Our goal in reading laterally is to learn more about a website’s perspective, authority, and potential motivations for providing the information. A source might have a strong perspective and very little authority, or it might have a balanced perspective and very high authority. We can use that information to form an initial judgment about how reliable it is as a source, and whether it’s worth our time to take a deep dive into the content itself.
Information about an organization won’t always be easy to find online, and we might not get exact answers. However, we can learn more about these things when we read laterally than we would if we tried other ways of evaluating websites. We won’t always make perfect decisions, but lateral reading helps us make better ones.
What is the sponsoring organization of the website or source? Do you have any prior knowledge about this organization
What can you learn about the sponsoring organization when searching? (Although it’s okay to start with something like the “About” page, you also need to go outside the site!)
What sources did you use to learn about the organization? How do you know that these are good sources?
How do you think the website’s sponsor influences the information provided by the website?
At this point, do you think this website is a strong source of information about your topic? Explain why.