Text Review guide: Research skills, media literacy, & resources

Purpose

As a college student, you will often be expected to research, identify, and analyze credible sources of information. In doing so, you can make educated decisions based on facts. The digital age has allowed us to access information at the press of a button (Cooper & Thomas, 2019). We are constantly exposed to new information, whether we are watching television, using our cellphones, or communicating with friends and family.

As a learner in the digital age, how can you sift through an enormous amount of content to make informed decisions? By reviewing the information included in this review guide, you should gain a better understanding of how to answer this question and effectively conduct research in college.

By completing this review, you should be able to achieve the following objectives:

Search for credible sources of information
Define media literacy
Identify positive college-level research behaviors
Navigate research-related resources available to KCC students

Important Note

The information and activities listed on this page are optional and do not count toward your course grades. The page is only intended to help you review positive research behaviors and available resources for credible information.

Estimated Time Needed

The amount of time you spend learning about media literacy, research tactics, and available resources is largely up to you. However, the following list shows estimates for the minimum time needed to view each of the three optional lessons and complete the corresponding activities.

Lesson #1: Digital Age News Selections (15 minutes)
Lesson #2: Research Behaviors & Media Literacy (25 minutes)
Lesson #3: Available Resources (20 minutes)

Total estimated minimum time to complete all three lessons: 1 hour.

Instructions

If you need a quick refresher on best practices for conducting research, please review the following lessons:

Lesson #1: Digital Age News Selections

Step 1: Watch the video, "How to Choose Your News"

If you would like to access additional information related to this video including a transcript of what was said, visit the TED web page for Damon Brown's TED-ED video, "How to Choose Your News".

Step 2: Reflect

Ask yourself the following questions:

What do you think your responsibilities are when selecting and sharing news?
How often do you typically verify information before sharing it with others?
How can you improve your abilities to research and communicate messages?

Consider discussing these questions with another individual or writing your responses down.

Step 3: Check Your Understanding

Quick Check #1

How has news distribution shifted in recent years?

News has become more broad-based, with only a few major companies controlling the news people are exposed to.

Try again. News has become less broad-based as alternative news sources have increased in popularity (Brown, 2014; Cooper & Thomas, 2019).

News has become less limited through the spread of mass media and the public's loss of trust in major news outlets.

Correct! There has been an increase in alternative news sources and decrease in the public's trust of major news outlets over the past couple decades (Brown, 2014; Cooper & Thomas, 2019).

Quick Check #2

How can I check if a claim is credible?

Try to find the original source of information, and avoid anonymous sources when possible.

Correct! Original sources of information tend to have more accurate content and are generally less misleading (Brown, 2014).

Trust the first few websites displayed after a quick Google Search.

Try again. A popular or easy-to-locate website does not necessarily contain trustworthy information.

Lesson #2: Research Behaviors & Media Literacy

Step 1: Read About Media Literacy

What is Media Literacy?

"Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create and participate with messages in a variety of forms — from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy" (Center for Media Literacy, n.d., para. 2).

Bernnard et al.'s (2014) book, The Information Literacy User’s Guide: An Open, Online Textbook is a free resource that may be useful to you as you learn more about media literacy and research tactics. Consider skimming the guide for information, saving it, and referring to it as needed throughout your studies.

Step 2: Review and Practice Positive Research Behaviors

View PDF: CRAAP Test Handout for Determining if Sources Should be Used
Find an article (printed or online). After reading the article, check to see if it passes the CRAAP Test (refer to the CRAAP Test Handout)

Lesson #3: Available Resources

Here are some research resources currently displayed on the KCC Library Guides website:

Find a Book - Sage Library System catalog
Find an Article - Databases
Oregon Historic Newspapers - Full text digitized historic Oregon newspapers 1846 - 2019
Directory of Open Access Journals - Directory containing over 12,000 open access journals
Answerland - Get help from a librarian 24/7!
Pew Research Center

Please take a few minutes to navigate each of the websites listed and become familiar with some of the resources that are available.

Questions?

If you have questions about topics like media literacy, positive research behaviors, or how to find credible sources of information, please feel free to reach out to the Klamath Community College librarian.

KCC Library Contact Information:

| Address: 7390 South 6th Street. Klamath Falls, OR 97601
| Phone number: (541) 880-2233
| Website: KCC Library Guides

References

Bernnard, D., Bobish, G., Hecker, J., Holden, I., Hosier, A., Jacobson, T., Loney, T., & Bullis, D. (2014). The Information Literacy User's Guide: An Open, Online Textbook. Open SUNY Textbooks. http://www.oercommons.org/courses/the-information-literacy-user-s-guide-an-open-online-textbook-2/view.
Brown, D. (2014, June). How to choose your news. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/damon_brown_how_to_choose_your_news?language=en.
Center for Media Literacy (n.d.). Media literacy: A definition and more. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from http://www.medialit.org/media-literacy-definition-and-more.
Cooper, T., & Thomas, J. (2019). Nature or Nurture: A Crisis of Trust and Reason in the Digital Age. Albany Associates.
Milner Library (2020, October 27). Determine credibility (evaluating): CRAAP Test worksheet. https://guides.library.illinoisstate.edu/evaluating/craap