Librarians and Disinformation
I use a number of tools and methods, including SIFT (Stop, Investigate, Find and Trace), sites like Snopes, Politifacts and Factchecker. I teach a 5-credit Critical Information Studies course at the community college where I teach and learning about how to find credible sources and how to evaluate sources is part of the curriculum. We discuss the role of social media, biased search algorithms, and clickbait sites in the perpetuation of misinformation. We learn ways to become better information consumers. In addition, our library features a number of guides to finding credible sources and media literacy. The librarians here also have participated in trainings for our other faculty on how to find credible sources. The librarians' role is huge in helping the community find common ground in shared facts. Most people still trust libraries in a way that they don't trust the media. Librarians have worked hard to maintain their reputation as curators of information resources, so they should play a key role.
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Comments (4)
Hi Elena,
I am nodding in agreement to your post! I love what you shared about "finding common ground in shared facts." This is so important because of our polarized political environment. It is dangerous to democracy when folks of varying political stripes live in information ecosystems that do not share the same grounding in basic facts. We must engage citizens in the skills necessary to assess information so that we can begin from a base point of factual information. I am in MLIS student going into the field of teaching librarianship from a career as a classroom teacher and an educator in a variety of other capacities, because I share the view that librarians have a key role as information literacy educators, not just in a library setting, but a classroom setting, and through reaching out into the community in different contexts. I am inspired by the work that you are describing! Thank you for your work in this arena.
Elena, I think you're on to something -- there needs to be more than a one time exposure to these ideas. I think assessing information should be taught throughout the K-12 system as well as in college. And there is no one way to become information literate, so an array of tools such as those you mention will better serve people. I also like SIFT, and I think examples of how information spreads on social media and how algorithms impact what users find are also very useful. Another thing I try to discuss whenever I can with my students is that there are many voices left out of the information ecosystem, and without those marginalized voices, the information they are finding is incomplete.
Hi Elena:
How do your students react to your class? Do get pushback? If so, on what? And how do you handle it?
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