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Adams State University
Nielsen Library

First Year Seminar (FYS)

This guide supports both instructors and students in the First Year Seminar by offering essential resources, tools, and tips for navigating the library, finding credible sources, and building strong research skills.

Lateral Reading

Lateral reading is the evaluative practice of comparing many different sources of information. Laterally reading can help us to quickly verify, contextualize, and find possible weaknesses in the information we are looking at.

Lateral reading is about being skeptical in a smart way.

It's asking: "What are other people saying about this?" before deciding to trust a source completely.

Example

Verifying a Breaking News Story

On TikTok you see a video talking about an explosion in downtown Chicago that injured hundreds today.

Before reacting or sharing, you:

  • Head over to Google and type a quick search
  • Check out sites like Reuters, AP, the Chicago Tribune or other news outlets
  • You see no credible news coverage - it turns out this was a false rumor

Lateral reading helped you avoid spreading misinformation.

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