Using the same example as before, let’s say YOU were looking for contacts in OSU Mansfield’s Business Office, but unlike me, you didn’t know the names of anyone who worked in any of the departments.
So let's say you still clicked on the same link as I did in the original example.
How could you determine whether or not that was the best result for your search?
1. You could look for a "last updated" date at the bottom of the page. Not all websites have these, but some do. But the best thing to do is:
2. Compare against another source. (The OSU Mansfield directory site, for example.)
Comparing one source to another,-- or another, or another -- at the same time, is known as lateral reading. Lateral because you're putting one thing next to another, and might have a bunch of tabs open. We'll do this together as an example. If you want to watch everything you've been reading play out, click here.
The reason the Mansfield site is ultimately more accurate than the original OSU site, is because it is specific to the Mansfield campus.
Therefore, the Mansfield website directory is naturally updated more often because it pertains to this specific campus.
Just as main campus keeps its directory updated more often because it is specific to that campus.
