Misinformation is a global pandemic, fueled by the sophistication of the human intellect, algorithmic systems among other factors. Enhanced by the proliferation of algorithms optimized for engagement and reactions on social media, misinformation has ignited or hampered sociopolitical participation and movements and dissuaded citizens from being vaccinated, for example. Observations have shown that efforts to contain misinformation have largely been tech-based, with ubiquitous impressions that it can be coded into extinction and/or fact-checked with automated tools. This paper, therefore, contributes to the debate that there are mechanisms that should be explored beyond algorithms and fact-checking in the fight against misinformation. The paper adopted an integrative literature review approach, using purposive selection of 22 full texts from Google Scholar, JStor and other sources as captured in Table 1. The PRISMA flow diagram was used to show the search process. Findings from the literature reviewed showed that algorithms and fact-checking have made significant impacts in identifying, verifying and correcting misinformation. Nonetheless, they have drawbacks that should be complemented with information literacy programs/services and information ethics. The study suggests that information literacy and information ethics be made integral parts of educational modules and awareness should be increased about non-algorithmic approaches to solving misinformation problems in order to proactively build a more informed public.
{"title":"Looking beyond the impressions of algorithms and fact-checking in fighting online misinformation: A literature review","authors":"Abdurrahman Onifade","doi":"10.3233/efi-211568","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/efi-211568","url":null,"abstract":"Misinformation is a global pandemic, fueled by the sophistication of the human intellect, algorithmic systems among other factors. Enhanced by the proliferation of algorithms optimized for engagement and reactions on social media, misinformation has ignited or hampered sociopolitical participation and movements and dissuaded citizens from being vaccinated, for example. Observations have shown that efforts to contain misinformation have largely been tech-based, with ubiquitous impressions that it can be coded into extinction and/or fact-checked with automated tools. This paper, therefore, contributes to the debate that there are mechanisms that should be explored beyond algorithms and fact-checking in the fight against misinformation. The paper adopted an integrative literature review approach, using purposive selection of 22 full texts from Google Scholar, JStor and other sources as captured in Table 1. The PRISMA flow diagram was used to show the search process. Findings from the literature reviewed showed that algorithms and fact-checking have made significant impacts in identifying, verifying and correcting misinformation. Nonetheless, they have drawbacks that should be complemented with information literacy programs/services and information ethics. The study suggests that information literacy and information ethics be made integral parts of educational modules and awareness should be increased about non-algorithmic approaches to solving misinformation problems in order to proactively build a more informed public.","PeriodicalId":84661,"journal":{"name":"Environmental education and information","volume":"59 1","pages":"33-49"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75625824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
An extended book review of Introduction to Intersectional Qualitative Research (2022) by Jennifer Esposito and Venus Evans-Winters (SAGE Publications Inc), which considers its relevance and application to CRT-based intellectual activism in Library and Information Studies.
{"title":"Intersectional tools for building inclusive houses of knowledge: Review of introduction to intersectional qualitative research (Esposito and Evans-Winters, 2022)","authors":"Anthony W. Dunbar, A. Corble","doi":"10.3233/efi-220061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/efi-220061","url":null,"abstract":"An extended book review of Introduction to Intersectional Qualitative Research (2022) by Jennifer Esposito and Venus Evans-Winters (SAGE Publications Inc), which considers its relevance and application to CRT-based intellectual activism in Library and Information Studies.","PeriodicalId":84661,"journal":{"name":"Environmental education and information","volume":"150 1","pages":"427-435"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77390336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Traffic jams on the information superhighway: The intersectional internet as a roadmap for progressive research","authors":"Elizabeth Grauel","doi":"10.3233/efi-220060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/efi-220060","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":84661,"journal":{"name":"Environmental education and information","volume":"28 1","pages":"423-426"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83594336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anthony W. Dunbar, A. Corble, N. Howard, S. Birch, Vanessa R Centeno, Amanda DeSimone Shabrack
This special issue launches from the challenges of White supremacy within Library and Information Studies (LIS) and the demonizing of Critical Race Theory (CRT) within American and British societies. To address these challenges through a commitment to practice as well as theory, a special editorial team for this publication was formed to tackle head on how racialised knowledge justice issues can also manifest in scholarly publishing spheres. This team is the Critical Race Theory collective (CRTc): an international community of scholars, practitioners and activists working at the intersections of race, libraries, archives, information and education. This extended introduction is split into two parts that describe respectively the process and the product of the special issue. Part One charts the national contexts of CRTc praxis in the US and the UK, and outlines the community-building, restorative and pedagogical principles and lessons that have (in)formed the CRTc editorial and developmental process. Part Two outlines the papers that constitute the product of the special issue: contributions from American and British authors from interdisciplinary backgrounds who apply CRT frameworks to LIS discourse and practice Together, these two parts demonstrate the scholar-activist underpinnings of CRTc to address, challenge, resist, interrupt, and ideally reverse the pushback against all forms of culturally conscious justice, especially racial justice.
{"title":"Cultivating collective praxis for scholarly transformation and racial justice: The Critical Race Theory collective's introduction to the special issue","authors":"Anthony W. Dunbar, A. Corble, N. Howard, S. Birch, Vanessa R Centeno, Amanda DeSimone Shabrack","doi":"10.3233/efi-220059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/efi-220059","url":null,"abstract":"This special issue launches from the challenges of White supremacy within Library and Information Studies (LIS) and the demonizing of Critical Race Theory (CRT) within American and British societies. To address these challenges through a commitment to practice as well as theory, a special editorial team for this publication was formed to tackle head on how racialised knowledge justice issues can also manifest in scholarly publishing spheres. This team is the Critical Race Theory collective (CRTc): an international community of scholars, practitioners and activists working at the intersections of race, libraries, archives, information and education. This extended introduction is split into two parts that describe respectively the process and the product of the special issue. Part One charts the national contexts of CRTc praxis in the US and the UK, and outlines the community-building, restorative and pedagogical principles and lessons that have (in)formed the CRTc editorial and developmental process. Part Two outlines the papers that constitute the product of the special issue: contributions from American and British authors from interdisciplinary backgrounds who apply CRT frameworks to LIS discourse and practice Together, these two parts demonstrate the scholar-activist underpinnings of CRTc to address, challenge, resist, interrupt, and ideally reverse the pushback against all forms of culturally conscious justice, especially racial justice.","PeriodicalId":84661,"journal":{"name":"Environmental education and information","volume":"41 1","pages":"275-287"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76130560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mantra Roy, Kate E. Steffens, Peggy J. Cabrera, Jill Strykowski, Anamika Megwalu
Through various efforts, the staff and faculty of San José State University’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library (King Library) are working towards creating more equitable and inclusive collections. Examining the library’s collecting practices and collections by and about African Americans, this article presents the ongoing work of a working group that was formed in 2020 in response to an Anti-Racism Action Plan developed in the library. By using some of the tenets of the CRT framework such as intersectionality, counter storytelling, and deconstructing colorblindness and white supremacy, the authors discuss the steps that are being taken to revise, review, and revisit the King Library’s collecting practices in relation to the history of SJSU’s African American Studies program, The Africana Center, and other relevant community history.
{"title":"CRT in praxis: Library and archival collections at San José State University","authors":"Mantra Roy, Kate E. Steffens, Peggy J. Cabrera, Jill Strykowski, Anamika Megwalu","doi":"10.3233/efi-220054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/efi-220054","url":null,"abstract":"Through various efforts, the staff and faculty of San José State University’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library (King Library) are working towards creating more equitable and inclusive collections. Examining the library’s collecting practices and collections by and about African Americans, this article presents the ongoing work of a working group that was formed in 2020 in response to an Anti-Racism Action Plan developed in the library. By using some of the tenets of the CRT framework such as intersectionality, counter storytelling, and deconstructing colorblindness and white supremacy, the authors discuss the steps that are being taken to revise, review, and revisit the King Library’s collecting practices in relation to the history of SJSU’s African American Studies program, The Africana Center, and other relevant community history.","PeriodicalId":84661,"journal":{"name":"Environmental education and information","volume":"29 1","pages":"347-366"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74608904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
LINQ: The Librarians’ Inquiry Forum is a practitioner inquiry model for public librarian professional development whose theoretical foundations are based in New Literacy Studies, Critical Race Theory and social epistemology. This research explains the development of the LINQ methodology and design across four public librarian communities of practices situated in geoculturally-specific locations. Data from the librarian inquiry groups collaboratively researching their professional practice is illustrated to convey how the LINQ model’s critical race theory lens is applied to expose geocultural barriers endemic in the library and information science (LIS) field. One dataset is analyzed and discussed to substantiate a common thread through the four inquiry groups over time: that when public librarians work collectively to ask critical questions about their practice, such questions learned, serve to center local cultural values that are geographically specific and unique, redefining what it means to be a public librarian in geoculturally specific contexts.
{"title":"Questions learned: Considering geocultural context within public librarian professional development","authors":"Vanessa Irvin","doi":"10.3233/efi-220050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/efi-220050","url":null,"abstract":"LINQ: The Librarians’ Inquiry Forum is a practitioner inquiry model for public librarian professional development whose theoretical foundations are based in New Literacy Studies, Critical Race Theory and social epistemology. This research explains the development of the LINQ methodology and design across four public librarian communities of practices situated in geoculturally-specific locations. Data from the librarian inquiry groups collaboratively researching their professional practice is illustrated to convey how the LINQ model’s critical race theory lens is applied to expose geocultural barriers endemic in the library and information science (LIS) field. One dataset is analyzed and discussed to substantiate a common thread through the four inquiry groups over time: that when public librarians work collectively to ask critical questions about their practice, such questions learned, serve to center local cultural values that are geographically specific and unique, redefining what it means to be a public librarian in geoculturally specific contexts.","PeriodicalId":84661,"journal":{"name":"Environmental education and information","volume":"124 1","pages":"389-412"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87800259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Grounded in my perspective as a Deaf, Black, and Trans librarian who has worked in many Library and Information Science (LIS) roles, I argue in this paper that information scientists and professionals could close the gap in representation and information access by applying a knowledge of intersectionality to our work. I make the case for this by presenting examples of three Black historical “hidden figures” who shaped life as we know it in the USA, highlighting the erased dimensions of their lives as disabled people. Despite this geographical setting, these intersectional counter stories are relevant to addressing local areas of inequity in information access and resources worldwide. This community commentary paper addresses a serious gap in scholarship and practice around the erasure of disability from both Black History and LIS theory and practice, and follows in the Critical Race Theory (CRT) traditions of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991) and counter-storytelling (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002) to bridge this gulf. Applying CRT and related concepts to LIS work prepares the ground for immediate and future needs for equitable access to resources, by acknowledging those who may be hindered by their racial/ableist/queerphobic biases and the way they may unknowingly play into systemic oppression, just by their participation. This will maintain relevance and contribute to the creation of equity for Black and brown marginalized LIS staff and community members going forward. Having additional systemic support for our most marginalized staff members would create ripple effects in information access and cultural competency in the way we are able to see barriers and opportunities, and the field as a whole would benefit.
{"title":"CRT, information, and disability: An intersectional commentary","authors":"Mondrea (Mondo) Vaden","doi":"10.3233/efi-220055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/efi-220055","url":null,"abstract":"Grounded in my perspective as a Deaf, Black, and Trans librarian who has worked in many Library and Information Science (LIS) roles, I argue in this paper that information scientists and professionals could close the gap in representation and information access by applying a knowledge of intersectionality to our work. I make the case for this by presenting examples of three Black historical “hidden figures” who shaped life as we know it in the USA, highlighting the erased dimensions of their lives as disabled people. Despite this geographical setting, these intersectional counter stories are relevant to addressing local areas of inequity in information access and resources worldwide. This community commentary paper addresses a serious gap in scholarship and practice around the erasure of disability from both Black History and LIS theory and practice, and follows in the Critical Race Theory (CRT) traditions of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991) and counter-storytelling (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002) to bridge this gulf. Applying CRT and related concepts to LIS work prepares the ground for immediate and future needs for equitable access to resources, by acknowledging those who may be hindered by their racial/ableist/queerphobic biases and the way they may unknowingly play into systemic oppression, just by their participation. This will maintain relevance and contribute to the creation of equity for Black and brown marginalized LIS staff and community members going forward. Having additional systemic support for our most marginalized staff members would create ripple effects in information access and cultural competency in the way we are able to see barriers and opportunities, and the field as a whole would benefit.","PeriodicalId":84661,"journal":{"name":"Environmental education and information","volume":"58 1","pages":"339-346"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83902425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
COVID-19 illustrated health disparities experienced by racially minoritised people, with heightened risks faced by Black and South Asian communities lending the issue transparency and urgency. Despite efforts to decolonise medical education, deficits in racial representation in research and resources remain. This study investigates the potential and imperatives for healthcare information services to contribute to health equity through their collections. The literature analysis explores collection management, decolonisation, social justice in librarianship, and Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a framework for change in information contexts. A survey of UK National Health Service (NHS) librarians provides a snapshot of awareness of health information inequity. Semi-structured interviews explore information professionals’ experiences of anti-racism in the system. The findings indicate strong engagement with the need for equitable resources but highlight some barriers to success. Opportunities identified include potential for addressing systemic racism in collection policy, capability of information services to influence, or engage in, authorship and publishing to address gaps, and the need for race-based data standards in healthcare. Synthesis of the findings through a framework of CRT tenets illustrates the relevance and utility of CRT as a tool for pursuit of equity in information practice, scholarship, and education.
{"title":"Health information equity: Rebalancing healthcare collections for racial diversity in UK public service contexts","authors":"Grace O’Driscoll, D. Bawden","doi":"10.3233/efi-220051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/efi-220051","url":null,"abstract":"COVID-19 illustrated health disparities experienced by racially minoritised people, with heightened risks faced by Black and South Asian communities lending the issue transparency and urgency. Despite efforts to decolonise medical education, deficits in racial representation in research and resources remain. This study investigates the potential and imperatives for healthcare information services to contribute to health equity through their collections. The literature analysis explores collection management, decolonisation, social justice in librarianship, and Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a framework for change in information contexts. A survey of UK National Health Service (NHS) librarians provides a snapshot of awareness of health information inequity. Semi-structured interviews explore information professionals’ experiences of anti-racism in the system. The findings indicate strong engagement with the need for equitable resources but highlight some barriers to success. Opportunities identified include potential for addressing systemic racism in collection policy, capability of information services to influence, or engage in, authorship and publishing to address gaps, and the need for race-based data standards in healthcare. Synthesis of the findings through a framework of CRT tenets illustrates the relevance and utility of CRT as a tool for pursuit of equity in information practice, scholarship, and education.","PeriodicalId":84661,"journal":{"name":"Environmental education and information","volume":"61 1","pages":"315-336"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78694219","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In 2019 The King’s Fund Library Service in the UK created a positive action graduate traineeship aimed at correcting the lack of ethnic diversity within the library and information profession in the United Kingdom. This commentary, anchored in the critical race theory tenet of counter-narrative, examines the establishment of this post through the lens of critical race theory, providing insight into how white supremacy presents itself in the implementation of anti-racist recruitment practices.
{"title":"The 3%: Positive action for positive change","authors":"H. Nguyen","doi":"10.3233/efi-220053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/efi-220053","url":null,"abstract":"In 2019 The King’s Fund Library Service in the UK created a positive action graduate traineeship aimed at correcting the lack of ethnic diversity within the library and information profession in the United Kingdom. This commentary, anchored in the critical race theory tenet of counter-narrative, examines the establishment of this post through the lens of critical race theory, providing insight into how white supremacy presents itself in the implementation of anti-racist recruitment practices.","PeriodicalId":84661,"journal":{"name":"Environmental education and information","volume":"53 1","pages":"309-314"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80157632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ana Ndumu, Shaundra Walker, Shauntee Burns-Simpson, Nichelle M. Hayes, Tiffany Mack
According to LIS research, the U.S. library and information science field reflects more than 135 years of white racialized, monocultural pedagogy. Critical race theory helps us understand why Blacks remain on the margins of the LIS profession. Armed with critical racial knowledge, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association embarked on a three-year project to assert Black culture in a profession that has historically overpowered other ways of knowing. This article chronicles how BCALA leaders gleaned from Black-centered pedagogical traditions, data on Black MLIS students’ needs, and the critical race theory tenet of counterstorytelling to scaffold a national, online Black MLIS student organization that exists autonomously from mainstream U.S. LIS programs.
{"title":"Space, story, and solidarity: Designing a Black MLIS student organization amidst crisis and tumult","authors":"Ana Ndumu, Shaundra Walker, Shauntee Burns-Simpson, Nichelle M. Hayes, Tiffany Mack","doi":"10.3233/efi-220040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/efi-220040","url":null,"abstract":"According to LIS research, the U.S. library and information science field reflects more than 135 years of white racialized, monocultural pedagogy. Critical race theory helps us understand why Blacks remain on the margins of the LIS profession. Armed with critical racial knowledge, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association embarked on a three-year project to assert Black culture in a profession that has historically overpowered other ways of knowing. This article chronicles how BCALA leaders gleaned from Black-centered pedagogical traditions, data on Black MLIS students’ needs, and the critical race theory tenet of counterstorytelling to scaffold a national, online Black MLIS student organization that exists autonomously from mainstream U.S. LIS programs.","PeriodicalId":84661,"journal":{"name":"Environmental education and information","volume":"171 1","pages":"367-388"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85833084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}