Recent years have been notably fraught with the quantifiably disruptive nature of disinformation and propaganda in local & global communities and societies. Disinformation and propaganda issues were further enflamed by our reliance on social media for information during the pandemic lockdowns. Librarians, well armed with information literacy filters, frameworks, and tests; aided their constituencies’ engagement with information in an objective manner for decades, but their impact was limited during the pandemic by closed library buildings and/or online-only communication. If librarians aren’t around to foster objectivity in information consumption, can they instead teach people to self-examine their own vulnerabilities and biases that are commonly manipulated by publishers of disinformation or propaganda using elements of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
Using the long-standing and popular psycho-social intervention, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), this poster expands on the model of RADAR or CRAAP style tools. Using CBT, the ability to engage with one’s own innate biases and social vulnerabilities while assessing information can be taught in a short amount of time and empower students for lifelong learning and critical participation in a democratic society.
The poster presentation will provide a detailed graphic and textual model of an expanded information literacy tool that includes key elements of CBT. Additional concepts will show how to use this in a classroom setting, based on my own library instruction experiences from the past two years, as well as an accompanying website with an expanded explanation, reference list and downloadable curriculum & printable graphic media.