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Communication Studies 301 - Introduction to Public Speaking (Prelip): More Evaluation Tips

Quick Tips

Find what others say about a website. In Google search for "[WEBSITE URL] site: -[WEBSITE URL].

Examples:

  • newyorktimes.com site: -newyorktimes.com
  • minimumwage.com site: -minimumwage.com

The results will be from other websites. While some may have some relationship to the original domain, other sites can give insight into what others say about that site. 

Learn more about "web searching a domain" from Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers.

Check a Twitter account. Some Twitter accounts claim to be something they are not. To check the validity of a Twitter account:

  • Right-click on the Twitter handle (Twitter name) and select "Search Google for 'ACCOUNT NAME.'
  • On the Google results page select the "News" filter (top of the page). What do the results tell you about the Twitter account?

Learn more from this post by Mike Caulfield.

Check your Emotions

Do you have a strong reaction to the information you see (e.g., joy, pride, anger)? If so, slow down before you share or use that information.  

We tend to react quickly and with less thought to things that evoke strong feelings. By pausing, you give your brain time to process your initial response and to analyze the information more critically. Then you are better able to make use of the "Four Moves" described by Mike Caulfield.

Lateral Reading - Checking Sources and Facts

Attribution

This guide draws largely on research from the Stanford History Education Group and on teaching materials from Mike Caulfield's SIFT approach and his Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers.

And upon the work by Andrea Baer and Dan Kipnis at Rowan University licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC-SA).