Presented by the Tampa Bay Library Consortium
False and misleading information have been a part of the media landscape for centuries, but the problem of fake news has become more pronounced in recent years as people are increasingly relying on digital media for news and other daily life information. Librarians have both the opportunity and the responsibility for teaching members of their communities how to determine if information they encounter online is accurate, reliable, and worthy of being shared.
This webinar will move beyond the simplistic idea of “real news” versus “fake news” to a more nuanced understanding of information, misinformation, bias, and intent. It will focus on teaching library users why it’s important to understand the purposes for which information is created before deciding if it is trustworthy, and highlight the important role of libraries as information educators through passive and active programming and services. Lastly, it will address the particular role of libraries in combating fake news in the age of coronavirus, when knowing what information to trust is crucial for protecting not only our personal health, but the health of our broader communities as well.
Denise Agosto is a Professor in the College of Computing & Informatics at Drexel University, where she also serves as the Director of the Master’s of Science in Information, Library & Information Science program. Her research focuses on young people’s use of social media and the implications for library services. She has won many awards and grants for her research and teaching, and for her more than 100 scholarly publications. Her most recent book is Information Literacy and Libraries in the Age of Fake News (Libraries Unlimited, 2018).
