Ways to navigate and mitigate against mis and disinformation

Some new interesting qualitative research from Ofcom (the UK's communications and media watchdog) about dis- and mis-information, published on Tuesday. The report is called Co-creating ways to navigate and mitigate against mis and disinformation (by Samantha Outhwaite, Imogen Cox and Jo Bolton).
It is the result of
- 25 In-depth interviews, some being people who previously held a minority view, or been susceptible previously to mis/disinformation and some from the wider population. This was investigating their information habits and views about dis/mis information.
One thing that was highlighted was that young people thought older people were vulnerable to misinformation, older people thought younger people were vulnerable, and those in the middle thought both older and younger people needed help. So the message there seems to be - stop being ageist and realise that everyone needs help, including you (me)?
- 6 workshops drawing on a varied population of participants (details in the report). They were given 4 different people profiles, and the workshop was for participants to discuss how each of the 4 people could be supported to become more critical or confident, get out of their filter bubble etc. The results are presented in the report.
The blog summarising some results and with links to this report and related Ofcom reports is here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/media-use-and-attitudes/media-literacy/why-all-of-us-need-to-talk-about-mis-and-dis-information
The pdf of the report is here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/mis-and-disinformation/co-creating-ways-to-navigate-and-mitigate-against-mis-and-disinformation_verian-report.pdfPhoto by Sheila Webber: apple blossom on my tree, April 2025: there are now small green baby apples

Article: Psychological booster shots targeting memory increase long-term resistance against misinformation

An open access article:
Maertens, R., Roozenbeek, J., Simons, J.S. et al. (2025). Psychological booster shots targeting memory increase long-term resistance against misinformation. Nature Communications, 16, Article 2062. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57205-x " We [...] report five pre-registered longitudinal experiments (Ntotal = 11,759) that investigate the effectiveness of psychological inoculation interventions over time as well as their underlying mechanisms. We find that text-based and video-based inoculation interventions can remain effective for one month—whereas game-based interventions appear to decay more rapidly—and that memory-enhancing booster interventions can enhance the diminishing effects of counter-misinformation interventions."
I have only skimmed this, but the boosters were short reminders of the original messages - they found that "threat"-focused boosters were not so effective. Also, it seems like having specific problems/content to engage with was helpful in prolonging retention.
Photo by Sheila Webber: beautiful yellow, scented azalea, May 2025

Bibliothèques et esprit critique

The Association des Bibliothécaires de France annual congress focuses on Bibliothèques et esprit critique (Libraries and Critical Thinking), including many aspects of public engagement to develop critical thinking, including gamification and play, more philosophical approaches, reflection on the (critical) role of the librarian. It is held 11 - 13 June 2025 in Montreuil, France (in French, obviously). I wish my French was good enough to participate! It's just good enough for me to see that there are lots of sessions relevant to information literacy and, I think, critical librarianship.
Go to https://www.abf.asso.fr/pages/congres.php

Webinar: AI in Education: Challenges, Opportunities and the Role of Libraries

A priced webinar AI in Education: Challenges, Opportunities and the Role of Libraries is on 14 June 9.30-11.30 BST (UK time). Costs are £25 for CILIP members and £35 for non-members.
Firstly, Renate Samson (Special Projects Lead at the Ada Lovelace Institute) presents findings from the report A Learning Curve? A Landscape Review of AI and Education in the UK. Secondly, Sarah Pavey leads a "practical, interactive session on the use of AI in libraries, offering plenty of ideas and resources for attendees to take away."
For registration go to https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1959280&group=
Photo by Sheila Webber: Hawthorn flowers, May 2025

Information Matters in Canada

A special issue of open-access Information Matters has numerous short articles focused on Canadian perspectives on Information Science. It includes:
- Stepping Up to BAT: Inspiration for a Research Process Model by Valerie Nesset
- Health Information Without Borders: The Struggles and Strategies of Older Chinese Adults in Canada by Xiaoqian Zhang, Yi Wan
- Information in Times of Crisis: Learning Together by Lisa Nathan, Luanne Sinnamon, Rachael Huegerich
- Information Literacy Instruction in Canadian Libraries by Heidi Julien
Go to https://informationmatters.org/si-canadian-perspective/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Vancover, Canada, May 2024

A Guide to Publishing Open Access

From Lancaster University Library, UK, a A Guide to Publishing Open Access Monographs, Books, Book Chapters and Long-form Outputs. As well as being a useful guide for you, or those you work with, it has a lot of useful links to other resources and examples. https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/articulate/OA_Books/#/
Photo by Sheila Webber: dandelion flowers and clocks, May 2025

Keeping up with ... zines

The latest in the ACRL "Keeping up with" series is on zines and has the usual format of a couple of pages with some references/links. It looks at academic libraries & zines and student success & zines.
Go to https://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/zines
Photo: Barnard Library Zine Collection. (2014, March 30). Zine Workshop - Making Zines. https://flic.kr/p/mzbfMa CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Webinar: Celebrating 30 Years of Information Research

Following on from announcing the latest issue of open access journal Information Research, there is a free webinar on 10 June 2025 at 13.00 BST (UK time)  Celebrating 30 Years of Information Research
"This event will include a keynote address by Professor Tom Wilson about his perspective about his role as an early innovator in scholarly publication, and his research generally. In addition, we will have a round table discussion about the papers in this issue, covering Professor Tom Wilson’s contributions to the field of information science, and 30 years of our unique journal, Information Research.
Registration closes on 4 June - go to https://www.hb.se/en/the-swedish-school-of-library-and-information-science-sslis/about-the-swedish-school-of-library-and-information-science/news-and-events/events1/webinar-celebrating-30-years-of-information-research/Photo by Sheila Webber: blossom and tree, April 2025

30 years of Information Research

The open access journal Information Research is celebrating 30 years of high quality publication with a special issue (Vol 30 no. 2, 2025). Information Research has maintained this quality without charging author fees. The issue includes:
- A Reflection on 30 Years of Information Research with Professor Tom Wilson (Crystal Fulton interviews founder and researcher, Professor Tom Wilson)
- Information Research at 30: its role as a diamond open access journal supporting scholarly communication in library and information science by JungWon Yoon, James E. Andrews, EunKyung Chung
- An examination of Wilson’s Concept of Information Need: implications by Charles Cole
- Expanding Wilson’s information behaviour model using social cognitive theory: A case study by Peymon Montazeri
- 30 years of Information Research papers citing Professor Tom D. Wilson: a bibliometric analysis by Tanja Svarre, Birger Larsen
- A 24-Year Bibliometric Analysis of the Journal Information Research: Insights from CiteSpace by Lin Wang, Yiyu Chen
- Searching for Information Research: A bibliometric analysis celebrating 30 years of a pioneering open access journal (1995-2024) by Gustaf Nelhans, Camilla Lindelöw, Pablo Lillo Cea, Marco Scirone, Rui José António , Björn Hammarfelt
- Tom Wilson and Information Research: Pioneers of the diamond open access by Jose-Vicente Rodriguez-Munoz, Francisco Javier Martinez Mendez, Pedro-Manuel Diaz-Ortuno, Gregorio Moya-Martinez, Rosana Lopez-Carreno
- Information Research comes to Borås by Karen Nowé Hedvall et al.
Go to https://publicera.kb.se/ir/issue/view/3787
Photo by Sheila Webber: young chestnut leaves, April 2025

Unpacking the truth

There is a teachers' kit for Unpacking the Truth, an EU/ European Commission publication. It is (to quote the site) "a new educational game designed to tackle disinformation head-on." "this interactive classroom activity empowers students aged 16 to 18 with critical thinking and fact-checking skills. Dive into a fictional social media post and navigate the world of false claims with the guidance of captivating EU-themed characters. Through engaging gameplay, students will learn to use EU resources to debunk disinformation effectively." There are professionally designed materials and a lesson plan.

They include one scenario and some social media posts that aim to lead students to very specific official EU sites. So, to be honest, this could end up being a bit tedious if the students don't pick up on the clues about which sites they are SUPPOSED to visit to combat the disinformation: I think you'd need to decide whether you were going to accept other types of disproof as well.
Also I would say calling the characters "capivating" is a bit of a stretch since all they get each is a short social media post. However, it is worth checking out for the learning design and teaching materials.
Download from https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/b955acdc-2999-11f0-8a44-01aa75ed71a1/

Information Behaviour research review

A useful, scholaly open access review:
Huvila, I & Gorichanaz, T. (2025). Trends in information behavior research, 2016–2022: An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paper. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 76(1), 216–237. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24943
"We reviewed 1270 articles in the field published in the years 2016–2022 and identified seven emerging trends: The CoVID-19 Pandemic, Diversity and Inclusion, Embodiment, Misinformation and Trust, Social Q&A Websites, Collaboration, and Information Creation. The reviewed literature and trends are discussed in relation to their significance for information, earlier review of information behavior research, and the long-debated issue of theory-driven versus atheoretical research in the field."
Photo by Sheila Webber: yellow peonies, April 2025

New articles: AI overviews; ACRL Framework; AI resistance

The latest issue of open-access College & Research Libraries News (Vol 86, No 5, 2025) includes
- Google AI Overviews Are Here to Stay: A Call to Teach AI Literacy by Tessa Withorn
- AI in Academic Libraries, Part Two: Resistance and the Search for Ethical Uses by Ruth Monnier, Matthew Noe, Ella Gibson
- ACCentuating Epistemology in the ACC Frame: A Case for Integrating Personal and Discipline-Specific Epistemologies into the ACRL Framework by Brynne Campbell Rice, Nicole Helregel
Go to https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/issue/view/1677/showToc
Photo by Sheila Webber: Hellebores (I think) at Sheffield Botanics, May 2025

Knowledge in Crisis conference on Misinformation and Disinformation

If you read this today (15th May) there is time to register to follow online the Knowledge in Crisis conference on Misinformation and Disinformation, 19-20 May 2025 (hosted by Central European University in Vienna, Austria: it's mainly an in-person conference but they are streaming it). In fact it looks like you can still register today in-person, but that's probably not an option iunless you happen to live in Vienna. Note that it will be in Central European Time.
Go to https://philevents.org/event/show/135437
Photo by Sheila Webber: coffee and cake in Cardiff, April 2025

Media Literacy research

There is a new batch of research studies from Ofcom, the United Kingdom's communications watchdog that also has responsibility for Media Literacy. These are high quality quantative and qualitative research reports that are published annually. The participants are all UK residents.
- Adults media literacy research (quantative data on use of digital media, there is a dashboard that you can use) https://www.ofcom.org.uk/media-use-and-attitudes/media-habits-adults/adults-media-use-and-attitudes
- Adults Media Lives (qualitative study: they interview "a panel of 20 people who represent a broad cross-section of the UK population" most of whom have been participating in this annual study for 15 years) https://www.ofcom.org.uk/media-use-and-attitudes/media-habits-adults/media-lives
- Children's media literacy research (children = below 18 years: quantative data on use of digital media, there is a dashboard that you can use) https://www.ofcom.org.uk/media-use-and-attitudes/media-habits-children/children-and-parents-media-use-and-attitudes-report-2025
- Children's Media Lives (qualitative study: started in 2014 "a longitudinal study tracking the media behaviours, experiences and attitudes of a group of children aged between eight and 17, from all over the UK and with a variety of backgrounds.) One snippet about the type of media they consume "Children's feeds were dominated by short, loud, fastpaced and contextless videos." https://www.ofcom.org.uk/media-use-and-attitudes/media-habits-children/childrens-media-lives
Photo by Sheila Webber: crab apple blossom, April 2025