This tag was created by Curtis Fletcher. The last update was by Linda Huynh.
Program Goal - Understand the Role of Current/Emerging Technologies and Infrastructure
Issues in LIS: Promoting Media Literacy in Public Libraries [and Dismantling Misinformation]
In LIM 500 Fundamentals of Library and Information Science, I wrote a research paper describing a current technological trend impacting library services and the different opinions on how libraries should address it through library services. To specify, it was the prevailing rise of misinformation on various social media platforms, challenging the role of public libraries as information seekers and providers. In the paper, I present research-based suggestions on how to remedy the impacts of misinformation with new methods differentiating from traditional methods such as LibGuides posted on the institutional website and librarians hoping someone might find it. Innovative strategies that libraries could practice include sharing LibGuides through Discord (an instant messaging application). Others are librarians collaborating with community media centers in developing media literacy curricula and programs, disseminating misinformation by expanding patron access to media tools so they can understand media creation processes, and creating a culture of metaliterate learners (critical thinkers of fake news content). In writing this paper, I also learned about the psychological motivation behind why people fall prey to misinformation – when it reinforces that person’s negative emotions about the world and furthers their biases (Young et al., 2021). When I become a librarian and come across a misinformed patron, I will know to ask why they deeply believe in the misinformation. Investigating their motivation on why they fully support fake news will give me a better chance of encouraging the patron to consider more reliable news sources.
Virtual Reality Library Program Grant Proposal
In GSBA 502 Management Communications for Leaders, my team and I wrote about integrating a technological trend – virtual reality- into a library program proposal to deliver an expanded youth and family-friendly information-learning service. Learning through virtual reality has already been adapted in other libraries and has shown promise in increasing knowledge. According to ALA (2017), “Brendan Iribe, one of the founders of Oculus, notes the potential for scanned digital collections where users ‘could see those objects and you could look around and you could see it so well and so clearly, and it would track so perfectly that your brain would believe it was really right in front of you…” (para 12). The goal of the proposal was for La Jolla’s Athenaeum Music and Art Library to modernize and increase the access and interest of the library’s music collections with wider audiences such as youths and families. The Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Union Bank Foundation will fund the renovation of a library section with a music-themed virtual reality exhibit and community room. The National Endowment of Humanities’ Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant will help sustain staff and programming. Additionally, the proposal outlines the problem, program design strategies, budget, intended outcomes, funding partners, and community evaluation strategy. Therefore, this team proposal illustrates the understanding of this program goal.
Conclusion
Adapting emerging technology into library services will help LIS professionals transcend library services and sustain patron interests in receiving information from the library. However, LIS professionals should be critical of how technology works and curate its use to promote only factual information. In my LIS journey, I will keep these lessons in mind as I learn about emerging technologies that have the potential to enrich community learning.
References
American Library Association (June 16, 2017). Virtual reality. Library of the Future. https://www.ala.org/tools/future/trends/virtualreality
Ramono, R. (October 25, 2023). Library and information science: Continuously evolving. Library Journal. https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/library-and-information-science-continuously-evolving-lj231025
Young, J. C., Boyd, B., Yefimova, K., Wedlake, S., Coward, C., & Hapel, R. (2021). The role of libraries in misinformation programming: A research agenda. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 53(4), 539-550. https://doi.org/10.1177/096100062096665
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