One of the biggest steps of digging into any topic is making sure that you are using good sources. It is easy to be fooled by false information on social media or the internet.

Is it trustworthy?

The following sources will help you judge if the information is true or not:

• Toronto Public Library has a guide to help you spot fake news with questions to ask when accessing a source. 
• MediaSmarts is a Canadian non-profit that aims to help people gain the critical thinking skills required to engage with digital media and has a special section for parents.
• Information Literacy is a lesson plan for teachers/parents created by the University of Regina.
• Infographic to help you spot fake news from IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.
• Learn how to identify misinformation and disinformation from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.
• Learn how to spot fake social media accounts, bots, and trolls spreading false information. 

News sources can favour one side in their reporting. Check for bias and whether something you are reading is false or misleading.

• Media Bias/Fact Check identifies media bias and the factual accuracy of news sources.
• Snopes is one of the oldest, fact-checking websites on the internet vetting social, political and viral news from around the world.
• FactCheck.org is a consumer advocate website tracking the accuracy of major American political ads, debates, speeches, and interviews in an effort to reduce deception in politics.
• Politifact is a political fact-checking website most known for their rate-o-meter: True, Mostly True, Half True, Mostly False, False, and Pants on Fire.

News sources

Regina Public Library subscribes to the following online resources that are free to you with a library card:

• PressReader Access newspapers and magazines from around the world including the latest issue of Regina's Leader-Post.
• New York Times Get 24 hours of access at a time to its most up-to-date news coverage. 
• CBC Corner Access some of your favourite national and local content from CBC/CBC Radio-Canada in one convenient place.
• Regina Leader-Post A complete digital archive of the Regina Leader-Post; current issues delayed 3 months.
• Canadian Major Dailies Access many of Canada’s top newspapers, including the Regina Leader-Post (delayed 1 day).

Artificial Intelligence

• Recognize Artificial Intelligence
• Spotting AI: Knowing How to Recognize Real vs AI Images
• AI Literacy Day

Below you will find a collection of digital research platforms where you can search for information on a topic that is often peer-reviewed by other experts on that subject.

When using the research resources with your library card, you can limit your search results to “full text”. This means you will only get results that can be read online. Each resource will have different options for searching and sharing, but once you are reading an article, look to see if the resource has options to:

• Share the article by email or cloud saving
• Copy citation information
• Translate the article into another language