
Use the following checklist of questions to help you evaluate information. Depending on the type of information source you are using, if you can find positive answers to most of these questions, this may be a reliable and credible source to use.
Watch this video by the National Library Board, Singapore, which has S.U.R.E. well explained.
"How to be S.U.R.E. before you share" video by the National Library Board, Singapore is used with permission. Video is courtesy of the National Library Board’s S.U.R.E. campaign.