Consider the source: Click away from the story to investigate the site, its mission and its contact info.
Read beyond: Headlines can be outrageous in an effort to get clicks. What’s the whole story?
Check the author: Do a quick search on the author. Are they credible? Are they real?
Supporting sources? Click on those links. Determine if the info given actually supports the story.
Check the date: Reposting old news stories doesn’t mean they’re relevant to current events.
Is it a joke? If it is too outlandish, it might be satire. Research the site and author to be sure.
Check your biases: Consider if your own beliefs could affect your judgement.
Ask the experts: Ask a librarian, or consult a fact-checking site.
When to Use Quick Search:
On the left sidebar, you can "Refine Your Search" a number of different ways--including by publication date & scholarly/peer reviewed sources.
Searchable published news, legal, medical and business information.
1980-
Full text of articles only; includes New York Times Book Review and New York Times Magazine from 1997 forward.
1909-2010
African American newspaper from Chicago, Illinois.
1851-2020
Historical New York newspaper.
Government information can be very useful when searching a wide variety of topics. One of the easiest ways is to go to Google! After you type in your keywords, then type in site:gov (example: air pollution site:.gov) to limit your search to only government-related resources. This will include federal, state, and local resources.
Think tank reports and documents on social and political issues.