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Asian Worlds White Paper: Evaluating Online Resources

Evaluating Secondary Sources

This material is based on original writing by Dawn Stahura at https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/17434/1924

Click on the graphic for a larger image. 

To learn more about why citing BIPOC scholars is important, check out the Citation Politics box below

Sift

One way to help quickly fact check is by using SIFT and practicing lateral reading (discussed in the video above). 

STOP

Before reading the article/resource, think about what you know about the website/source 

INVESTIGATE

Know what you’re reading and who is doing the writing

FIND

Can you find another source/resource that backs up the claim?

TRACE

Are you able to find the direct source of quotations/images used in the article? Has the author used them in a

misleading way?

Adapted from the work of Mike Caulfied

Lateral Reading: Why & How

In 2017, the Standard History Education group conducted a study asking fact-checkers, history professors, and undergrad students to see how they evaluate sources and what they deem credible. Check out the videos below to see the results and learn some evaluation best practices. 

Practice!

 

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3217508/us-law-banning-xinjiang-imports-has-glaring-weaknesses-lawmakers-are-told

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF10281

https://medium.com/@thechinapaper/over-30-000-tibetans-sneak-back-home-c17dec9ef20

 

Group 1

  • https://www.encyclopedia.com/places/asia/chinese-political-geography/xinjiang

Group 2

  • https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Xinjiang

Group 3

  • https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/how-the-world-learned-of-chinas-mass-internment-camps/

Group 4

  • https://www.the-american-interest.com/2019/08/13/will-chinas-next-crisis-be-in-tibet/