WR 121 for Ida B. Wells HS: Evaluate Sources

Tip! Sometimes it's hard to determine WHO the author is or WHAT publishing group is hosting a particular website or publishes a particular magazine online or in print. One easy way to determine the perspective or position of a particular publisher is to find the publisher in Wikipedia to get a description, summary or short history. This also works for most nonprofit organizations or interest groups.

From the International Federation of Library Associations 

When evaluating a website, look beyond the page itself. Some sites look very professional and credible but are actually giving you biased or untrue information.

This short, online video from Mike Caulfield at Washington State University gets you started on becoming an efficient fact checker:

Three more very short videos of Mike Caulfield explaining fact-checking techniques.

In this video, three Portland Community College students talk about how they consider, evaluate and use sources for their own research assignments. It should give you a good idea of what you should consider when evaluating sources for your research.

Tips for fact checking! Use the websites below to help you determine the reliability and bias of the information provided by a source. For example, look up the claims, author credentials and organization names mentioned in the source.