Environmental science students critically analyzed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) website and its treatment of climate change during the Trump, Obama, and Bush presidencies. This library “warm-up” activity was designed to raise awareness of data fragility and the long-term accessibility of government websites. As future science professionals, it’s important to think about how this impacts scientists and their work. Students were introduced to several tools including: The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, End of Term Archive, and Data Refuge.

This short lesson introduces identifying search terms with a Koosh ball. The 10 minute activity can be used in one-shot instruction sessions or built in to credit bearing information literacy courses.

A one-shot or seminar class on fake news tied to source evaluation. Examination of the factors at play in the creation of misinformation; insight into how to select sources; tools and strategies for evalutating content of stories, authors, and news outlets.

The Value of Free and Deep Web Resources (aka Google vs. Databases)

What is “fake news” anyway? Are we living in a post-truth world? These University of Michigan course materials will provide opportunities to discuss and analyze news production, consumption and evaluation. Students will develop the critical thinking skills necessary to be an informed citizen; understand how their worldview affects their interpretation of the news; and create a personal strategy for fact-checking and evaluating the news.