Facebook news, we have options for control

What do you think of Facebook’s decision to prioritize posts by friends and family in a user’s feed? Are you concerned, as Audrey Cooper is, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, that this emphasis will make it more difficult for users to be exposed to legitimate news, while biased, “fake news” posts that are shared by friends and family, will be given an advantage in the news feed?

Animal photographs illustrate ‘fake news’

With fake news the subject of enormous concern in education/information communities, I want to highlight a new arrival in Bellview library that broaches the subject with young readers. The April 2017 issue of National Geographic Kids presents outrageous animal photos and asks if they are “real or fake.” It also presents guidelines to help readers separate “real-life headlines" from “phony-baloney stories.” This is a very timely subject, and I think the animal pictures make it especially accessible, something that children can relate to.

Library professionals combat ‘fake news’

According to Julie B. Todaro, American Library Association president, “one of the biggest assignments” facing the library professional is to combat “fake news” and help readers to verify credible authors as well as accuracy and purpose of content.

“We have decades of research data, curricula, best practices, tutorials, and marketing approaches to combat this scourge. But now more than ever we have to step forward on this topic because it’s no longer business as usual.”

Todaro suggests library workers can learn from a powerful shift in language being engaged in by journalists: “Reporters and anchors who used to say that ‘X is speaking today on Y’ now say ‘X is giving his or her impression of Y.’”

Steve Buttry, my journalism mentor, dies at 62

Steve Buttry

My condolences to the family of Steve Buttry, who died Feb. 19 of pancreatic cancer at age 62. I met Steve when I worked in the newsroom of a California newspaper; his employer, Digital First Media (DFM), provided management services for the newspaper’s parent company.

Our newsroom was transitioning to a multi-platform publishing strategy that placed an emphasis on “digital first,” and Steve came to our newsroom during a tour of member newspapers to share resources and strategies, and also to bring back with him any challenges we might face at our stage of implementing.

‘Fake news’: library scholars urge ‘metaliteracy’

Information via Internet. Image created with Bitstrips

Implications for digital-literacy education, more critically important than ever: Citing the role of “fake news” in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, library and information science scholars Thomas P. Mackey and Trudi Jaccobson argue that it isn’t enough to be able to search and retrieve information from the online landscape. They advocate instead for what they term “metaliteracy,” an ability to make sense and critically evaluate this vast amount of information.

Bullying: Arguments promote information literacy

In Matters of Opinion: Bullying (Norwood House Press, 2016), Carla Mooney presents pro and con arguments for three issues connected with bullying:

“Has the Internet Made Bullying Worse?”, “Are Schools Doing Enough to Stop Bullying?” and “Should Bullying Be a Criminal Offense?”

This brief volume encourages students to critically examine arguments, focused around a topic that bears direct relevance to their school-going experience.

Facebook ‘lists’ override algorithm

Cartoon image created with Bitstrips

I’ve been interested for awhile in sharing my thoughts about the Facebook “Echo Chamber,” the tendency for Facebook to more-often display things that readers’ friends “liked” or shared, or posts that are similar to those that the reader has already engaged with.

I want to promote actively shaping what you encounter in your Facebook timeline, instead of simply passively accepting whatever Facebook shows to you.

Real-life example for lesson in information literacy

In my news feed this morning, I encountered a real-life example for a lesson in information literacy, specifically helping students identify possible bias in the way information is presented. I couldn’t resist sharing it, in case library media professionals wanted to use it in a class.

‘Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library’

My exploration of this year’s titles in Oregon Battle of the Books (third- to fifth-grade division) begins with Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library.

Luigi Lemoncello, who made his fortune designing games, has given the town of Alexandriaville, Ohio a new library. Twelve students have been challenged to be first to “escape” during a lock-in at the library before its official opening.

Author Chris Grabenstein presents an array of clues for readers to solve with the characters. The library’s resources — beyond their intrinsic value — advance the students in their quest.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library combines a first-rate, entertaining read with a healthy course of information literacy.I highly recommend it.

Special appreciation to Bellview PTO, which purchased OBOB titles for Bellview Elementary School library

Autism ‘expert’ status: Why so misplaced?

From Shannon Des Roches Rosa, writing at BlogHer.com, here’s a question that really must continually be asked: “Why Do Autism ‘Experts’ Say Such Awful Things?” (Or perhaps the question should be, when these so-called experts speak, why do so many award them credibility?)

‘Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism’

The interested reader could easily fill a bookshelf addressing multiple facets of autism: behavioral therapies, sensory challenges, whether or not to medicate, K-12 educational policies. But this reader would have to buy one book first, and Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism would be an ideal place to start.

Published in 2011 by the Myers-Rosa Foundation, the book is edited by Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Jennifer Byde Myers, Liz Ditz, Emily Willingham and Carol Greenburg.

Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism provides an informative overview from a variety of contributors.

Continuing interest in information literacy

Learning to evaluate websites for credibility has been an ongoing subject for concern, revisited this week in response to an assignment for LIBT 210, School Library/Media Center Operations.

Jackson County Library Services: new website

Image source: Jackson County Library Services

A new website recently went live for Jackson County Library Services, at http://jcls.org/. Developed by iOR Consulting with the Wordpress blogging and website-hosting platform, the site employs a much more hierarchical approach that helps direct viewer attention, instead of confronting a jumble of information all competing to be noticed by the viewer.

‘Open’ verification of information and source

How do we define verification in 2014? For PBS MediaShift, Julie Posetti writes thoughtful commentary about journalists’ use of social media to verify content and source.

Steve Buttry to teach at LSU

Steve Buttry

Steve Buttry, my mentor in social media, fact checking and media ethics, announced this week that he will teach full-time at the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication.

Earlier this year, Buttry became a free agent, following layoffs by Digital First Media (DFM).

Buttry’s announcement this week was welcome, awesome, news to this former DFM journalist. His full-time role of educator seems like a really good fit.

LinkedIn ‘Influencer’ tracks libraries’ modern twist

Cartoon image created with Bitstrips and added July 13, 2016

LinkedIn “Influencer” Karen Cator, CEO at Digital Promise, argues that people who don’t support public libraries “have overlooked the role public libraries play in our communities, the lives of individuals and our society — a role they have always played, now with a modern twist.” Cator tracks usage statistics documented by the American Library Association. To quiet places for reading and study, add use of computers, technology classes, and high-speed Internet access among services provided by libraries.

Graphic nonfiction: Common Core resource

On a library internship discussion board, a classmate responded to my comment about sharing an appreciation for graphic novels with my internship coordinator.

My classmate pointed out that presenting different sides of an event, as was done with Gene Luen Yang’s Boxers and Saints, “seems like a great way to encourage critical thinking skills (that happens to align with the Common Core State Standards).”

My classmate added, “I think that teachers will need extra support over the next few years while they are transitioning to the new curriculum and the school media center plays an important role!”

‘Verification Handbook’

A new resource, “Verification Handbook,” offers guidelines for verifying online information and user-generated content.

I worked with one of the contributors, Steve Buttry, while employed at a northern California newspaper. As a library professional, I have a continuing vested interest in promoting information literacy.

The handbook’s contributors address a variety of topics including verification fundamentals, as well as applications for specific types of content. It also offers suggestions for putting “crowdsourcing” to work when verifying information.

The “Verification Handbook” was written primarily for journalists and for aid providers but, more and more, citizens are relying directly on online sources and bypassing professional outlets.

If you care about the accuracy of the information you consume, if you want to be information-literate, the “Verification Handbook” is worth checking out.

Library should be student researchers’ first stop

A report by Angela Hill for the San Jose Mercury News (republished Nov. 19 by the Ashland Daily Tidings) omits an important question.

Why, when history and English teacher Annie Hatch “often” sees students use inaccurate sources or “run wild” with a theory that they found presented as “fact,” doesn’t Hatch educate her students about resources available through their school and public libraries? Why isn’t her class making use of curated databases or eBooks available through libraries’ increasingly digital collections?

Common Core State Standards: Library contributions highlighted

The library media center should serve as a “watering hole” for teachers to glean what their students are interested in, according to Tustin High School assistant principal Troy Fresch.