any material related to a topic or issue (here: SSI): facts, claims, data, descriptions, arguments, interpretations, quotations, statistics, images, etc.
\nspecific unit of information that someone encounters in a given situation \\n→ appears in the form of a genre (e.g., an article, a post, a video, a report, a tweet) \\n→ through an information channel e.g., a website, a social media platform)
\ndate when an information item was originally published, posted, or broadcast\\n→ indicates how current the content is and whether it may have been overtaken by newer findings, events, or developments
\nwhat is actually said, shown, claimed, or explained in an information item
\ncommunicative meaning that results from how an author or publisher selects, emphasises, frames, and structures the content → viewpoints / positions
\na reduced, decontextualised preview of an information item → preview / teaser (in feeds, search results, aggregators)
\ninformation item or source that is cited, quoted, linked, or referred to within an information item\\n→ makes it possible to trace information back towards its origin\\n→ following references is a key strategy for evaluating reliability
\norigin of an information item — typically understood through its author / creator and/or publisher / outlet, and sometimes more broadly through the information channel in which it appears
\nperson or organisation that creates an information item\\n→ named or unnamed / anonymous
\nperson, organisation, account, publication, or service that makes an information item publicly available
\nperson, account (including bots), or organisation that shares, forwards, links, or reposts an existing information item without creating a new one in an information channel\\n→ influences which information reaches you in the first place \\n→ when an information item is shared with added commentary, interpretation, or reframing, a new information item is created by a new author (→ secondary source / tertiary source)
\nThe degree of mediation does not determine reliability or trustworthiness. \\n→ A primary source can be biased, incomplete, or wrong (e.g., an eyewitness account, a misleading dataset). \\n→ A secondary source can be more reliable than the primary material it reports on (e.g., a fact-checked article correcting a politician's claims). \\nWhat the degree of mediation does show is how far the information item is from the original material — and therefore how many steps of selection, interpretation, and potential distortion lie in between.
\n| Degree of Mediation | \nEpistemic Proximity / Relation to Original Information Unit | \nExamples | \n
|---|---|---|
| ### Primary Source | \nDirectly presents, documents, analyses, or interprets original information: raw data, original events, or firsthand experience | \nWHO research report, eyewitness account, original dataset, parliamentary speech | \n
| ### Secondary Source | \nReferences and reports on, analyses, interprets, comments on, or reframes one or more primary information items | \nNewspaper article about the WHO report, textbook chapter summarising research findings, social media post quoting from a scientific study and commenting on the quote | \n
| ### Tertiary Source | \nReferences, compiles, or summarises multiple primary and/or secondary information items, typically without presenting new original information | \nTikTok video reacting to a tweet that commented on a scientific study, Wikipedia entry, encyclopedia overview | \n
| Source Category What kind of source is this? | Authors / Creators Who is typically behind it? | Primary Interest What is their main purpose? | Communicative Intentions How do they typically communicate? | Pre-Publication Review How carefully is the information checked before publication? | Implications for Reliability and Trustworthiness How does this affect reliability and trustworthiness? | Genres
\n| What formats does the source type typically take? | \n|
|---|---|
| Academic / Educational | \n- Universities | \n
| Commercial / Promotional | - Companies
\n| Individual / Personal | - Private persons
\n| Journalistic | - News organisations
\n| Philanthropic / Service-oriented | - Humanitarian organisations
\n| Political / Advocacy | - Parties
\n| Professional / Membership-based | - Professional associations
\n| Public / Official | - Governments
\nGenres are not exclusive to a single source category. A newsletter, for example, can be commercial, philanthropic, or professional. The genre alone is not a sufficient indicator of reliability or trustworthiness.
space, system, or environment through which an information item is made available, distributed, searched for, or encountered
\n| Information Channels | \nDefinition | \nWhat do I usually encounter there first? | \n
|---|---|---|
| Information Search & Discovery Systems | \nsystems that help people find, filter, rank, retrieve, recommend, or generate information items | \nsearch bar, feed, browse interface, or prompt window, leading to:- ranked information items → search results | \n
| Digital Information Spaces & Platforms | digital environments in which people encounter information items directly | full or near-full information items within the space itself | | Analogue Media & Information Environments | non-digital environments in which people directly encounter information items | full or near-full information items in printed, transmitted, spatial, or live form |
\nInformation items made available through discovery interfaces \\n→ users typically begin with a search bar, prompt window, feed, browse surface, filter system, or recommendation interface, and encounter mediated forms first rather than the item itself
\n| Information Search & Discovery System | \nDefinition | \nTypical Examples | \nWhat is my starting point and how do I look for information here? | \nWhat determines which information items are displayed and in what order? | \nWhat do I get back? | \nHow do I move from here to the underlying information item(s), if at all? | \n
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search Engines | \nSystems that index and rank information items across the web based on user queries. | \n
| Discovery Feeds & Directories | Systems such as news feeds and podcast directories that surface, bundle, and present information items from various sources based on topics, interests, behaviour, or editorial selection. | - Google News
\n| Scholarly Databases | Systems that make scholarly information items searchable and accessible through search, filtering, and structured metadata. | - PubMed
\n| AI Assistants / Generative Systems | Systems that generate, summarise, or synthesise responses based on information items rather than listing them. | - ChatGPT
\ninformation items directly available \\n→ users typically encounter the item itself immediately or near-immediately within the space
\n| Digital Information Space | \nDefinition | \nTypical Examples | \nWho can publish information here? | \nIs what I see here the same for everyone, algorithmically personalised for me, or based on my own configuration? | \nHow do people find and move through information here? | \n
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Websites / Blogs | \nAn individual's or organisation's own online space — such as an institutional website, a news site, a company page, or a personal blog — where content is published directly in the owner's name. | \n- who.int | \n
Content is structured by the site owner through menus, categories, and page layout | - By following menus
\n| Social Media | Networked digital spaces where users and organisations post, share, and circulate content. | - Facebook
\nFeeds, recommendations, trending content, and promoted posts are shaped by my behaviour and engagement | - By scrolling through feeds
\n| Video / Audio Platforms | Digital spaces where many different users or organisations upload and share video or audio content. | - YouTube
\nRecommendations, autoplay queues, and suggested items are shaped by my viewing / listening history | - By searching for specific items
\n| Streaming / On-demand Services | Curated digital services that offer access to a catalogue of on-demand media. | - Netflix
\nRecommendations, featured selections, and catalogue presentation are shaped by my watch history | - By browsing the catalogue
\n| Communication Apps | Private or semi-private spaces — such as messaging or email apps — for direct exchange between individuals or groups. | - WhatsApp
\nWhat I see depends on my contacts, conversations, groups, and how I organise them | - By opening chats or threads
\n| Discussion Forums / Community Spaces | Interactive spaces — such as forums, discussion boards, comment sections, or community groups — where users discuss, comment, ask questions, and respond to one another. | - Reddit
\nWhat I see depends first on which communities, servers, forums, or threads I join or enter; within them, visibility may then be shaped by upvotes, moderation, and sorting. | - By browsing threads
\nSome services are hybrid: Telegram, for example, functions as a messaging app for private conversations but also hosts large public channels that resemble social media or community spaces.
| Analogue Media & Information Environments | \nDefinition | \nTypical Examples (encounter on purpose) | \nTypical Examples (encounter in passing) | \nHow do I encounter information here? | \nWhat determines what I encounter here and in what order? | \n
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Print / Publications | \nPrinted materials — such as newspapers, magazines, books, brochures, flyers, posters, or signage — that are physically distributed, displayed, or made available for reading. | \n- newspaper subscription | \n
| Broadcast & Public Address | Audio or audiovisual information transmitted to a wide audience through radio, television, screens, or public address systems — either as scheduled programming or as continuous / situational announcements. | - TV news at home
\n| Installations, Monuments & Exhibits | Spatial, static, and typically permanent or semi-permanent objects, structures, or displays placed in public or institutional spaces to inform, commemorate, or express. | - museum exhibition
\n| Live Events & Public Action | Time-bound, live gatherings or actions involving people — organised to inform, persuade, express, commemorate, or mobilise. | - conference
\n