Today is the last day of the WVLC Fall Conference. It's been a great week, and I've learned a great deal. One of my favorite workshops this week was titled, "Appetite for Instruction," which was presented by Sabrina Thomas and Eryn Roles from Marshall University. These two ladies are working on a database of lesson plans to teach people about information literacy. They're not concentrating so much on how to find information, as much as how to think critically about what is found. There is a rediculous amount of information out there on any subject you can think of, but is it accurate? Is the source reliable, or is it someone's Aunt Beulah, posting her absolutely solid opinion, which was based completely on what she read on her Facebook page.
This made me think about my frequent desire to bang my head against a wall when reading posts on my Facebook page. I'm frustrated on a daily basis (several times a day, actually), at how much people base their opinions on what they hear, or what they read on Facebook, and then disseminate as absolute fact. No research. No checking accuracy. Sometimes from people who are otherwise intelligent and well educated. Thomas and Roles pointed out how important it is to really pay attention; to check several sources; and to ask yourself, "Where did this information come from, is there proper citation, and how credible is it?" Be informationally skeptical!
Check your facts! And please, don't share things on Facebook that you cannot back up with solid data. That's tantamount to gossip, in this librarian's opinion.
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