New session—Fake News, Real Concerns: Developing Information Literate Students Workshop

CHICAGO—ALA Publishing eLearning Solutions announces a new session of our popular workshop, Fake News, Real Concerns: Developing Information Literate Students with Donald A. Barclay. This workshop will last 90 minutes and take place at 2:30pm Eastern/1:30 Central/12:30 Mountain/11:30am Pacific on Wednesday, April 11, 2018.

In recent months, the phenomenon of fake news has exploded, leaving librarians and educators asking themselves how they can increase information literacy in a world that has been labeled “post truth” and where the phrase “alternative facts” has become common currency. But is fake news new?

In this workshop, information literacy expert Donald Barclay uses a historical context to argue that while some of what we are seeing is new and unique to the Digital Age, much of it has been around for centuries. This workshop focuses on the challenges of developing information-literate students in an era marked by massive amounts of information, fake news, propaganda, and mistrust of authority. The workshop explores the factors contributing to today’s seeming distrust of authority in general and science in particular as well as discusses the problems with scholarly communication that contribute to that distrust. Barclay provides you with practical tools and techniques that you can use in the classroom to foster learning and develop students who are proactive, vet information for accuracy, and use technology as a resource to increase their information literacy skills. You’ll walk away with strategies and tactics to reach students in spite of all the noise and uncertainty of the current information landscape.

Workshop Outline:

• Introduction: The Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health: How Might It Fare in the Current Information Landscape?
• What’s New, What’s Changed? The History of Propaganda, Information Literacy, and Life in a Post-Authority World
• Only Human: Why Teaching How Information (Including Scholarly Information) Is Created Matters
• Using the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education
• Down the Rabbit Hole: Things that Cause Us to Drop Our Guard
• Pro Tips: Teaching Students How to Vet Information
• Can We Use Technology to Increase Information Literacy?
• Bigger Than Libraries: Convincing Our Teaching Colleagues That Information Literacy Must Be Incorporated across the Curriculum

About the Instructor

Donald A. Barclay, Deputy University Librarian at the University of California, Merced, has been with UC Merced since 2002. His previous position was Assistant Director for Informatics at the Houston-Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library in Houston, Texas. Since he first became a professional librarian in 1990, he has been concerned with helping students become more information-literate and, especially, helping students become better prepared to evaluate information in an increasingly complex, crowded, and confusing information environment. Barclay is the author of several books and many articles on librarianship, and has spoken on the topic of information literacy at library conferences and in broadcast interviews.

Registration for this ALA Publishing eLearning Solutions Workshop is available on the ALA Store. You can purchase registration at both individual and group rates.

ALA Publishing eLearning Solutions Workshops offer a convenient, hands-on learning experience that will help you and your colleagues make the best decisions for your library. This workshop is licensed for use by staff or users of the purchasing institution or library organization.

ALA Publishing eLearning Solutions (ELS) produces high-quality professional development events and materials for the library profession. ELS events cover modern issues on a wide variety of topics in formats that include live workshops, asynchronous eCourses, and print publications. We help ensure that today’s library employees have access to the professional development opportunities they need, whether they are brushing up on the basics or expanding their horizons with cutting-edge tools. Contact us at elsmarketing@ala.org.

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