That Doesn’t Seem Right To Me…

Is this for real? If you’ve heard or read something that seems slightly suspicious, or if you just want to be more confident about what you are reading, I have some suggestions to help you verify claims.

How To Verify Something From Social Media
I don’t have to tell you that there are some questionable and bizarre claims posted to social media. If you find yourself scratching your head, you’ve already taken the most important step: pause for a moment and take a deep breath before you react. A simple thing you can do is an internet search with the basics of the claim, and include “fact check” in your search string. You can also look specifically for news stories – maybe someone has already investigated it. As an example, imagine I was browsing a social media site, and I read that a velociraptor has just tested positive for rabies. I might turn to a search engine and type in “velociraptor rabies fact check” or “velociraptor rabies news.”

If this velociraptor fake news were a real social media post instead of a silly example, your search results might include an article from Snopes.com, a respected source of online fact-checking since 1994. Snopes is a great place to start. If you are investigating a political claim – if a politician has claimed rabid velociraptors are a threat to national security, for example – you can also go to factcheck.org, and politifact.com. Both are nonpartisan, nonprofit fact-checking organizations. All three (Snopes, Factcheck.org, and Politifact) are signatories to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles: “The Code of Principles is for organizations that regularly publish nonpartisan reports on the accuracy of statements by public figures, major institutions, and other widely circulated claims of interest to society. It is the result of consultations among fact-checkers from around the world and offers conscientious practitioners principles to aspire to in their everyday work.” 

Is This Photo For Real?
Does a photo really depict what its caption suggests? Major search engines give you the ability to do a reverse image search, which means instead of finding images using words, you find the context using the image. You can cut-and-paste an image into the search engine, upload it from your computer, or search using an image’s URL.

At images.google.com you’ll see three icons in the search bar – the second is “Search by image.” To use Bing, go to www4.bing.com/visualsearch. 

Did They Really Say That?
The internet is rife with misquotations, so much so that if someone attributes a quotation to Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, or Maya Angelou, I usually assume they didn’t actually say it. How can you verify a quotation’s source? Our library branches all have quotation dictionaries that you can use in the branch, and some that you can check out and take home. These are researched, authoritative sources that you can rely on for accuracy. The next time you’re looking for a quotation to use in a speech or a slideshow, I suggest you use one of these dictionaries instead of searching the internet. Alternatively, if you run into an inspirational quotation on social media, and you want to check right then, I recommend the website Quote Investigator, created by former Johns Hopkins computer scientist Gregory F. Sullivan under the pseudonym Garson O'Toole. Take, for example, the famous quotation, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Did Einstein really say it? No: according to Quote Investigator, it comes from Al-Anon, an organization that supports families of people with alcohol use disorder.

Can I Trust Their Expertise?
If you’re wondering if a professional has the necessary credentials, the best place to check is the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. You can look up the licenses for individuals and businesses practicing or doing business in New Jersey. The Division of Consumer Affairs also has a doctor lookup tool to look up doctors practicing in New Jersey, where you can find out about the status of their license, their education, information about their practice, and information about any malpractice or disciplinary actions.

NJ Consumer Affairs also has a Charities Registration and Investigation Section where you can see if a charity is compliant before you donate to them. You can also view basic information about their funding sources and expenses. Mercer County Library System offers our patrons access to Foundation Directory, a valuable resource for individuals and nonprofits seeking funding. Foundation Directory is a database of grants, scholarships, and fellowships, with in-depth profiles of each granting foundation.

Ask A Librarian
If you have questions, I encourage you to visit our reference desks in person, or write in to our Ask A Librarian service. Librarians are eager to help, and we love a research challenge. I remember one patron who showed me an email she had received, supposedly from the IRS. She felt like something was phishy, but wanted to make sure that she wasn’t ignoring an important message about her taxes. I was able to find documentation of this known scam, and the patron was assured that she could send the email to her spam folder with confidence. Whenever you have a question that you want help answering, you can ask a librarian. And watch out for rabid velociraptors!