RIPL (Reference & Instruction Discussion Group)

Please join us for the October RIPL meeting (October 28, at 1:00pm) in which we will discuss Barbara Fister’s recent Atlantic article, The Librarian War Against Q Anon.  This article was recommended by a RIPL member, and it will continue our discussion of the academic library’s role in combating misinformation/disinformation that we began last April.  The Zoom Link for the meeting is on the PALS Events Calendar.

Also, please remember to provide your ideas about topics to discuss for the 21/22 Academic Year in our Survey, and submit your name via the survey if you are willing to serve as a RIPL co-chair.  Your suggestions are very helpful as we plan topics from month-to-month.

October 28, RIPL Agenda

Open Forum:  Are you dealing with a problem you want to bring before the group to find solutions?  Do you have a burning question you want to ask the group? Do you have a success you’d like to share?  What about a frustration you want to vent about?  Open Forum is the time to do so!  All topics of conversation are welcome.

Article Discussion: The Librarian War Against Q Anon by Barbara Fister

1. As Fister notes in the article, too often “information literacy has no specific place in the curriculum. It’s everywhere, and nowhere. It’s everyone’s job, but nobody’s responsibility.”  To what degree is this reflected on your campus?  Do you think that librarians are seen as “responsible” for information literacy instruction on your campus?   If so, what is the nature of this responsibility and how did you acquire it?  If not, how do you think we can change this, individually and collectively?
2. What do you think Fister means when she says that Q Anon provides its adherents something that is scarce in the classroom, “information agency.”  Do you agree with this critique?  How can we better provide students with “information agency” in the information literacy classroom?
3. To what degree do our current methods of information literacy instruction reflect Fister’s critique that too often our instruction involves, “canned classroom situations [that] don’t necessarily translate to complex realities,” failing to provide students an understanding of how information systems “make choices about which messages to promote and how those choices intersect with political messaging and the social engineering of interest groups?”  To what degree are older instructional methods for evaluating information (e.g. CRAAP, CAAPS, or etc.) implicated in this critique?  Have you used any methods that you think may avoid this critique?
4. How might librarians respond to the modern conspiracy theorist’s seemingly empirical and evidence-based imposition to “Do your own research.”  Does this undercut what we do, or might it be an opportunity?
5. If librarians are in a “post-truth” environment, does our commitment to providing users with whatever type of information they’re requesting change in any way? (e.g., the Library Bill of Rights’ second article:  “Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”).
6. How do you separate personal political/religious views from the equation (if you do) when teaching about fake news, conspiracy theories, etc.?

We hope to see you there,

Adam Bezdicek, Librarian, Hennepin Technical College
Scott Kaihoi, Reference & Instruction Librarian, Bethel University

No recording available