The Main Building, including the PSC Library, will be closed from Friday, December 13 through Monday, January 13. You may contact us at library@prairiestate.edu.
The library will share our scary stories through an online event at the end of the month. Join us to remotely share yours!
Scary Stories to Tell in the Library
Wednesday, October 27th
2:00 – 3:30pm
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/zep-minb-jpn
Or dial: (US) +1 617-675-4444 PIN: 891 454 598 9537#
We know students struggle with citing their sources and using different citation styles. Luckily, we have a research guide that covers why we cite our sources, as well as how to do so in MLA and APA formatting. It also covers how to generate a citation from the library’s website to avoid creating citations from scratch each time. We highlight websites like Purdue OWL to walk students through creating citations, as well as auto generated citations- a great option for websites in particular.
The PSC Library now has access to more than 23,000 Wiley titles across all subjects. These books are available for unlimited use by PSC students, faculty, and staff, and can be linked to directly in D2L. Wiley titles are available here. These books are also already available in OneSearch.
We also now have access to all ebooks published from 2018 to the present on the Oxford Scholarship platform, in the following subject areas: Biology, History, Law, Music, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Social Work, and Sociology. Like the Wiley titles, these titles are in OneSearch, can be used by an unlimited number of students at once, and can be linked to in D2L. These books can be accessed here.
If you have any questions about how to find these or other ebooks for your courses, please contact a librarian.
Just because you can easily share information on social media doesn’t mean that you should. While the idea of fake news is hardly new, social media allows misinformation to travel quickly and easily. Even if misinformation is later corrected, the damage is often already done. We have some strategies to help your students (and you) identify misinformation on social media, and everywhere else.
How to spot misinformation, (or) THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW HOW TO SPOT MISINFORMATION:
-The writing style tends to be hyperbolic and poorly written. There will be many typos, all caps, and excessive exclamation marks. While the last 20 years have been hard for newspaper outlets, credible publications still have editors.
-The web address looks suspicious. This news organization might have a similar name, domain, or logo to a real news organization. For example, a “news outlet” that has a web address of abcnews.com.co, rather than the actual domain for ABC News. The logo may look familiar, but on closer inspection isn’t quite right and directs you to clickbait.
-Who wrote it? Look up the author. Is it a celebrity, an email address, or a journalist with a body of work? Be suspicious of the first two.
-The SIFT method. Digital Literacy Expert, Mike Caulfield created the SIFT method to curb the impulse to share content based on an emotional response. The SIFT method is an acronym for stop, investigate the source, find better coverage, and trace claims. Sometimes stopping alone will be enough to avoid a rage-filled retweet of false information.
-Lateral Research. We used to advise students to read the “about us” section of a news outlet to gain more information and see if a source is credible. There may still be reasons to consult it, but students would do well to remember that an “about us” page is a news outlet reflecting on themselves. A better option is to see what other organizations have to say about them. For example, take a look at InfoWars “About” page, versus this story from a former employee of InfoWars, or the opening sentence of its Wikipedia entry. They tell different stories about the same organization.
-Watch for spoofing real social media accounts. It is easy to save a social media profile picture, or steal a logo online. Sometimes this is done for parody, such as this parody account for North Korean News. It can be easy to misunderstand the parody, or for these fake accounts to mimic real ones to make them look foolish. Then, social media users can share the incorrect account on social media, especially if the fake post feeds into confirmation bias.
-Use a website to fact check. We can’t all be fact checkers. Luckily, there are some great, free websites that can help you determine whether something you encounter on social media is misinformation. These include:
Snopes.com-This website will feature recent rumors as well as a search bar to look up whatever rumor you want to learn more about. Rumors are categorized as “true,” “false,” and “partially true” and will include lengthy explanations.
Factcheck.org-This is a project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center. You can submit questions, or look up recent rumors by topic.
These methods aren’t perfect, but they will help the spread of misinformation. They also help students build the skill of news literacy. The same skills that help them spot misinformation in the form of a meme can help them to evaluate scholarly sources to determine which ones are credible. The stakes have never been higher for avoiding misinformation online, and you can be part of the solution.
This month we have a real treat for you. Instead of eBooks, we wanted to feature some of our streaming movies. Pop some popcorn, turn out the lights, but don’t watch these scary movies while home alone. These are all available on Kanopy, but don’t forget about Feature Films for Education, which also has popular movies.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night |
Hereditary |
House on Haunted Hill |
Let the Right One In |
The Lighthouse |
Midsommar |
The VVitch |
 Thelma |
 Night of the Living Dead |
What We do in the Shadows |
