We've reached the final post in our series celebrating Library and Information Week 2019. This year's theme is Truth, Integrity, Knowledge (TIK), which focuses on 10 of the ways that library and information professionals promote and support TIK values.
In celebration of this year's theme, the ALIAWest committee have prepared a series of blog posts reflecting on some of the TIK values. You can read our first post here and our second post here, and learn more about all of the fabulous ALIAWest committee members on the 2019 Committee page.
We hope you enjoy our last post, and it's not too late to to join in the conversation on Twitter using #LIW2019 and #ALIATIK!
Freedom of information is a diverse and intricate topic, so how do you think this issue applies in today’s climate of increased accessibility to online information?
This issue is important in the current climate as we still have a way to go in reducing barriers to access. Information is not free and available to all when we consider issues such as rising subscription costs for universities and barriers to accessing technology and internet connection. More research should be published open access and we need to work to increase information equity and inclusion at all levels – in our own communities and by urging the government to address Australia’s digital divide. Increased accessibility to online information also brings with it an increased need to be information literate and digitally dexterous and librarians are one group who have a role to play in assisting users to find, access, evaluate and use information in responsible ways.
Fake news is a bit of a buzz word at the moment, but I think freedom of information has a massive impact on the integrity of our news sources, especially when most of us source our news online. We need to ensure that people have access to quality information from authority sources, which can be quite a challenge when there are certain powerful (political) forces that seem determined to spread misinformation through every possible medium - especially Twitter. Sourcing and evaluating reliable information is crucial, and that’s a role we can play in educating our communities.
I think there will always be cases where some information can’t be released immediately due to commercial sensitivities or government requirements. However, in an ideal world they should kept to a minimum, and transparency should be enhanced by utilising the online environment to allow as many people to access information as possible. The rules around confidential information should be robust, but all applications for access should be considered in the spirit in which they are requested. I feel that if the level of transparency is high enough it could help people to consider their actions and intent with a higher ethical consideration than they have done in earlier times.
I have encouraged patrons (and my step-children!) to look at the source, how reliable it is, where it leans politically, what motivations the author has etc, and to, to the best of their abilities, respect that someone might hold a different/contrary position to them and that both positions can nonetheless be valid. I think it’s also important to educate people on things like copyright and defamation from both a legal and ethical perspective.
I think having information freely accessible is only half the work. Education and awareness is always king for me. Ensuring people know that they can access the information they need, where to find the most appropriate source, equipping them with the skills needed to navigate changing and evolving technologies, and providing support so once they have the information, they can use it in a meaningful and appropriate way that fulfils their information needs is where I see the role of libraries and librarians.
We hope you enjoyed our #LIW2019 series! Keep the conversation going on Twitter using #ALIATIK, and read more about the Truth, Integrity, Knowledge campaign at https://fair.alia.org.au/tik