Public Library Response to COVID-19: Beyond Service Changes and the Role in Combating Misinformation

Hu, Zhan; Jiang, Jie; Zhang, Yishan

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/109667 Copy

Description

Title

Public Library Response to COVID-19: Beyond Service Changes and the Role in Combating Misinformation

Author(s)

• Hu, Zhan
• Jiang, Jie
• Zhang, Yishan

Issue Date

2021-03-17

Keyword(s)

• COVID-19 Response
• Public Library
• Misinformation

Abstract

"Under COVID-19, Public libraries continued to provide much-needed services to their local communities, providing resources and references in adjusted ways while collaborating with local emergency response teams. Moreover, some public libraries leveraged their position as a community's trusted information source and took on a more proactive role in evaluating and providing high-quality information resources, aiming to stop the spread of false facts and mitigate the damage from misinformation. This paper reviewed 51 cases of library websites to investigate their efforts in providing COVID-19 information and resources. Results indicate that 25 public libraries developed and maintained their own ""COVID-19 information page"", while other libraries took different approaches, such as linking to external resources. Resource topics covered on these information pages were coded and analyzed. Public libraries’ performances varied; some have taken the lead to organize and explicitly highlight credible resources to fight misinformation, others have reservations and posted limited responses."

Publisher

iSchools

Type of Resource

text

Language

eng

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109667

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2021 is held by Zhan Hu, Jie Jiang, and Yishan Zhang. Copyright permissions, when appropriate, must be obtained directly from the authors.

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