This guide was created by:
Sandy Hancock
MLIS, Business Librarian
Pikes Peak Library District
Tammy Sayles
MLIS, Adult Education Director
Pikes Peak Library District
Melanie Wehrle
Former Senior Outreach Librarian
Pikes Peak Library District
We hope you have found it to be informative.
We would like to thank the following for sharing their resources with us.
KT Lowe Indiana University East
Vanessa Otero
Programming Librarian
Libraries worldwide have made a commitment to help their users and patrons improve their understanding of all kinds of literacies, including textual literacy, digital literacy, civic literacy, and information/media literacy. This last type of literacy is the focus of this LibGuide. See more about the American Library Association’s (ALA’s) commitment to literacy initiatives here.
At the time of this writing, anyone with an internet connection can create content that can be shared and go viral faster than the time it takes to type this sentence. The internet does not require any of its content to be true or verifiable. Nothing on the internet is guaranteed to be a true statement, a logical claim, a commonly-held belief, or—now that AI-produced content exists online—even produced by a human. Also, this content often has no editors, no gatekeepers, and no referees.
All of that said, internet-based content is not categorically bad, untrue, invalid, or wrong. Because of the openness of the internet, content creators and consumers can connect and exchange ideas online more freely than ever before and in real time.
So what can a savvy searcher do to determine what online content is good, what is bad, and what is just plain ugly?
While there are no shortcuts to checking claims or facts found everywhere, there are some strategies and resources that we can share with you to make your search for information smoother. Click the blue boxes at the left of your screen (on a computer) or at the top of your screen (on mobile devices) to dive deeper.
A brief glossary of some key terms regarding searching can be found below (under Some Key Terms for the Savvy Searcher). Because of the speed at which the online world changes, this list is by no means complete.
Why should you care about whether or not your news is real or fake?
There are four broad categories of fake news, according to media professor Melissa Zimdars of Merrimack College.
CATEGORY 1: Fake, false, or regularly misleading websites that are shared on Facebook and social media. Some of these websites may rely on “outrage” by using distorted headlines and decontextualized or dubious information in order to generate likes, shares, and profits.
CATEGORY 2: Websites that may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information
CATEGORY 3: Websites which sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions
CATEGORY 4: Satire/comedy sites, which can offer important critical commentary on politics and society, but have the potential to be shared as actual/literal news
No single topic falls under a single category - for example, false or misleading medical news may be entirely fabricated (Category 1), may intentionally misinterpret facts or misrepresent data (Category 2), may be accurate or partially accurate but use an alarmist title to get your attention (Category 3) or may be a critique on modern medical practice (Category 4.) Some articles fall under more than one category. Assessing the quality of the content is crucial to understanding whether what you are viewing is true or not. It is up to you to do the legwork to make sure your information is good.
Bias is an attitude that always favors one way of feeling or acting over any other.
Brown University offered another way to define bias:
Favoring of or against one person, group or thing compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. Biases can be conscious or unconscious ― explicit or implicit. In addition, bias can be institutionalized into policies, practices and structures.
Clickbait is an online link which makes outrageous and often untrue statements in order to make readers click on that link.
Disinformation is false information which is deliberately spread in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.
Misinformation is unreliable or inaccurate information. It is often spread accidentally by those who believe it to be true.
A parody is a deliberate and exaggerated imitation, created to be humorous. It is not intended to be taken as literal or authentic opinion.
Satire uses humor, exaggeration, and irony to show weaknesses or vices in others. Satire is often directed particularly at politics or other modern-day topics. It is not intended to be taken as literal or authentic opinion.