Month: January 2022

Introduction

With the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies, libraries are increasingly using social media as a marketing tool to promote library services and events and highlight resources to patrons. Due to the interactive nature of social media, libraries also use social media as a communication tool to engage with patrons. Although social media has brought new opportunities for libraries to improve their services, it also brings new challenges to libraries such as the spread of misinformation in social media. This post explores the nature of misinformation including its causes and consequences. The post also explores the role of libraries and common practices in combating misinformation and examines the problems with the practices and possible solutions.

 What is misinformation?

Misinformation is not a new problem and has probably existed for thousands of years since the dawn of human history and therefore has become an inevitable part of our society (Southwell et al., 2017, p. 372; Komendantova et al., 2021, p. 2). Misinformation is defined as untrue or inaccurate information such as unsubstantiated claims, rumors, and conspiracy theories (Wu et al., 2019, p. 81-82; Cotter et al., 2022, p. 2). Misinformation usually refers to when people unintentionally share inaccurate misleading information (Wu et al., 2019, p. 81-82; Rubin, 2019, p. 1013). Misinformation can also be categorized as information that is incomplete, uncertain, vague, or ambiguous (Cooke, 2017, p. 213). However, misinformation can still be accurate, true, and informative depending on the context (Cooke, 2017, p. 213).

 Causes of misinformation

There are several reasons making misinformation is so widespread. The first reason is lack of education on information literacy skills (Sullivan, 2019a, p. 93). People are more likely to fall for misinformation due to their inability to assess the credibility of information (Sullivan, 2019a, p. 94). Another reason is loss of trust in expertise, authority and mainstream media, causing people to question facts, journalistic integrity, scholarly methods, and reliable information sources including experts (Sullivan, 2019a, p. 94; Gibson & Jacobson, 2018, p. 191). In this post-truth era, people tend to believe information that appeals to emotions or existing personal beliefs (Cooke, 2017, p. 212). Therefore, combining with post-truth, lack of information literacy education and distrust of expertise and traditional media, it is no wonder that misinformation is so widespread.

Consequences of misinformation

The spread of misinformation on social media has powerful and negative impacts on the society. One major impact is that misinformation might lead people to hold misperceptions, especially when misperceptions occur among large groups of people, that may have negative consequences for health, social harmony, and political life (Southwell et al., 2017, p. 372). For example, anti-vaccine controversies concerning vaccine safety are vigorously circulating on social media, leading upsurge in vaccine hesitancy among community members. The anti-vaccine behaviors among community due to vaccine misinformation might potentially hamper the COVID-19 vaccine program (Ullah et al., 2021, p. 96). That might have serious consequence for the health of citizens, especially the old people and kids.

Role of libraries in combating misinformation

Libraries have the potential to play a role in combating misinformation by providing access to trustworthy information and education about misinformation and digital literacy to the public. American Library Association (ALA) have released resolutions addressing growing concerns of the spread of false information and affirming the role of libraries in providing sources of accurate information, teaching information literacy skills and educating the public about misinformation and its harms (American Library Association, 2005, 2017). Traditionally, libraries play an important role in the provision of quality information and information services. Librarians are engaged in providing information literacy skills training that enable users to locate proven and reliable information (Yerbury & Henninger, 2020, p. 168). Therefore, libraries can play an active role in combating misinformation through providing access to accurate information and community education about misinformation and digital literacy.

Library anti-misinformation practices and its problems and solutions

Over the past several years, libraries have tried to respond to the problem of misinformation by taking a wide range of practices. However, these practices may not be particularly effective in combatting misinformation as there are numerous problems with the practices. Libraries therefore need to re-examine their practices and find solutions to the problems.

One common practice is building websites or online guides which provide information and online resources from the third parties such as fact-checking sites to help the public to recognize fake news and misinformation (Herrero-Diz & López-Rufino, 2021, p. 3). For instance, many library guides include a checklist which provides some tips on spotting fake news. The checklist derives from a 2016 FactCheck.org article called “How to spot fake news”. However, many of the guides look like carbon copies of one another. Although the guides provide some useful information about misinformation, they could include outdated information that overlook major features of contemporary fake news (Sullivan, 2019b, p. 1148). Besides, it is problematic to recommend fact-checking sites as they are not trustworthy and authoritative sources (Sullivan, 2019b, p. 1148). The possible solution to this problem is that librarians should regularly revise their research guides and checklists by removing those outdated recommendations that no longer reflect misinformation (Sullivan, 2019a, p. 105). Besides, librarians should evaluate the content of websites independently, which requires context or some domain knowledge (Sullivan, 2019a, p. 105). Therefore, the development of tools and training is essential for librarians to help them keep up-to-date on relevant misinformation (Young et al., 2021, p. 539).

Another common practice is teaching news, media and information literacy to find, evaluate, and use information effectively (Young et al., 2021, p. 540). Some libraries teach how to detect misinformation, distinguish advertisements, opinions, and reported news, or facts and conspiracies (Sullivan, 2019a, p. 98). However, focusing only on these forms of literacy to build skills to recognize misinformation was insufficient (Young et al., 2021, p. 543). Besides, it is difficult for librarians to tackle the topic of misinformation alone as they are vague about the nature of the problem. Although they can perform scholarly research on misinformation, they lack the time, resources or expertise to determine the best approach to address misinformation (Young et al., 2021, p. 545). The possible solution to this problem is that librarians need collaborations with misinformation scholars who can provide expertise and effective approaches about misinformation programming (Young et al., 2021, p. 545). Besides, it is important to develop effective community education programmes to educate the public about this emerging issue (Herrero-Diz & López-Rufino, 2021, p. 3; Young et al., 2021). Moreover, more research regarding the most effective approaches for misinformation programming is needed to help librarians overcome barriers and design effective misinformation programming (Young et al., 2021, p. 543).

Conclusion

Libraries have potential to play a role in the fight against misinformation but are not at the forefront. Misinformation is a very controversial and complex issue and arise from the erosion of trust in or deficient understanding of expertise and traditional media. Libraries need to build more partnerships with interdisciplinary teams of scholars which can help libraries to explore this complex issue and thus to more effectively combat misinformation.

Word count: 1015

Reference

American Library Association. (2005). Resolution on disinformation, media manipulation & the destruction of public information. Progressive Librarians, 26, 68-69. http://www.progressivelibrariansguild. org/PL/PL26/068.pdf

American Library Association. (2017, January 24). Resolution on access to accurate Information. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/statementspols/ifresolutions/accurateinformation

Cooke, N. A. (2017). Posttruth, truthiness, and alternative facts: Information behavior and critical information consumption for a new age. Library Quarterly, 87(3), 211–221. https://doi.org/10.1086/692298

Cotter, K., DeCook, J. R., & Kanthawala, S. (2022). Fact-checking the crisis: COVID-19, infodemics, and the platformization of truth. Social Media + Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051211069048.

Gibson, C., & Jacobson T. E. (2018). Habits of mind in an uncertain information world. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 57(3), 183–192. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.5860/rusq.57.3.6603

Herrero-Diz, P., & López-Rufino, C. (2021). Libraries fight disinformation: An analysis of online practices to help users’ generations in spotting fake news. Societies, 11(4), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc11040133.

Komendantova, N., Ekenberg, L., Svahn, M., Larsson, A., Shah, S. I. H., Glinos, M., Koulolias, V., & Danielson, M. (2021). A value-driven approach to addressing misinformation in social media. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 8(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-00702-9.

Rubin, V. L. (2019). Disinformation and misinformation triangle. Journal of Documentation, 75(5), 1013–1034. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-12-2018-0209.

Southwell, B. G., Thorson, E. A., & Sheble, L. (2017). The persistence and peril of misinformation. American Scientist, 105(6), 372-375. https://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/persistence-peril-misinformation/docview/1990790031/se-2?accountid=10344.

Sullivan, M. C. (2019a). Libraries and fake news: What’s the problem? what’s the plan?. Communications in Information Literacy, 13(1), 91-113. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2019.13.1.7

Sullivan, M. C. (2019b). Why librarians can’t fight fake news. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 51(4), 1146–1156. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000618764258

Ullah, I., Khan, K. S., Tahir, M. J., Ahmed, A., & Harapan, H. (2021). Myths and conspiracy theories on vaccines and COVID-19: Potential effect on global vaccine refusals [Mitos, teorías conspiratorias y COVID-19: efecto potencial en los rechazos globales a la vacunación]. Vacunas (English Edition), 22(2), 93–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacune.2021.01.009

Wu, L., Morstatter, F., Carley, K. M., & Liu, H. (2019). Misinformation in social media: Definition, manipulation, and detection. SIGKDD Explorations, 21(1), 80–90. https://dl-acm-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1145%2F3373464.3373475.

Yerbury, H., & Henninger, M. (2020). Libraries and democracy: complementarity in a regime of truth. In S. Goldstein (Ed.), Informed societies: why information literacy matters for citizenship, participation and democracy (pp. 165-180). Facet Publishing.

Young, J. C., Boyd, B., Yefimova, K., Wedlake, S., Coward, C., & Hapel, R. (2021). The role of libraries in misinformation programming: A research agenda. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 53(4), 539–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000620966650.

Technology undeniably drives a number of changes and creates many new possibilities for academic libraries to improve their library services. In the future, as more new technologies emerge and become affordable, academic libraries have greater potential to adopt more new technological tools to enhance their existing services or implement new services in order to satisfy the ever-changing needs and demands of users.

In terms of boosting existing services, streaming media services can replace DVD borrowing service as this streaming service is very convenient for library users to watch movies and television programmes through their library account anywhere. They can stream ten films or episode per month through this technology (Hussain, 2020, p. 22). Besides, library can enhance printing, copying, and scanning services by providing cloud-based services which can facilitate patrons to use their smart phones, tablets and laptop to print, copy, and scan their work (Hussain, 2020, p. 22).

Moreover, advanced technologies such as robot technology, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) can be adopted to enhance library services such as information literacy training/workshops and library virtual tour which can attract more patrons to join (Hussain, 2020, p. 18). By incorporating AR in teaching library skills, users’ learning performance can be enhanced since it can help increase the users’ understanding more than traditional instruction of the librarian (Krippendorff, 2018; Okunlaya et al., 2020, p. 996).

Furthermore, by adopting mobile apps in library services, users can get access to online services including searching library catalogue, managing their library account, renewing and reserving books, downloading e-books and get notification of what new resources, services and facilities are available at library (Hussain, 2020, p. 19).

In terms of the new services, since our institute is offering a range of new programmes related to design, creative technology, film and media production, library can offer a new service called Library makerspace that provides a wide range of resources and tools such as computers, 3D printers, audio and video editing tools, and traditional arts and crafts supplies which allow library users to create intellectual and physical materials such as short films by implementing their intellectual skills (Hussain, 2020, p. 20). For 3D printing, library can provide access to appropriate modelling software along with staff support (Hussain, 2020, p. 19).

Emerging technologies undeniably bring many changes and challenges for the role and responsibility of library professionals. Therefore, we need to find ways to keep learning the knowledge of new software and new technologies through attending courses, workshops, conferences and other professional development programs (Wenborn, 2018). Besides, learning from colleague or taking free online courses are helpful for professional development (Wenborn, 2018).

Reference

Hussain, A. (2020). Cutting edge: Technology’s impact on library services. In J. Jesubright, & P. Saravanan (Eds.), Innovations in the designing and marketing of information services (pp. 16-27). IGI Global. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.4018/978-1-7998-1482-5.ch002.

Krippendorff, K. (2018). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Sage Publications.

Okunlaya, R., Syed Abdullah, N., Alias, R. A. (2020). Augmented reality in library services: A panacea to achieving education and learning 4.0. In F. Saeed, F. Mohammed, N. Gazem (Eds.), Emerging trends in Intelligent Computing and Informatics (pp. 991-998). https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1007/978-3-030-33582-3_93.

Wenborn, C. (2018, April 13). 4 Professional Development Tips for Busy Librarians. https://www.wiley.com/network/librarians/library-impact/4-professional-development-tips-for-busy-librarians.

 

Over time, the concept of information literacy has changed drastically due to advances in technology. “Digital literacy” has emerged as one of the extensions of the concept of information literacy (Li et al., 2021, p. 4196). As the society is moving to digital age, new definitions of digital literacy are evolving which include how to access information in digital formats, and how to critically evaluate online information and use it appropriately (Ondari-Okemwa, 2016). According to Buckingham (2007), digital literacy needs to include a broader understanding of the socio-economic contexts underpinning how information is accessed, used and produced in the digital age (p. 45). Therefore, it is more challenging for people to evaluate the online information and identify which information is true or false.

In fact, education can play a pivotal role in reducing the spread of fake news via social media. According to Rampersad & Althiyabi (2020), education is an important factor that can decrease the dissemination and acceptance of fake news since increasing education can improve an individual’s digital literacy skill, and thus an individual will be less likely to accept or spread fake news without any critical evaluation and confirmation regarding the source of the news (p. 9). Therefore, to lessen the spread and acceptance of false information, education is essential to help users build digital literacy skills via organising media and news literacy workshops that bring fact-checkers and interested citizens with journalists together (Komendantova et al., 2021, p. 11). Media and digital literacy classes should also be introduced into the school curriculum to equip students with critical thinking skills with evolving technologies (Komendantova et al., 2021, p. 11).

Digital literacy has become increasingly important for library professionals due to technological advancement in information and communication technologies (ICT). Many public and academic libraries have started to use social media such as Facebook to communicate with users and to promote new collections and events. Therefore, to enhance their job performance, library professionals need to keep updating themselves with digital literacy skills through various ways such as attending seminars and workshop, and IT programmes (Agim & Azolo, 2021, p. 15). Library management should also offer training programmes for their library staff to upgrade their digital literacy skills. Furthermore, government should provide public and academic libraries with sufficient funds for ICT infrastructure and training facilities for their staff (Agim & Azolo, 2021, p. 15).

Reference

Agim, E. C., & Azolo, E. M. (2021). digital literacy and job performance of 21st century library staff in Imo State. Library Research Journal, 4(1), 15–26. Retrieved from https://journals.unizik.edu.ng/index.php/lrj/article/view/547

Buckingham, D. (2007). Digital media literacies: Rethinking media education in the age of the internet. Research in Comparative and International Education, 2(1), 43–55. https://doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2007.2.1.43

Komendantova, N., Ekenberg, L., Svahn, M., Larsson, A., Shah, S. I. H., Glinos, M., Koulolias, V., & Danielson, M. (2021). A value-driven approach to addressing misinformation in social media. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 8(1), 1-12.

Li, Y., Chen, Y., & Wang, Q. (2021). Evolution and diffusion of information literacy topics. Scientometrics 126, 4195–4224. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-021-03925-y

Ondari-Okemwa, E. (2016). Developing digital information literacy at institutions of higher learning in sub-saharan Africa: Opportunities and challenges. Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa Library and Information Associations (SCECSAL), 1-20.

Rampersad, G., & Althiyabi, T. (2020). Fake news: Acceptance by demographics and culture on social media. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 17(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2019.1686676

Augmented reality (AR) has become increasingly popular in libraries. Many libraries have started to employ AR technology to enhance their library services. AR technology refers to “a digital means of mixing real and virtual environments by adding digital layers to the physical world” (Reynolds et al., 2020, p. 503). In terms of advantage, because of the immersive nature of AR technology, it can enhance user learning and engagement in an exciting and innovative way (Reynolds et al., 2020, p. 503; Hannah et al., 2019, p. 279). For example, the video below shows a library user how to find a book at the library with an app that employing AR technology (Rose, 2019). The user searches the book she needs first in the app and then moves through the space with her smartphone. The app provides a series of prompts that directs her where to scan QR code and find the book. Therefore, with the use of AR technology, users can acquire knowledge about how to locate a book on the shelves that can help them to build a sense of engagement.

In terms of disadvantage, while AR technology is still evolving, it requires a considerable amount of time, cost, staff resources, technological infrastructure and any other resources to support the development, implementation, and ongoing maintenance of the apps (Reynolds et al., 2020, p. 506). Librarians also need to beware of the level of risks that the AR technology may bring such as user privacy, security, and legal issues (Olney, 2019, p. 10). It is because AR technology often records individual users’ exact locations, personal contact information, and other user data such as user’s eye movements, body language (Bell & Cottrell, 2019, p. 104). The user data collected can be used to improved AR experience (Riesen, 2019, p. 117). To deal with the privacy, security, and legal issues, it is important to develop privacy policies clearly defining what information is being collected, where this information is going to be stored, and how the information is being used. The privacy notices should also be provided to end users in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations (Riesen, 2019, p. 117). Therefore, due to the tight timeline, budget constraint, user privacy and security concerns, it is always extremely challenging to incorporate AR technology into library services (Olney, 2019, p. 10).

In my opinion, augmented reality (AR) has become more popular in libraries. It is important for libraries to stay ahead of the latest technology trends. As the new technologies continue to change how users access and use information, libraries need to embrace knowledge of innovative technologies such as AR technology so that they can better serve the users’ interest and improve their public services.

Reference

Bell, B., & Cottrell, T. (2019). Augmented reality in the library: Pivoting toward a security-first implementation strategy. In K. J. Varnum (Ed.), Beyond reality: Augmented, virtual, and mixed reality in the library (pp. 99-108). ALA Neal-Schuman. https://portal-igpublish-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/iglibrary/search/ALAB0000486.html

Hannah, M., Huber, S., & Matei, S. A. (2019). Collecting virtual and augmented reality in the twenty-first century library. Collection Management, 44(2-4), 277-295. doi:10.1080/01462679.2019.1587673

Olney, A. (2019). Augmented reality: All about holograms. In K. J. Varnum (Ed.), Beyond reality: Augmented, virtual, and mixed reality in the library (pp. 1-15). ALA Neal-Schuman. https://portal-igpublish-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/iglibrary/search/ALAB0000486.html

Reynolds, K., Schofield, T., & Trujillo-Pisanty, D. (2020). Children’s magical realism for new spatial interactions: Augmented reality and the David Almond archives. Children’s Literature in Education, 51(4), 502-518. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-019-09389-2

Riesen, M. (2019). Augmented reality and virtual reality and their legal implications for libraries. In K. J. Varnum (Ed.), Beyond reality: Augmented, virtual, and mixed reality in the library (pp. 109-118). ALA Neal-Schuman. https://portal-igpublish-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/iglibrary/search/ALAB0000486.html

Rose, C. S. (2019, November 19). Finding Books at the Library with Augmented Reality [Video]. YouTube.