Let's Get Ready to Research!
image by Tablet Magazine
Stop - The first step is to stop and ask yourself two questions. First, are you familiar with the website or source of information? Is it a generally reliable source? Second, what is your purpose in looking for this information? Does this resource meet the standards for your purpose?
Investigate the Source - Before you read anything, look at where it is coming from. Does the author / publisher have a bias that might influence their purpose for creating this information? Knowing this before you start reading can save you a lot of time (and frustration).
Find Trusted Coverage - If you need to verify information or are unsure of the source from which you got a particular tidbit, look around for other sources of this information. Check with sources you already trust to see if they also contain this information, and use the more reliable source as your reference.
Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media back to the Original Context - When researching, pieces of information are often stripped of their context - clips of videos or edited interviews, quotes from other sources, data taken out of the complete set from a study, etc. In these cases, try to trace back to the original context to make sure the clipped version says what your resources says it does.
References:
mikecaulfield, “SIFT (The Four Moves),” Hapgood (blog), June 19, 2019, https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/.
Sadly, I could not locate any Purim or hamantaschen related Taylor Swift parody song videos. Here are lyrics for a Purim parody of Shake it Off, which doesn't even mention hamantaschen.