African Librarian
A search around news items sometimes relying on prior knowledge helps to determine credible information and sources. Detecting fake and/or manipulated pictures is relatively easy with apps for that.
However, the COVID-19 crisis taught us a lot in African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA). We learned that librarians are prone to go with the crowd as fantastic stories of cures for COVID-19 were spread as WhatsApp messages from unidentified sources and conspiracy theories about vaccines flew everywhere. The heap of disinformation was huge.
AfLIA ran a 5day Media and Information Literacy online course (https://web.aflia.net/2020-global-media-and-information-literacy-week-short-course/ ) for African librarians to engage their minds on how to resist the disinfodemic brought on by the pandemic and how to dissuade people from doubting the purpose of vaccines. It's an ongoing exercise as some of the participants are still carrying out their Action Plans to help their user communities understand the facts around COVID-19 !
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Comments (4)
"Disinfodemic" is my new favorite coinage! I find the WhatsApp rumors particularly hard to combat - sometimes we can only guess what harmful claim is going around by the questions we get at the library.
I am very worried about vaccine hesitancy in my largely immigrant neighborhood of Baltimore. What sources are you relying on that seem persuasive?
Disinfodemic is real. The amount of false information flying around about COVID-19 which unintentionally aids the spread of the virus is alarming. The fear about vaccines is real with 'discordant' information as some sources question the efficacy dues to several reasons including the difference in the genetic sequencing of different races. That notwithstanding, we subscribe to news updates through emails from UN, WHO, AU and Disease Control Agencies. This enables us to share verified information and allay fears although some are quite entrenched in their views about the 'dangers' of vaccines. You may see updates and sign up on www.shareverified.com' from UN. The site emphasizes the importance of everyone having access to accurate, reliable information in order to beat the virus.
Hi Nkem:
Thanks for joining our conversation. That sounds like a huge challenge -- helping librarians to question what they hear so they can lead library users to question is as well.
Exactly! We all have biases and sometimes, these show up unconsciously when we help people access information. Helping librarians to self-examine helps to reduce this.