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Information Literacy Escape Room - Escape from the Troll

Guidance for defeating Information Trolls

As I was doing a Google search on my phone, I remembered something my college professors said about checklists and guides to help you check to see if documents and websites are reliable.

Maybe I can remember a couple of ways to check the Troll's story.

4 Moves and a Habit - Web Literacy for Student Fact Checkers

What are the 4 Moves? 

  

When confronted with a claim that may not be 100% true what people need most are things they can do to get closer to the truth. They need something I have decided to call “moves.”

Moves accomplish intermediate goals in the fact-checking process.  They are associated with specific tactics. Here are the four moves this guide will hinge on:

  • Check for previous work: Look around to see if someone else has already fact-checked the claim or provided a synthesis of research.
  • Go upstream to the source: Go “upstream” to the source of the claim. Most web content is not original. Get to the original source to understand the trustworthiness of the information.
  • Read laterally: Read laterally.[1] Once you get to the source of a claim, read what other people say about the source (publication, author, etc.). The truth is in the network.
  • Circle back: If you get lost, hit dead ends, or find yourself going down an increasingly confusing rabbit hole, back up and start over knowing what you know now. You’re likely to take a more informed path with different search terms and better decisions.

Caulfield, Michael A. (n.d.). Web literacy for student fact checkers. Retrieved from https://webliteracy.pressbooks.com/chapter/four-strategies/

The CRAAP Test - Tools for Checking Sources

Current

  • What is the publication date?
  • Based on your topic, is it current enough?
  • Are links to other info working?

Reliable

  • Is information factual and balanced?
  • Are there references, quotes, data?
  • Do you note any bias or opinions?

Authority

Accuracy

  • Where does the information come from?
  • Can the information be verified elsewhere? 
  • Is there evidence to support facts provided?

 

Purpose / Point of View

  • What's the intent of the content (to persuade, to sell you something, etc.)?
  • Does the content try to appeal to your emotions (make you angry, sad, glad) instead of providing balanced facts?
  • Are there ads on the website? How do they relate to the topic being covered? (i.e. ads for personal loans while researching student debt)
  • Who is the intended audience? Who might benefit from believing? 

 

Lindsey LeFeber

Oakton Community College Library