The Six Tests of Information Confidence, also known as the STIC Model, is a way of assessing the accuracy and credibility of information that we find online. 

The STIC Model invites us to consider six pieces of information about each of our sources (shown in bold below): 

• Who is saying what to me?

• For what Reasons?

• For what Gain? 

• Through what Channel? 

• and with what Evidence?

Explore the STIC model at The Informed Learner, an interactive website developed by Dr. Loertscher and his graduate students at SJSU. 

The SIFT Method is an alternative approach developed by digital literacy expert Mike Caulfield that you can use to determine if information you find online is credible. The SIFT method asks that before you share any information, you: 

• Stop. 

• Investigate the source

• Find better coverage

• Trace claims, quotes and media to their original context.  

The SIFT Method encourages us to consider whether we are having an immediate emotional reaction to the content we view online, what we know about a source, whether that source is an expert or likely to be biased, whether an already trusted source has covered the same topic, and whenever possible, to trace claims back to their original source so that we can review them in their original context. 

The University of Chicago has published an excellent primer on using the SIFT Method here.