Public Librarians as Digital Literacy and Fact-Checking Promoters: Library And Information Science Experts’ Perspective
Aemaebasir, Zahra (2022)
2022
Master's Programme in Digital Literacy Education
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2022-06-10
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202205305357
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202205305357
Tiivistelmä
Emerging of the concept ‘information disorder’ in the Council of Europe’s report in 2017 implies the importance of harmful information and their potential damage to societies and the sustainability of their democracy. Hence, digital literacy and fact-checking as possible solutions have been discussed and defined. The skills can help the citizens in order to consume information and act in the society in a safer approach. Public libraries are safe and trusted spaces for educating citizens on these concepts and providing them with credible information.
This study was shaped and implemented with the purpose of understanding Finnish Library and Information Science (LIS) experts’ perception of public librarians as promoters of digital literacy and fact-checking. For answering the questions of the study, qualitative research approach was implemented and ten LIS experts from four universities across Finland were interviewed via semi structured interviews. The collected data were transcribed and analysed thematically.
The findings of the study revealed that LIS experts believe digital literacy and fact-checking as information seeking behaviour concepts are different aspects of information literacy concept which is the most dominant concept in basic LIS studies. They confirmed the important role of public librarians in providing digital literacy and fact-checking education, mediation, and services for society members and believed that pedagogical, communicational, digital literacy, and information literacy skills are crucial for fulfilling their roles. Finally, findings showed that LIS programmes as basic public librarians higher education trainings have embedded digital literacy and fact-checking education while the concepts are not clearly formed while the most needed pedagogical skills are missing from the information studies compulsory courses.
This study was shaped and implemented with the purpose of understanding Finnish Library and Information Science (LIS) experts’ perception of public librarians as promoters of digital literacy and fact-checking. For answering the questions of the study, qualitative research approach was implemented and ten LIS experts from four universities across Finland were interviewed via semi structured interviews. The collected data were transcribed and analysed thematically.
The findings of the study revealed that LIS experts believe digital literacy and fact-checking as information seeking behaviour concepts are different aspects of information literacy concept which is the most dominant concept in basic LIS studies. They confirmed the important role of public librarians in providing digital literacy and fact-checking education, mediation, and services for society members and believed that pedagogical, communicational, digital literacy, and information literacy skills are crucial for fulfilling their roles. Finally, findings showed that LIS programmes as basic public librarians higher education trainings have embedded digital literacy and fact-checking education while the concepts are not clearly formed while the most needed pedagogical skills are missing from the information studies compulsory courses.