Introduction
Mis/disinformation has been identified as a global threat (World Economic Forum, 2024), a challenge that has been exacerbated by the rise of generative AI and its ability to facilitate the creation and dissemination of mis/disinformation. Instruction in information, news and/or media literacy could help combat the spread of mis/disinformation, and research suggests that instruction can be effective (see, e.g., Bateman & Jackson, 2024; McGrew et al., 2019; Roozenbeek, Culloty, & Suiter, 2023). Having long championed information literacy, academic librarians could be well-positioned to offer such instruction to university students. However, the instructional role of librarians can be impacted by many factors, institutional and faculty expectations, the discipline(s) they support, and their own attitudes toward mis/disinformation and news literacy. This session will share the results of a cross-country study exploring academic librarians’ perceptions of mis/disinformation, and whether and how they are engaging in news literacy instruction.
Study Overview
The study consists of a survey that was first piloted in the United States and France, and then replicated by thirty scholars in 28 different countries across Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa. The survey asked librarians their opinions on a range of issues related to mis/disinformation, including its potential impacts, whether and how it should be regulated, and the perceived efficacy of various interventions. In addition, they were asked whether they provided news literacy instruction, if so, how they approached that work, and if not, why not.
Each participating scholar or team reviewed and approved the survey, translated it into their local language, obtained institutional review as necessary, and distributed the survey to the population or some sample of the academic librarians in their country. The survey instrument was maintained in LimeSurvey by the principal investigators from the USA and France. As each participant completed data collection, the country-specific survey was closed and the data delivered for analysis of findings from that country. The PIs maintained the full data set to conduct comparative analysis across countries.
In this session, participating researchers will share the results from their own country, followed by an overview of the comparative cross-country analysis, including those countries that are not represented within the live session. The results of this study provide insight into how academic librarians in a variety of countries think about the challenges of mis/disinformation and the extent to which they are engaging in news literacy instruction to help students develop the skills necessary to identify and avoid mis/disinformation. They may help academic librarians review and analyze existing news literacy instruction programs or facilitate the development of such programs at their institutions. They also provide a baseline overview of some of the differences in how the challenges of mis/disinformation are approached by region.
References
Bateman, J. & Jackson, D. (2024). Countering disinformation effectively: An evidence-based policy guide. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/01/countering-disinformation-effectively-an-evidence-based-policy-guide?
McGrew, S., Smith, M., Breakstone, J., Ortega, T., & Wineburg, S. (2019). Improving university students’ web savvy: An intervention study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(3), 485–500. https://doi-org.ezproxy.simmons.edu/10.1111/bjep.12279
Rozenbeek, J.; Culloty, E., & Suiter, J. (2023). Countering misinformation: Evidence, knowledge gaps, and implications of current interventions. European Psychologist, 23(3), 189-205. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000492
World Economic Forum. (2024). Global risks 2024: Disinformation tops global risks as 2024 environmental risks intensify. https://www.weforum.org/press/2024/01/global-risks-report-2024-press-release/