Information literacy consists of FIVE abilities and associated skills. FYEX courses will typically focus on four of those abilities.
Source Exploration : Identify the most appropriate sources and information to meet the scope of need.
Strategic Searching : Create, execute, and refine search strategies with iteration utilizing search outcomes to find relevant sources and information.
Source Evaluation : Evaluate the credibility of sources to critically select and interpret information relevant to the need.
Synthesis : Contextualize and synthesize selected information to engage in ongoing scholarship and communities of learning and/or practice.
Source Attribution : Contribute to ongoing scholarship and communities of learning and/or practice through ethical reflection, proper attribution, and respect of intellectual property.
The SIFT method is a way to evaluate any information you find, no matter the source, to determine whether it can be trusted and is a credible or reliable source of information. It was developed by Mike Caulfield, and is adapted here via with a CC BY 4.0 license.
Before you use or share a source, stop!
Ask yourself:
Make sure that the source you are about to use is reliable - by leaving it and thinking laterally.
Use trusted information to look up information about the author and publisher of your source.
Most topics have multiple sources of information about it - go find them!
Find the most trustworthy sources for the information you want to use.
Find the origin of the claims, quotes, data, and other media you want to use.
Click through the links in your source, and use outside sources, to find the origin of the information.
Transitions Activity
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