Survey
A survey on how you approach information to understand what role librarians play in an academic setting.
There are many approaches to the potential problems of misinformation, from the supposed threats to democracy, to inescapable cognitive errors, effects of technologies on the mind, and so on. Our main question was: what role can librarians play to assist students and faculty? Reviewing the literature, from academic journals, books, websites, to opinion pieces, we narrowed down our focus to a few issues that seem to be of particular importance in the college setting. Additionally, we referred to the Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education1, which are: 1) core concepts on information, research, and scholarship that apply to any discipline and can be used by faculty and librarians to come up with lessons, and 2) knowledge practices, which address learning.
1) Cognition: are students aware of cognitive biases?; Do they have strategies to evaluate information?; Are students aware that what they know changes?; Do they keep an open mind and pursue new information?
2) Teaching: How does misinformation affect teaching?; Do you have to modify your teaching to address misinformation or misperceptions, and if so, how?; What role does ambiguity (keeping two opposing thoughts in mind, for example) have on student learning and teaching?; What skills do students need to overcome misperceptions or misinformation?;
3) Information literacy skills: How can librarians assist students and faculty?; Do gaps exist in faculty teaching which librarians can supplement or fill?;
With these questions in mid, we simplified the survey to keep it short and encourage participation. Participants remain anonymous.
The questions are open-ended and not multiple choice.
Sources:
1. ACRL. 2019. Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education [Website]:
Source: http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework#value
**Survey has been added for illustration purposes only. Please do not submit the survey.**
