Blog Reflection # 5

It’s hard to determine how people qualify the information they read or view. I would say, being somewhat pessimistic in terms of the general public’s ability to evaluate information, that most people don’t think about verifying a piece of information they come across. If someone gets their daily news from, say, Fox News, and they hear a statistic repeated over and over again on Fox News, and they don’t read or get their news from another (more reputable) source, they will probably believe what they hear on Fox News as “fact.”

When it comes to college students, I don’t think this type of behavior is as extreme, but it all depends on the individual student’s study habits. Students who are in a hurry to get an assignment done at the last minute aren’t going to have the time needed to check and verify the information they are basing their work on.

But I don’t want to lecture anyone or come across as holier than thou. I’m going to admit that I was not a great undergraduate student. Often times, I did not put in the amount of time required that would have made me a much better student. I have since learned the importance of spending a little more time required to do a better job.

I think being able to determine if a piece of information, or a source of information, is credible comes largely from simply doing a lot of reading. For a long time, you really won’t know what is a good or bad source of information, but the more you read, and the broader your range of reading encompasses, the better you will be at being able to tell what is “good” and “bad” information by having a better foundation from which to judge the information you come across.

So, to me, it all comes down to finding many different sources of information, and not falling into the habit of getting your information from just one or two places. Secondly, keep an open mind to reading new and different types and sources of information. Some of what you come across will be drivel, and some will be highly reputable, but you won’t be able to tell the difference if you haven’t read from one end of the spectrum to the other.

A source that explains some basic things to look for when reading/verifying information on the web is the UCLA Library Research Help website *. The site basically explains what to look for in order to qualify web information.

It’s a pretty simple concept:  Take extra time to question or check your source(s), ask yourself questions about who is providing the information and don’t just take what you read at face value as fact.

If someone came up to you and offered you a great investment opportunity and they said it was a 100% sure thing to make you ten times your money, would you hand over your money without asking any questions? Or would you want to find out a little bit more information about this opportunity before just giving away your money? It’s kind of the same as believing unreliable information, only you’re the guy taking the money, but the money is a bag full of confetti or rotten garbage.

http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/11605_12008.cfm

* Source Cited:

  “Thinking Critically about Web 2.0 and Beyond”

  Esther Grassian, the UCLA Library and used with permission.