Library and Academic Services: Source Evaluation guide: Information Literacies

Information Literacy

What is it?

Information Literacy (also referred to as "Information Competency" or "Information Fluency") involves a "set of abilities" that focus on "the ability to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively (ALA, 1989). This set of skills is informally referred to as critical thinking and more formally referred to as information literacy.

Why is it important?

When you practice these skills, you empower yourself as an information seeker and serve a role in amplifying the information you choose to use. Furthermore, information literacy skills are transferable and make you a life-long learner. They will benefit you over and over again in your academic, professional, and personal life.

On this page, you will find a collection of resources on general information literacy. You will find resources for specific types of literacies on the subpages, such as media, health, science, and business literacy.

Source: https://libguides.ala.org/InformationEvaluation/Infolit

Image source: pixabay

Resources

The Debunking Handbook by John Cook, Stephan Lewandowsky et al.
Location: eBook
Publication Date: 2020
Coming in at 20 pages, this title is a revision of the 2011 edition. The 2020 edition takes into account current knowledge on misinformation and how to counter it ..
Developing People's Information Capabilities by Mark Hepworth; Geoff Walton (Eds)
Location: eBook
Publication Date: 2013
This book hones in on accessible issues across different work and educational contexts and is of value to both academic and practitioner.
Information Literacy by Luis Freeman
Location: eBook
Publication Date: 2018
A comprehensive review of these trends and of the expectations thereof with regard to the relationship between "education, learning and higher education...
Web Literacy for Student Fact Checkers by Mike Caulfied
Location: eBook
Publication Date: 2017
The web gives us many such strategies and tactics and tools, which, properly used, can get students closer to the truth of a statement or image within seconds...

Beware online "filter bubbles" - Eli Pariser
As web companies strive to tailor to personal tastes, there's a dangerous consequence: We don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview.
Brown, S. W. (2018). Evaluating websites: Authority and bias. Communication: Journalism Education Today, 51(3), 26.
A quick, one-page form to evaluate a website for bias.
Brønholt. (2020). Gated communities of the digitised mind. In Big Data and Democracy. Edinburgh University Press.
Brønholt here introduces the concept of gated communities of the digitised mind. These draw on the notions of echo chambers and filter bubbles to suggest that there are regions for at least some of us that function in the same way as a gated community...
Can you believe what you'll do after watching this video? Assessing sources of information
From the University of Minnesota Libraries, some tips to discern news sources.
Can you outsmart a troll (by thinking like one)?
Explore the strategies employed by trolls and learn how disinformation campaigns are launched— and how to stop them.
Donnelly, A. (2015). Reading: How to know what’s true: Evaluating websites. School Library Monthly, 31(5), 55–.
The article offers information on the learning plan that shows how to scaffold the knowledge that students in the U.S. needs for website evaluation. It discusses the information literacy and inquiry objectives...
Jan Splaining: What are the types of misinformation and disinformation?
In a world dominated by fake news, Question Everything dissects the news to sort the real from the rumours, separate fact from fiction and flatten conspiracy theories back down to Earth.
Sorenson, M. (2016). Beyond the Google search bar: Evaluating source credibility in contemporary research. Communication Teacher, 30(2), 82–86.
With the rise in popularity of search engines (e.g., Google and Yahoo) and major shifts in the media landscape, media literacy as it relates to the academic research process can be difficult for both students and instructors...
Why people fall for misinformation
How does a fact become a misconception? Dig into the world of misinformation to see how facts can become distorted and misleading.

Bias & Critical Thinking

Overcoming Bias by Tiffany Jana; Matthew Freeman
Location: eBook
Publication Date: 2016
Control, Conquer, and Prevail! Everybody's biased. The truth is, we all harbor unconscious assumptions that can get in the way of our good intentions and keep us from building authentic relationships...
Biased by Jennifer L. Eberhardt
Location: BF 575 .P9 E34 2019 (Exchange District Campus)
How do we talk about bias? How do we address racial disparities and inequities? What role do our institutions play in creating, maintaining, and magnifying those inequities? ...

12 Common Biases That Affect How We Make Everyday Decisions (Psychology Today)
Make sure that the decisions that matter are not made based on bias.
Andreas Ekström: The moral bias behind your search results
Search engines have become our most trusted sources of information and arbiters of truth. But can we ever get an unbiased search result? Swedish author and journalist Andreas Ekström argues that such a thing is a philosophical impossibility...
Every Single Cognitive Bias in One Infographic
Rovira, C., Codina, L., & Lopezosa, C. (2021). Language bias in the Google Scholar ranking algorithm. Future Internet, 13(2), 31-.
The visibility of academic articles or conference papers depends on their being easily found in academic search engines, above all in Google Scholar. To enhance this visibility, search engine optimization (SEO)...