Evaluating Information - Holly Luetkenhaus & Matt Upson OSU Libraries March 31, 2021

Evaluating Information
     Holly Luetkenhaus & Matt Upson
              OSU Libraries
             March 31, 2021

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Goals for today

▧ Understand why fact-checking and
  evaluation are important
▧ Practice strategies for fact-checking and
  evaluating information
▧ Learn tools for investigating quotes, claims,
  and media

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1.
What’s the Problem?

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“
      “Given years of experience teaching students how to
  distinguish facts and sound reasoning from political fanfiction
 and profit-driven humbug, why are so many people unable or
 unwilling to recognize their claims are nonsense? Why don’t
they see that their knee jerk rejection of facts that don’t fit
        their preexisting beliefs puts democracy at risk?”
            --Barbara Fister, Lizard People in the Library

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Defining Mis/Disinformation

   ▧     Satire or Parody                                      ▧ Imposter Content
   ▧     False Connection                                      ▧ Manipulated Content
   ▧     Misleading Content                                    ▧ Fabricated Content
   ▧     False Context

From Claire Wardle’s “Fake news. It’s Complicated” at https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/fake-news-complicated/ and
https://firstdraftnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/First-Draft-Vaccine-Insights-Flexible-Learning-Course-1.pdf?x79527

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Why Do We Fall for It?
    ▧   Cognitive miserliness                         ▧   Motivated reasoning
    ▧   Dual process theory                           ▧   Pluralistic ignorance
    ▧   Heuristics                                    ▧   Third-person effect
    ▧   Cognitive dissonance                          ▧   Fluency
    ▧   Confirmation bias                              ▧   Bullshit receptivity

From Tommy Shane’s “The psychology of misinformation: Why we’re vulnerable” at
https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/the-psychology-of-misinformation-why-were-vulnerable/

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What Can We D0?
    ▧ Cause “friction”
    ▧ Information inoculation (see
      https://vaccinemisinformation.guide/- Appendix 4)
       ○ Bad News, Go Viral, Cranky Uncle, Catching
          Conspiracies
    ▧ Nudge in the right direction
    ▧ Know how to fact-check
    ▧ Exercise empathy
Adapted from Tommy Shane’s “The psychology of misinformation: How to prevent it” at
https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/the-psychology-of-misinformation-how-to-prevent-it/

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“
    “If we can approach our political problems not with
   technological solutions but with a praxis that humanely
  penetrates assumptions–particularly those that seem so
immune to our obsession with fact–that might provide some
           promise. I am not a fake news savior.”

        --Carrie Wade, I Am Not Your Fake News Savior

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2.
SIFTing through information

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The SIFT Method

                                              Trace claims,
       Investigate the         Find trusted
Stop                                            quotes, &
           source               coverage
                                                 media

          Mike Caulfield, Introducing SIFT

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“
       “People often share things because of
        their gut reactions, rather than the
           conclusions of critical thinking.”

--H. Colleen Sinclair, 7 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Misinformation Superspreader

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Stop

                    When you encounter new
                    information, before you go any
                    further, stop, and ask yourself:
                     ▧   What biases am I bringing
                         in?
                     ▧   What emotional response
                         am I having?
                     ▧   What is the context around
                         the information?

Mike Caulfield, Introducing SIFT

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Investigate the source

                     Ask: What do you know about
                     the source of the information?
                      ▧   Do the “Wikipedia check.”
                      ▧   Google the author/creator/
                          poster.

Mike Caulfield, Introducing SIFT

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Find trusted coverage

                    The truth is in the network.
                     ▧   Look at known, trusted,
                         credible sites.
                     ▧   Find who is citing/sharing.
                     ▧   Utilize fact-checking sites
                         like Snopes, Politifact, and
                         FactCheck.

Mike Caulfield, Introducing SIFT

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Trace claims, quotes, and media

                          Try to find where the content
                          originated.
                           ▧   Locate original posts
                           ▧   Check the Internet Archive
                           ▧   Use reverse image search
                               on Google or Tineye
                           ▧   Check Youtube for full
                               videos

     Mike Caulfield, Introducing SIFT

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STOP                 INVESTIGATE

 It’s not a linear process

TRACE                   FIND

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3.
Let’s practice

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A family member sent me
     this photo on Snapchat.

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Tweet from Laura
     Ingraham about impact of
     masks and restaurant
     restrictions on COVID-19
     cases.

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Following the snow storms
     in Texas, several TikTok
     users shared videos of
     “fake snow” that wouldn’t
     melt and even burned.

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Other considerations

▧ Scope
   ○ Depth vs. breadth
   ○ POVs
   ○ Individual experience vs. scientific
     consensus
▧ Relevance (Or: Does it actually cover the
  information you need?)

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Thanks!
What questions do you
       have?

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References and resources
Caulfield, M. (2019) Check, Please! Starter Course.
https://www.notion.so/Check-Please-Starter-Course-ae34d043575e42828dc2964437ea4eed
Fister, B. (2021). “Lizard People in the Library.” Project Information Literacy Provocation Series.
https://projectinfolit.org/pubs/provocation-series/essays/lizard-people-in-the-library.html
“How to Understand Vaccine Misinformation.” First Draft News.
https://firstdraftnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/First-Draft-Vaccine-Insights-Flexible
-Learning-Course-1.pdf?x79527
Shane, T. (2020) “The Psychology of Misinformation: Why We’re Vulnerable. First Draft News.
https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/the-psychology-of-misinformation-why-were-vulnerable/
Shane, T. (2020) “The Psychology of Misinformation: How to Prevent It. First Draft News.
https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/the-psychology-of-misinformation-how-to-prevent-it/
Wade, C. (2018) “I Am Not Your Fake News Savior.” Library Barbarian: Discourses in Academic
Librarianship and Higher Ed. https://seadoubleyew.com/150/i-am-not-your-fake-news-savior/
Wardle, C. (2017). “Fake News. It’s Complicated.” First Draft News.
https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/fake-news-complicated/

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Presentation design
Slide design: Trinculo by Jimena Catalina

You can download this & other free slide templates at: https://www.slidescarnival.com

This presentations uses the following typographies:
 ▧ Titles: Shadows into light
 ▧ Body copy: Varela round

Download for free at:
https://www.dafont.com/shadows-into-light.font
https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/varela-round

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