FAKE OR FACT? A guide to fake news and fact-checking by Bowdoin librarians libguides.bowdoin.edu/fakenews
S - SOURCE
Where did it come from? Who wrote it, published it, posted it?
M - MOTIVATION We moved the Library’s film collections from the former Sills Language Media Center to the Commons and we immediately saw an increase in use, I expect because of the more central location on campus. Films are being used in courses across the disciplines and while we subscribe to a number of streaming services, much of our collection is not available digitally. The space also includes a cinema-quality screening room and computer classroom, which are both used for teaching. And we just opened the Telepresence Classroom, which was funded through a grant from the Mellon Foundation to support a collaboration between the Russian departments of Bowdoin and Yale. The technology will make it possible for Bowdoin students who are in upper-level Russian classes to participate fully in classes held at Yale. The room will be available generally for teleconferencing and collaborative instruction. Technologically, it’s state-of-the-art, with audio-sensitive cameras so if you speak the camera zeroes in on you automatically.
What are they trying to sell you? Who has what to gain (or lose)?
E - EVIDENCE
Where’d they get their data? Says who?
L - LOGIC
Can you follow their train of thought? Do they commit logical fallacies?
L - LEFT OUT
What aren’t they telling you?
The thing about quotes from the internet is that it’s hard to verify their authenticity. –ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Detering: Oh, wow. That’s incredible. Hassen: It’s really very cool. The possibilities are endless— this connection between technology and information provides unlimited opportunities. When you ask someone, “What do you think of first, when you think about a library?” people will often say, “Books.” Books are important, and they are an essential part of who we are, but we’re more than that.
In the News: Reliable Online Sources on Government Primary and secondary online sources pertaining to current events in government. libguides.bowdoin.edu/inthenews
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