Fake news is not an issue that is going to disappear anytime soon. School librarians have long combatted misinformation and disinformation; at times they may have felt like the only discerning voice in the storm of multiple truths.
The focus of this issue of Knowledge Quest is on the ways school librarians can embrace their role as instructor of media literacy skills so students are able to critically evaluate information. In “Heuristics: An Approach to Evaluating News Obtained through Social Media,” Ann Ewbank and Spencer Johnson describe how heuristics, or “rules of thumb,” may be used to quickly evaluate news obtained through social media. Hannah Byrd Little teams up with Dr. Robert Byrd in “Media Literacy: A Moving Target” to offer practical techniques and strategies to encourage everyone to become a more discerning consumers of information. In her article “There’s So Much There! Helping Kids Conquer the Internet and Save Democracy,” Angie Miller explores how school librarians can help students become more confident researchers by modeling the search process and providing them with exemplars and approaches they can use independently. Mica Johnson shares how she utilized the Shared Foundations and Key Commitments from AASL’s National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries to revamp her website evaluation lessons to build more-comprehensive fake news lessons for students.
As school librarians continue to embrace their role as leaders in their schools and districts, users of information will continue to rely on them as a critical resource in their quest for truth.
About the Guest Editors
Melissa Gardner is the school librarian at Campbell County Middle School in Alexandria, Kentucky. She is a member of AASL and is currently a member of the Knowledge Quest Editorial Board and the AASL Disaster Relief Committee. She also serves as the Constitution/Handbook Chair for the Kentucky Association of School Librarians (KASL) and is a past president of KASL. In 2017, she was awarded the Barby Hardy Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kentucky Association of School Librarians.
Nicolle Mazzola is the library media center director at Westgate School in Arlington Heights, Illinois. She is a member of AASL and is currently a member of the Knowledge Quest Editorial Board and the AASL Inspire Collection Development Subcommittee. She is also the publications co-chair for the Monarch Book Award and the Grants and Awards Function Representative for the Association of Illinois School Library Educators (AISLE).
Read their Guest Editor Column, “Fighting Fake News: Tools and Resources to Combat Disinformation.”
Knowledge Quest, Volume 47, No. 1 – Fighting Fake News: Tools and Resources
Features
Heuristics: An Approach to Evaluating News Obtained through Social Media
Ann Dutton Ewbank and Spencer T. Johnson
Media Literacy: A Moving Target
Hannah Byrd Little
There’s So Much There! Helping Kids Conquer the Internet and Save Democracy
Angie Miller
Fighting “Fake News”: How We Overhauled Our Website Evaluation Lessons
Mica Johnson
Media Literacy and the AASL Standards
Len Bryan
Articles
Makerspaces for All
Heather Moorefield-Lang and Vanessa Kitzie
Reading Champions
Judi Moreillon
Column
CBC Column
Fake News: Teaching Skeptics, Not Cynics
Darcy Pattison
Departments
President’s Column
Learner-Ready School Librarians
Kathryn Roots Lewis
Guest Editor Column
Fighting Fake News: Tools and Resources to Combat Disinformation
Melissa Gardner and Nicolle Mazzola
Author: Melissa Gardner and Nicolle Mazzola
Categories: KQ Content
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