The Social Sciences Libraries Section and News Media Section are hosting an ignite talks session “News Literacy: Fighting Fake Information at Your Library” at this year’s IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Dublin, Ireland, July 26-29, 2022.

Paper proposals are due 29 April 2022 (extended).

We are looking for proposals that focus on library events about misinformation, disinformation, and fake news.

The suggested topics may include under the main theme:

  • How has your library joined the fight against fake information? How have you and your colleagues helped your patrons learn to identify what is true and what is false on the Internet?
  • How have you collaborated with people and groups outside of your library to teach the much-needed skill of evaluating for credibility before spreading untruths?
  • How has your library dealt with external or internal pressure, political, religious or any other form of activism, to impose “alternative truths”?
  • What is the role of News Literacy in the age of fake news or infomedics?
  • How does News Literacy encounter the infodemic COVID19?
  • How do you and your colleagues approach research processes that require the investigation of social media as it becomes part of historical records?

This session will bring together library professionals who are fighting fake information in and around their communities. Participants can expect to be engaged in a conversation about how librarians and libraries teach News Literacy in order to stop the spread of misinformation and disinformation. We aim to produce, communicate and inspire librarians and researchers for mutual cooperation and engage them in learning about News Literacy across the globe.

SSLS accumulates the most exciting practice in Social Science Research. We will invite the selected speakers to share their collaborative experiences discussed and presented during this session to the future Database of the Best Practice to be published on the Section website.

We want to hear from you!

Submission Guidelines

The selection of papers for Ignite talks will be based on an abstract (of no more than 500 words), which should demonstrate the paper’s relevance to one or more of the topics above.

The author(s) should include their full contact details and a brief biographical note with the abstract. Abstracts should be submitted via the special form or by e-mail to iflasocsci@gmail.com. The Program Committee from both Social Sciences Libraries Section and News Media Section will review them.

Format

This session falls under the category of ‘Ignite talks’. We are expecting fast-paced presentations with speakers restricted to 20 slides at exactly 20 seconds per slide (6 minutes and 40 seconds in total) or a set time limit (5 mins). This format is also known as ‘Pecha-Kucha

If accepted, a full paper must be submitted for inclusion on the IFLA website. Further details will be provided on acceptance.

Important Dates & Deadlines:

  • 29 April 2022 (extended) – Deadline for submission of detailed abstract/proposal of no longer than 500 words, and additional information including:
    • contact information for the first author,
    • all authors & institutional affiliations,
    • confirmation of understanding that the presenter is responsible for conference registration and all expenses associated with attendance and that they can meet all future deadlines.
    • Please submit all abstracts/proposals via the special form or by e-mail iflasocsci@gmail.com.

Receipt of all submissions will be confirmed.

  • 24 May 2022 (extended) – Notification to authors about the status of a submission.
  • 15 June 2022 (extended) – Submission of the full text of the paper
  • 10 July 2022 – Submission of accompanying PowerPoint slides for presentation

Please note:

  • At least one of the paper’s authors must be present to summarise the paper during the program in Dublin. Abstracts are to be submitted only with the understanding that the expenses of attending the conference will be the responsibility of the author(s)/presenter(s) of accepted papers.
  • The language of the session is expected to be English.
  • All papers presented at the WLIC 2022 will be available online under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
  • All papers must be unpublished and not previously presented.
  • Authors must disclose whether they submit this proposal to another WLIC 2022 session.
  • Authors of accepted papers must complete the IFLA Authors’ Permission Form.
  • All expenses, including registration for the conference, travel, accommodations, etc., are the responsibility of the authors/presenters. IFLA does not provide any financial support.

Please get your paper proposals in now, or forward this news update to colleagues who may have something to contribute!