TITLE:
Library Literacy Program: Library as Battleground for Fighting Fakenews
AUTHORS:
William Taala, Filoteo B. Franco Jr., Parisa H. Sta. Teresa
KEYWORDS:
Fake News, Library Literacy Program, Saudi Arabia
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.6 No.3,
March
18,
2019
ABSTRACT: Library literacy programs have continued to play a pivotal role in ensuring that students only consume the information necessary to their studies in the wake of fake news. Before the introduction of the Internet as an information tool, fake news was dealt with amicably before reaching out to numerous persons. Nevertheless, the advent of the Internet has contributed to the spread of fake news to unparalleled levels. Educational institutions of higher learning should ensure that their literacy programs meet the required threshold and equip the learners with prerequisite skills to differentiate between fake news and factual academic content as well as promote a reading culture and critical thinking skills. The research paper also highlights the medical student situation in Saudi Arabia that has been transformed from five institutions to approximately 21 institutions illustrating the need for library literacy skills to students in the quest to improve the quality of medical studies in the country. Cognizant of the fake journals accessed at the click of a button with unlimited access, the need for library literacy programs is timely. The social, economic and political development of a country highly depends on the educational competence of its population. For this reason, countries across the world have continued to allocate a substantial amount of money towards educational development by opening up new academic facilities as well as enhancing teacher population.