Background: Librarians have long pioneered source evaluation as the first step to healthy civic learning. Traditionally, systematic source evaluation focuses on content, but twenty-first century source evaluation must begin reflectively, and begins when the researcher takes personal inventory on their emotions attached to the investigative topic.
How does personal opinion or worldview impact information learners’ search for, and use of information in today’s revolving doors of information, where misinformation and disinformation have taken root and flourished? The IF I APPLY method is an updated approach to source evaluation, asking learners to address personal biases before evaluating a source.
Description: Health information is particularly susceptible to misinformation and disinformation, with potentially negative consequences. In teaching about source evaluation, what points are most important to drive home? How does an instructor separate a student from their own personal stances, and encouraging them, instead, to search for information beyond their own blinders? How easy is that for librarians to do in our own research and evaluation?
Methods like the CRAAP Test are not viable options for instruction, as source evaluation must be dynamic, not rote. Evaluation instruction can evolve. Shorter sessions can focus on evaluating authority, purpose, and inclusion in any given resource, or into a longer learning exercises can focus on methods such as IF I APPLY where folks first truly investigate their own biases and how this is reflected in their research and source evaluation.
Conclusion: Source seeking, selection, and evaluation is no small task, and its instruction is in need of an updated approach. Encouraging learners to address personal bias, and bias within a source is one step in the direction away from misleading information, and towards reliable resources. Methods like IF I APPLY are a vital aspect of the source evaluation conversation. Incorporating new techniques in teaching opportunities positively impacts learners and provides them with tangible skills they employ in future information seeking endeavors. The IF I APPLY method has proven successful in courses in STEM and other fields across the United States, and is an easy addition to any source evaluation conversation.
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