One of the most important aspects of researching any topic is making sure that you are using trustworthy sources. Below you will find a collection of various digital research platforms where you can search for information on a topic that is often peer reviewed by other experts on that subject.

It is easy to misidentify false articles or ads on social media or the internet as credible sources of information. Toronto Public Library has a guide to help you spot fake news with questions to ask when evaluating a source. MediaSmarts is a Canadian non-profit that aims to help people gain the critical thinking skills required for engaging with digital media, and has a special section for parents.

Further Reading:
Fake News, Propaganda, and Plain Old Lies: How to find trustworthy information in the digital age (2018) by Donald A Barclay

When using the research resources accessible with your library card, you can often limit your search results to “full text”. This means that the resource will only bring back results that you can access and read online.

Each research 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

For more support, check out the “Need More Help?” section on each resource’s access page.