Book Reviews 307 reader will be able to appreciate the proffered case studies and use them as a starting point for thinking about their own future experiments. Copper is not only well-versed testing in libraries, but she is also sympathetic to the potential struggles library employees might face when trying to create change. The author reminds readers that libraries are stereotypically risk-adverse institutions. The best way to create change is to start small; however, the second- best path is to be a manager or in high-level administration with the authority to institute change from the top down. While Copper’s main argument is “the beauty of experimentation is that anyone can do it regardless of budget” (ix) many readers may feel like they lack the authority to propose a new policy, event, or idea. This book is best for people in a formal or informal leadership role who can institute the necessary cultural changes, regardless of the available budget. While the author intends the text to be helpful for anyone in a risk-adverse industry, because the title has “library” and is published by ALA, very few readers outside the field of librarianship are likely to encounter it. On the other hand, many of Copper’s models of companies as success- ful innovators are found in the tech industry. As a result, more examples of libraries doing well instead of highlighting famous technology and start-up organizations would have been appreciated. Copper knows that library culture is unlikely to transform into Silicon Valley culture, so giving the intended readers more insight into what is going on in their own field is, similarly, more likely to be applicable. The most interesting parts of the book are found in Chapter 4 when the author discusses determining what the real question is instead of what the problem is and evaluating/connecting the results of experimentation back to the library as discussed in the last three chapters: “Fail Forward,” “Reskilling the Information Professional,” and “The Experimentation Roadmap.” These are the most widely impactful chapters that can alter how people think about the issues they face in their workplace and determine what “success” looks like. These chapters would help someone identify the issue, not just solve the symptom, and then prove the worth of a program, service, or resource. These final chapters are perhaps the most widely relevant be- cause, as the saying goes, “what is measured can be managed.” Although aspects of DEIA are not explicitly discussed, an attitude of experimentation could be used to try bringing in more diverse policies, collections, and programming. For this reason, readers outside of a strong leadership role might be interested in reading or encouraging a library-wide read of this text. Embracing risk and learning from failure are two tenets libraries could put to good use. Ultimately, The Experimental Library has value for anyone in libraries interested in making changes and guiding their institution in new directions. Copper is a knowledgeable author prepared with case studies which make this book relevant to practitioners and idea-creators alike. Although people in leadership positions are best positioned to act on what is recom- mended in the book, any reader or organization can benefit from the information included. I would recommend this title to any public or academic library interested in trying something different or experimenting with their programs. —Clarissa Ihssen, American University Mike Caulfield and Sam Wineberg. Verified : How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions About What to Believe Online. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2023. 266p. Paper, $14 (ISBN: 978-0-226-82206-8). Acclaimed economist, political scientist, and computer scientist, Herbert Simon, is quoted by authors Mike Caulfield and Sam Wineberg in the conclusion of Verified : How to Think Straight, 308 College & Research Libraries March 2024 Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions About What to Believe Online and perfectly encapsulates the problem addressed by the book. Simon observed that, “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention” (212). Accordingly, Caulfield and Wineberg suggest not always focus- ing on what to pay attention to, but instead, how to “critically ignore” low-quality information in an effort to save time and mental energy in an online world overloaded with information. Written with humor and abundant in real-world examples, Verified expands upon Caul- field’s popular SIFT approach to evaluating information online and includes tips on identifying common dirty tricks used by purveyors of disinformation and misinformation, strategies for recovering lost context, a primer on peer review and scholarly communication, and an overview on how advertisements insidiously disguise themselves as real news. Verified begins by introducing SIFT, Caulfield’s updated approach to evaluating infor- mation online, introduced in 2017 and now popular with academics and other researchers. SIFT directs internet searchers to Stop, Investigate the source, Find other coverage, and Trace claims to the original context. This approach is practical, intuitive, and effective, but it takes practice to make it second nature. Caulfield, a research scientist and affiliate instructor at the University of Washington Information School’s Center for an Informed Public, and Wineberg, professor emeritus and head of Stanford History Education Group, establish their credibility early, citing studies that evaluate the effectiveness of SIFT and lateral reading. The practice of using the web to evaluate the web has struck a chord with researchers and has been sup- planting older methods centered around examining the source itself. Chapters on Google and Wikipedia discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each tool and advise on how to use both safely. The scholarly conversation around these two ubiqui- tous and enduring cornerstones of the internet has fostered much debate. Google and other search engines are generally accepted as imperfect tools that require some knowledge of how they work in order to use them effectively. Caulfield and Wineberg integrate insights into click restraint, source types, and establishing search result expectations along with analyses of some of Google’s more recent innovations (e.g., featured snippets) and algorithmic behav- iors. The chapter on Wikipedia highlights some of the developments that have allowed the site to evolve from a teacher’s worst enemy to a primary trusted source of information for Google, Siri, and many health care providers. The authors applaud Wikipedia’s utility when performing quick fact checks, verifying the trustworthiness of sources, and identifying major figures, issues, and points of contention on a given topic. The book concludes with a postscript regarding the recent public release of ChatGPT and, while the authors recognize that they barely had time to get their comments in by their deadline, they include insights that will likely prove valuable in the coming years as artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) continue to influence the way we write and what we read. They warn us that one of the last hard-to-fake signals of authority, writing style, is in danger of being cheapened by tools like ChatGPT, and they recommend putting more stock in a source’s online reputation. On a more optimistic note, LLMs may make lateral reading easier by providing quick access to more information and filling the gaps between longer, dense sources and short snippets with little context. The timely postscript ends with a warning: LLMs don’t know things, they only remix and repeat what people have said about