There’s been a lot of buzz about fake news lately, from false versions of legitimate news sites to online publications that publish misleading or even fabricated stories. Fake news can have real-life repercussions, ones that are often heartbreaking and even violent; a misinformed public cannot make responsible decisions. However, there is one group of people who have been committed for years to promoting information literacy: librarians.
Masters of verifying information, librarians can teach people in their communities how to distinguish legitimate sources from untrustworthy ones and to watch out for dubious “clickbait” headlines and questionable URLs. They maintain access to trustworthy reference sources curated by experts and scholars. With the massive amount of information—trustworthy and otherwise—available now to ordinary citizens at the touch of a screen, librarians are needed now more than ever.
Infobase is proud to provide tools that can help librarians promote information literacy. Our online research databases contain more than 75 years’ worth of authoritative, reliable content across a wide range of areas—from history, science, literature, and careers to geography, health, current issues, and more. The wide range of regularly updated material included in our online databases has been written by experts and vetted by our editors, making them resources librarians, students, and patrons can trust. The sources Infobase databases draw upon include expertly researched and written content from a wealth of proprietary titles, and many of our databases feature focused Topic Centers that showcase the best editorially curated resources for a particular topic to provide a great starting point for research. Many also feature important statistics and primary sources—including historical documents and journal articles—that can help researchers double-check facts.
Here are just some of the many Infobase products that can help promote information literacy:
World News Digest
In our age of information overload, World News Digest offers clear and cogent political, economic, and cultural stories that give a sense of time, place, and circumstance. World News Digest presents more than seven decades of authoritative news summaries and background articles that make it easy to explore the events that shape our world. Hundreds of institutions—including CNN, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Fox News, NPR, the CBC, Forbes Media, Time, The Washington Post, Jeopardy!, the U.S. Naval War College, and the parliaments of Canada and Australia—rely on World News Digest for vital information and context on today’s top issues.
Issues & Controversies
Issues & Controversies helps researchers understand today’s crucial issues by exploring hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture. Updated weekly, with an extensive backfile, Issues & Controversies offers in-depth articles—each presenting both sides of an issue clearly, coherently, and without bias—made to inspire thought-provoking debates. Its straightforward presentation of the key facts, arguments, history, and current context of today’s most important and timely issues makes the database an ideal resource for research papers, debate preparation, and persuasive writing assignments. The articles are written by our own expert writers and editors, and each article includes a full range of supporting materials.
Health Reference Center
Unfortunately, politics and current events are hardly the only areas where misinformation abounds. Health Reference Center is the first stop for current, important health information, featuring expertly researched and written content from acclaimed sources, including a wealth of proprietary titles—information researchers can trust. Health Reference Center also features thousands of scholarly journal articles from PubMed Central and reference articles from MedlinePlus covering more than 950 diseases and conditions.
Today’s Science
Today’s Science bridges the gap between the science taught in schools and science in the news, helping to give students and other users the critical-thinking skills to comprehend and analyze real-world science. The in-depth coverage spans important advances in biology, chemistry, environmental science, space, physics, and technology. Today’s Science also features links to primary sources, such as scientific journal abstracts and articles, featuring researchers’ descriptions of their work.
Films On Demand, Classroom Video On Demand, and Access Video On Demand
Infobase’s award-winning On Demand streaming video platform—which includes Films On Demand for colleges and universities, Classroom Video On Demand for high schools, and Access Video On Demand for public libraries—gives students and patrons instant access to outstanding documentaries, award-winning educational films, independent films, and helpful instructional videos, including those on verifying information in the digital age. Relevant, informative titles that can be found in our On Demand products include:
- Internet Research: What’s Credible? (Item #58373)
- TEDTalks: Eli Pariser—Beware Online “Filter Bubbles” (Item #48612)
- Effective Internet Search: Basic Tools and Advanced Strategies (Item #43788)
- Journalism Secrets to Social Media Storytelling & News Reporting (Item #93764)
- Recognizing Online Propaganda, Bias, and Advertising (Item #43789)
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Click on the links below for more information about World News Digest:
Click on the links below for more information about Issues & Controversies:
Click on the links below for more information about Health Reference Center:
Click on the links below for more information about Today’s Science:
Click on the links below for more information about Infobase’s On Demand products:
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