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How do you know if something you are reading on the web is truthful or not? Everybody seems to be asking this question today, but actually, the problem is much older than the internet:how do you know if something you read in a library book, or in a book you find at a bookstore, or something you read in a newspaper, is truthful? In the Citations, Plagiarism and Copyright section, we discuss how there is a rising interest in plagiarism. It has turned out that several famous authors, well-known publishers, and government agencies themselves have published materials that have turned out to be stolen from others, or that are simply false. In the section, What is a Library?, we discussed what is the purpose of a library, and we mentioned the librarians' code of ethics which declares that it is unethical to add only materials that in the librarian's opinion, is "the truth. The librarian does not have to agree with everything in the collection."

Adapted from: Karelin, A.O. [Children with a book]. In: Khudozhestvennyi albom fotografii s natury. [18--?]. Accessed through NYPL Digital Gallery

But, what is someone to do who wants the truth?

It could be argued that the matter is more complex today because the web is so easy to search, while everybody and their little brother can add almost anything they want. But always keep in mind: just because something is written on a piece of paper does not mean that it is more true than something you have read on the web. The format of the information has nothing to do with it.

It would be nice if there were one place, preferably on the web where we could click and find the truth. But finding the truth is a matter of personal philosophy. The task is actually, what should I believe?

The only defense against being taken in is to retain a healthy bit of skepticism, and even then it can be very difficult. Even well-known scholars can be guilty of working with highly dubious information, Read George Monbiot's Junk Science (Manchester Guardian,Tuesday May 10 2005) for a particularly frightening example of incorrect information by a respected scientist.

There are some methods to help us, however. Essentially, you need to consider how the information came to you: was it filtered through other scholars by peer review; did it come through an experienced editorial board or something else? Is the item openly biased, as happens with many think tanks and in some cases, government documents? Was the information not reviewed by anyone at all? Even if it did go through the peer-review process, e.g. a book published by Oxford University Press, it may have gone through the peer-review process in 1958 and a lot has happened since then. The same item probably would not make it through the peer-review process today. Deciding what to believe and what not to believe is not an easy matter, but it never has been.

Try to keep in mind the different producers of information, as discussed in Places to Find Information. There is also an excellent page created by the library at Johns Hopkins that discusses "Information Counterfeits," which can be very helpful.

Don't Be a Robot! Think for Yourself!

From Metropolis by Fritz Lang

See also: How to Find Peer-Reviewed Publications
Continue with: Putting It All Together