Every 60 seconds online there are 4.1 million Google search queries, 194,444 people tweeting via Twitter, 1400 Tik Tok downloads, 4.7 million YouTube videos viewed and 694,444 Instagram views. We live in a world where websites such as Wikipedia, as well as blogs and social media offer the opportunity for anyone with internet access to create and share digital online content. With access to such an abundance of online information, it is critical that people using the internet are able to understand how to find, evaluate, use and create content in meaningful ways.
Several studies have shown that students often experience difficulty in evaluating digital resources to determine the credibility and trustworthiness of online material. A survey of Australian students aged eight to 16 conducted by Western Sydney University also showed that only one third of students felt they could identify fake news from real news.
Here are some tips for students to use when evaluating online resources to ensure that the information they are utilising is appropriate:
- currency – is the information up to date?
- relevancy – does the resource contain the information needed?
- author – who is the author of the source and are they an expert?
- accuracy – is the information correct? Is the same information available from multiple sources?
- purpose – why does the information exist? Is the source trying to persuade, sell something or provide an opinion?
MLMC libraries have a range of resources to assist students with completing research, referencing, and developing digital and information literacy skills. These include:
- access to a range of quality print texts, digital texts and databases (such as World Book Encyclopedia online and Gale In Context)
- research and referencing instructional guides (including information about how to research and reference, evaluate resources, use Wikipedia and digital literacy skills).
