Alfamed

Alfamed is a network of Hispanic researchers in South America and Europe, focused on media literacy "The main concern of the network is creating collaborative research related to communication and education. Specifically, media literacy of citizenship; education & media literacy" with a cross disciplinary perspective. The website at https://www.redalfamed.org/copia-de-inicio has numerous Spanish-language resources (and also Portuguese, but more Spanish), including, for example, the substantial proceedings of their 2024 conference

Mapping of media and information literacy initiatives in Ibero-America - 2023

Available in Spanish and English, Mapping of media and information literacy initiatives in Ibero-America - 2023 (by the Plataforma de Reguladores del Sector Audiovisual de Iberoamérica and published by UNESCO) is just published. It includes Mapping of MIL initiatives in Ibero-Americ; Perspectives on the adaptability of MIL promotion and dissemination practices in Ibero-America; and Recommendations for the Promotion and Dissemination of MIL in Ibero-America
Espanol: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000390030
English: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000390030_eng

New articles: Intellectual Freedom

Just published, a special issue of the open access IFLA Journal (vol. 48 no. 3) which focuses on Intellectual Freedom. It includes:
- A declaration for all seasons: The IFLA Statement on Libraries and Intellectual Freedom by Alex Byrne
- Intellectual freedom and alternative priorities in library and information science research: A longitudinal study by Gabriel J Gardner
- Navigating complex authorities: Intellectual freedom, information literacy and truth in pandemic STEM information by Kate Mercer, Kari D Weaver and Khrystine Waked ("This article presents an illustrative case study, using the example of scientific information around the safety and efficacy of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to demonstrate how modern scientific information sharing is shaped by the ways in which misinformation and fake news spread.")
- Transcribing public libraries as revitalized ethical spaces by Alison Frayne
- Automating intellectual freedom: Artificial intelligence, bias, and the information landscape by Catherine Smith
- Analysis of professional secrecy in Ibero-America: Ethical and legal perspectives by Alonso Estrada-Cuzcano and Karen Lizeth Alfaro-Mendives
- Intellectual freedom: Waving and wavering across three national contexts by Shannon M Oltmann, Toni Samek and Louise Cooke
- Long tail metaphysics: The epistemic crisis and intellectual freedom by Sarah Hartman-Caverly
Download the whole issue at: https://repository.ifla.org/bitstream/123456789/2143/1/ifla-journal-48-3_2022.pdf or https://repository.ifla.org/handle/123456789/2143

 

News Literacy: Fighting Mis/Disinformation at Your Library #WLIC2022

I'm at the World Library and Information Conference in Dublin and will be blogging some of the sessions. The first is: News Literacy: Fighting Mis/Disinformation at Your Library. This was a session organised by Social Science Libraries Section and News Media Section, of the International Federation of Library and Information Associations (IFLA). The moderators were Abby More, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, United States and Ann Okerson, Center for Research Libraries, United States. The session was attended by over 200 people, and when asked whether fake news was a serious issue in our country, I think everyone put up their hand. I'll blog the session in two parts. The following a just notes, and I have linked to the full text papers that give more information.

The first talk was on Training the trainers: A public library - higher education collaboration for Media Literacy education in Ireland, presented by Crystal Fulton, University College Dublin, Ireland and Claire McGuinness, University College Dublin, Ireland. They described a collaboration between academics at the School of Information and Communication Studies (ICS) at University College Dublin (UCD), and Meath County Council Libraries in Ireland, providing media literacy training for public librarians. They managed to get funding from Meta, in the form of a donation, so they could avoid pressures on what they produced. The researchers examined existing initiatives and also surveyed library staff about their needs and preferences for media literacy training, using a participatory action research approach. They then created online training focusing on the topics: Identifying and sharing good media literacy information; our data footprints; Google is not the internet; cyberbullying / hate speech; conspiracy theories. There were recommendations including having training about how to train library users. Their paper is here https://repository.ifla.org/handle/123456789/1952 

The second talk was Fighting Fake News and Disinformation: a scholar experience in Latin America presented by Jonathan Hernández Pérez, Library and Information Research Institute, UNAM, Mexico. He explained that there is an initiative called  Seminar in information & society, started in 2002, which from 2016 worked on the issue of disinformation. In 2017 they launched ethical use of information week, then in 2018 they organised workshops for librarians, and webinars about information on COVID19 in 2020. They have published open access books addressing the same issues e.g. Repositorio IIBI UNAM: La posverdad y las noticias falsas : el uso ético de la información. From these Mexican initiatives they have extended to other South American countries. They noted that there seems to be a disconnect between scholarly work and people’s ideas and experience, which librarians need to address. They in particular called for research into internet sub cultures. The paper is here https://repository.ifla.org/handle/123456789/1969 

The next speaker, Jelena Rajić, Public Library "Radislav Nikčević", Serbia, had been delayed because her flight was cancelled, but had made a virtual presentation on the spot (I think at the airport?) which she had emailed in (since librarians are so resourceful!). Her talk was Genuine librarians as a shield between fake information and library patrons. She started by identifying the role and capabilities of public librarians. To the existing role of providing support to people using the internet, the librarians realised that they needed to help people be aware of what information was fake. They carried out a survey of users and as a result of that decided they needed to organise critical information literacy training. Librarians used exercise, quizzes and so forth, but then the pandemic occurred and this led to new needs. The librarians helped by identifying sites providing false information about COVID19, and other guidance towards reliable COVID19 information. Her paper is here https://repository.ifla.org/handle/123456789/1960

Photo by Sheila Webber

Digital Native News Media: Trends and Challenges

Volume 8 issue 2 of the open access journal Media and Communication was devoted to the theme of Digital Native News Media: Trends and Challenges (by which is meant news media that are "born digital", not media aimed at digital natives, looking particularly at hispanic contexts). The articles include: 

-Information Quality in Latin American Digital Native Media: Analysis Based on Structured Dimensions and Indicators by Claudia Rodríguez-Hidalgo, Diana Rivera-Rogel and Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez 

- Cross-National Similarities and Differences between Legacy and Digital-Born News Media Audiences by Alfonso Vara-Miguel 

- Business Model Innovation in News Media: Fostering New Relationships to Stimulate Support from Readers by Giuliander Carpes da Silva and Gabriela Gruszynski Sanseverino 

- Why Do Digital Native News Media Fail? An Investigation of Failure in the Early Start-Up Phase by Christopher Buschow 

- Behind the Comments Section: The Ethics of Digital Native News Discussions by Orge Castellano Parra, Koldobika Meso Ayerdi and Simón Peña Fernández 

- Media Roles in the Online News Domain: Authorities and Emergent Audience Brokers by Sílvia Majó-Vázquez, Ana S. Cardenal, Oleguer Segarra and Pol Colomer de Simón 

- Between Self-Regulation and Participatory Monitoring: Comparing Digital News Media Accountability Practices in Spain by Pedro-Luis Pérez-Díaz, Rocío Zamora Medina and Enrique Arroyas Langa 

 Go to https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/issue/view/174

Photo by Sheila Webber: crib (the basis of which is a set I was given by an aunt when I was about 7), December 2020

Ibero-America Information Literacy / Alfabetización Informacional en Iberoamérica #alfin

The wiki Alfabetización Informacional en Iberoamérica: estado del arte / Ibero-America Information Literacy: state of the art has been relocated (as the old platform, Wikispaces, has ceased). The wiki includes the Havana declaration in hispanic languages, overviews, and many links to resources relating to specific countries, and is a key resource for the region. http://alfineniberoamerica.wikidot.com/
There is also an open-access book which compiles the main content from the site, at http://eprints.rclis.org/33206/. The graphic is the project logo.

Google-map of information literacy pages on university websites

Thanks to Alejandro Uribe-Tirado for alerting me to the fact that the linked Google-map of Information literacy in university libraries in South America and the rest of the world (it is particularly strong in identifying Hispanic websites) is up to date (with 600 links) and can be found here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?ll=21.724722%2C-49.87793&spn=30.906208%2C92.548828&hl=es&oe=UTF8&msa=0&source=embed&ie=UTF8&mid=1bGIKuxOoP2QHC9eoxtqGLwWyBGE (actually there are a few libraries which are not in universities, but most of them are).

A paper which does some analysis of the Ibero-American information is:
Uribe-Tirado, A. and Pinto, M. (2013). La incorporación de la alfabetización informacional en las bibliotecas universitarias iberoamericanas. Análisis comparativo a partir de la información de sus sitios web. [Integration of information literacy in South American university libraries: comparative analysis based on information on their websites]. Anales de Documentación, 16(2), 1-10. [In Spanish] http://eprints.rclis.org/20803/ English abstract "This article seeks to identify from the information provided by the websites of university libraries in the 22 Ibero-American countries, the possible levels of integration since these libraries are doing for training in information literacy. The results identify that a total of 2136 Ibero-American university libraries; only 171 have information literacy training programs (6.2%). The paper evidences that from the Ibero-American context, information literacy is not yet the full extent you would expect and it is necessary. However, increasingly, there are prestigious universities who are taking on the challenge of this training and therefore, by working collaborative, benchmarking and sharing strategies and learning objects will be a guide for most Ibero-American universities develops this training."

Didáctica básica para la alfabetización informacional

New book in Spanish: Tarango, J. and Mendoza-Guillen, G. (2012) Didáctica básica para la alfabetización informacional [Fundamentals of teaching information literacy]. Alfagrama Editions, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
There are contributuions from a multidisciplinary range of authors. Details at http://bibliotecologia.mercadoshops.com.ar/didactica-basica-para-la-alfabetizacion-informacional_210xJM
Photo by Sheila Webber: Farmers' market, Toronto, December 2012

Havana declaration on IL, and the Iberoamerican wiki

The Declaration of Havana has been published in English. This declaration (already published in Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese) proposes 15 actions for information literacy. Themes include recognising contextual differences and needs, collaboration, inclusion and a life-wide perspective. http://www.ifla.org/node/6964

It is also the 3rd anniversary of the project ALFIN [Information Literacy]/ Ibero-America, with the wiki-repository containing more than 1400 entries from 22 Iberoamerican countries at http://alfiniberoamerica.wikispaces.com/
Thanks to Alejandro Uribe Tirado for keeping me updated with this information.
Photo by Sheila Webber: fallen leaves, October 2012

Alfabetización Informacional en Iberoamérica wiki

This wiki on Information Literacy in South America (an initiative from Alejandro Uribe Tirado) covers articles, books, dissertations, past events, videos, courses etc. from each South American country: the majority of items are in Spanish or Portuguese. Alfabetización Informacional en Iberoamérica: estado del arte http://alfiniberoamerica.wikispaces.com/
Photo by Sheila Webber: White Hart Inn, Lewes, December 2011