A New Approach to Info Lit: “These Skills Aren’t Just Academic”

Though misinformation has long been part of our news and media, the 2016 election galvanized academics, librarians, and researchers into combating the issue with renewed force. Their methods have grown into a multidisciplinary approach that interweaves media literacy, social sciences, and data science through one-shots, workshops, and interactive lesson plans.

Roz Tedford at Wake Forest University, Dan Chibnall at Drake University, and Sarah Morris at Emory University Libraries all saw the need to build information literacy classes that would serve students long after graduation. Tedford states: “It’s almost less critical in terms of their academic research for the four years that they’re at college, and more critical of educating them to be good citizens for the rest of their lives.”

In the second episode of this four-part series, Tedford, Chibnall, and Morris discuss how the 2016 election influenced their information literacy curricula, as well as how their courses have developed in the ensuing years. Mila Steele, Senior Publisher of Social Sciences at SAGE Publishing, joins the conversation to discuss how publishers can develop content that supports faculty and librarians’ digital literacy goals.