Forum Question

In a world of disinformation, social media, and “alternative facts,” how do you identify and vet credible information sources? How do you share those credible sources with students and public library users? What is a librarian’s role in helping the greater community find common ground in shared facts?

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Truth through knowledge

I believe librarians should return to being the curators of information. To fulfill this role, they must undertake training and education to be knowledgeable of subject areas and their sources. Librarians should use this knowledge to build collections (physical or digital) of high quality, reputable resources. They should also be able to direct users to other well curated collections. Librarians who are unable to identify credible sources would be better off seeking a different career.

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The School Librarian's Role in Credible Information

The AASL Standards guide the school librarian's work in teaching media and information literacy skills to their students and also to teach students to value multiple perspectives. School librarians need to update their lessons for teaching these skills. A 2019 study from the Stanford History Education Group (https://purl.stanford.edu/gf151tb4868) found that students' website evaluation skills were "troubling." Their research shows that using acronyms (such as CRAAP) to teach evaluation and rules about 'URLs' does not work. Students need to be taught to pause before sharing, to click on links versus just reading headlines, to think critically, to use lateral…

Tags: critical thinking, information literacy, media literacy

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Ethical Use of Information

In academic libraries, the ethical use of information is taught in reference to citing sources, giving authors credit, not plagiarizing, and following copyright laws. Sharing misinformation could also be considered an unethical use of information. Perhaps we should include pausing and verifying questionable information in the same instruction as other ethical information topics. I believe many people do not realize that sharing questionable information is an ethical issue and this may be beneficial to some library users.

Tags: ethics

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In a world of disinformation, social media, and “alternative facts,” how do you identify and vet credible information sources? How do you share those credible sources with students and public library users? What is a librarian’s role in helping the greater community find common ground in shared facts?

Since I work with K-12 patrons I try to focus on getting students to do the following: 1. Take a "breath" before reacting to news 2. Don't share news stories until you have determined the story is legitimate 3. Be proactive when you share and post news, make sure it is from a valid source. The vetting process can take several avenues, I tell students to practice "lateral searching" to track down the source of news and media outlets. I also encourage investigating media sources on Wikipedia and tell them to pay special attention to the links in the bib…

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How I identify and vet credible information sources: an example

Others have already posted about methodologies for evaluating information, especially with regard to information published on the web. I’d like to chime in with an example of a recent interaction in which I used a combination of lateral and vertical reading.

Someone asked me my views on election fraud. When I replied that I didn’t believe there was any significant fraud in the recent election, the person responded with generalized statements and accusations. Here’s an outline of what I did in response.
1. Focus on specifics, don’t respond to generalities. I asked the person to give…

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Welcome Message

My Fellow Librarian,

American self-government was created by a small group of people who were thinkers as well as doers, engaged in both the world of ideas and public affairs. The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress was created to help foster that traditional American interaction, providing space to better understand and address the challenges facing democracy in the 21st century.

As we all experience the deluge of information that comes at us through the internet, we want to engage you – America’s librarians – in a conversation about how citizens can sort fact from fiction, information from disinformation. After all, it is no longer easy for citizens to identify credible information, engage in legitimate debate, or counter disinformation.

We launched this WikiWisdom Forum to celebrate Danielle Allen, winner of the 2020 Kluge Prize, and her role in civics education. It is designed to learn from America’s librarians how you discern credibility and authenticity in information sources, how you communicate that to students and public library users, and what role librarians should play in helping the greater community find common ground in shared facts.

This peer collaboration platform will be live until February 10, 2021. After extensive on-line discussion, we will choose a small group of thought leaders from everyone who participates. This small group will work with the moderator to prepare a report of actionable ideas that your colleagues can use as they attempt to counter disinformation in their own communities.

On March 11, the thought leaders will present their report, with your ideas, to Danielle Allen and us in a virtual meeting sponsored by the Kluge Center of the Library of Congress.

Don’t delay. Please join our conversation today.

Thank you for your participation,

Dr. John Haskell
Director of the Kluge Center

Julius Jefferson
President of the American Library Association

Moderator Message

Cindy Richards Moderator

Welcome to this WikiWisdom Forum. I’m Cindy Richards and I will be your moderator.
How the WikiWisdom Forum Works:

Step One:
Librarians across the country are invited to share their ideas in response to the questions posed on this platform.

Step Two:
At the end of this online conversation, a small group of thought leaders will be chosen to work with the moderator to create a report showcasing your experience.

Step Three:
On March 11, the thought leaders will present their report, with your ideas, to Danielle Allen and us in a virtual meeting sponsored by the Kluge Center of the Library of Congress.