Wednesday, October 27, 2021 by Marya Talha
For Media Literacy Week we’re also going to be discussing, arguably, the most important aspect of digital media literacy: how to verify online information. Verification is a multi-step process that relies on a few skills to discern the quality and credibility of information. It brings together all the other themes discussed in media literacy week: to use, understand, engage and access online content.
The first step to verifying information is to access content on well known and trusted databases, news outlets, search engines, etc.
The second step is to use tools like fact-checkers, expert sources and reverse image searches to see if the information you have found is true and relevant to your search.
The third step would be to understand if the information presented is accurate and reliable. To do this, some of the questions we can ask ourselves are:
- Is the information presented in a professional manner?
- Are there any statements in this source that you know are false?
- Are any of the arguments or statistics distorted or biased?
- Are there any editing errors such as spelling or grammar mistakes?
- Does the author use external sources to support their claims?
- Has this information been peer-reviewed?
At the Library, Subject Librarians are experts that can help you assess information and suggest reliable sources. They are available for consultations to help find and access relevant research resources and developing successful search strategies. You can find the Subject Librarian for your course, with all their contact information, on this page.
We hope these tips and resources enhance your current verification process when engaging with online content. Please reach out and ask us if you have any questions about developing media literacy skills or utilizing any resources at the UWaterloo Library.
Some external resources that dive deeper into developing these skills:
mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/digital-issues/authenticating-information/reality-check
