Prelims

Half Title Page

ALL THAT's NOT FIT TO PRINT

Endorsements

Praise for All That's Not Fit To Print:

Discerning reliable, authoritative news and information has gotten much harder in this connected, technologically driven era. Amy Affelt provides a useful and informative guide to navigating the challenges—and an important call to arms for librarians and information specialists to play a leading role in defending and advancing the importance of objective facts on behalf of all of us.

—Matt Murray, Editor In Chief, The Wall Street Journal

Librarians are on the front lines in 21st Century info-wars and struggles over misinformation and weaponized narratives. Library patrons would dearly love it if they had nearby trustworthy allies to help them navigate these new societal challenges. Luckily, Amy Affelt has created a playbook for her colleagues, showing them how they can exploit their talents to be reliable knowledge stewards to their communities in an ever-more confusing world.

—Lee Rainie, Director of Internet and Technology Research, Pew Research Center

In this age of misinformation, librarians play a crucial role in helping people make sense of what is true or not. This book is an excellent tool for anyone interested in improving their information diet, with practical tips for finding quality sources, as well as techniques and tools for checking out content sourced online. Most importantly, this book places our current situation in a wider historical context. As humans, we've always been drawn to rumors and conspiracies, but how can we cope when digital technologies have supercharged everything, from the creation to the dissemination of false and misleading information? This book shows you how.

—Claire Wardle, PhD, Executive Director, First Draft

All That’s Not Fit To Print is an important and timely resource for information professionals grappling with issues of veracity, authenticity, and authority. It dives deep into current trends to inform the discussion and lays out actionable insights on how we should engage around questionable content.

—John Chrastka, Executive Director, EveryLibrary

This timely clarion call to arms encourages librarians to be at the forefront of the fake news cultural and political battle, helping them to recognize their evolving roles in today’s ethical and technological struggle and to be prepared to fight for the truth.

—Linda Landis Andrews, Director of Internships, Department of English, University of Illinois at Chicago

Amy Affelt, in All That's Not Fit To Print, has written an effective primer for librarians and information professionals on the challenge that is fake news. Covering the current development of this across social media, she covers the key issues, a variety of effective tools and resources, and an informed call for librarians to adequately arm themselves to combat the dreaded “fake news” scourge that we find ourselves in. Definitely worth a read for experienced and budding librarians.

—Hal Kirkwood, President, Special Libraries Association, 2019, and Bodleian Business Librarian, Sainsbury Library, Said Business School, University of Oxford

Amy Affelt’s All That’s Not Fit To Print is a timely, intensely interesting, and easy-to-read book full of important, commonsense advice for those of us in the library and information professions who want to hone our skillsets to become information quality experts. It is revolutionary in that it is a book to guide information professionals to realize their role and encourage growth of methods long present in our profession. Affelt’s book is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn about information quality from one of the best in our field.

—Anne Craig, Senior Director, Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI)

Gone are the days when we could reasonably trust the news. As long as responsible journalism is under attack, we can no longer assume that news is grounded in facts and reality. Fortunately, Affelt provides the guidance we need to decide what to believe and what to discard.

—Kimberly Silk, Brightsail Research

With All That’s Not Fit To Print author Amy Affelt gives us all that we need to identify and combat the fake news epidemic that is causing confidence in media to significantly decline. While aimed at libraries and librarians who are leading the way in developing digital and information literacy skills, this book’s advice is for everyone who seeks to ensure that the information they use and share is of the highest quality. Kudos to Amy Affelt for producing a very readable, enjoyable, and easy to understand guide to separating distortions, misinformation, and lies from the high-quality information we need to make good decisions on a daily basis.

—Donna Scheeder, President, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2015–2017, and President, Library Strategies International

Reasoned and passionate, thorough and provocative, Amy Affelt’s latest does much more than recap the issues and name the disease: she’s created a clear roadmap for librarians and media people alike to ensure reality-based reportage not only survives but flourishes.

—Brendan Howley, Library Advocacy Specialist, Media Software Designer and Former CBC TV Investigative Journalist

Informative, insightful, in-depth. Amy Affelt uses her expertise, as a noteworthy research librarian, to teach others about fake news and how to work the complex and convoluted process of obtaining accurate informational text. All That’s Not Fit To Print is helpful, timely, and relevant.

—Angela Falter Thomas, PhD, Associate Professor of Literacy Education, Bowling Green State University

Title Page

ALL THAT'S NOT FIT TO PRINT: FAKE NEWS AND THE CALL TO ACTION FOR LIBRARIANS AND INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS

AMY AFFELT

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2019

Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited

Reprints and permissions service

Contact: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78973-364-8 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78973-361-7 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78973-363-1 (Epub)

Dedication

For my husband, Michael G. Leslie, who is literally wearing it.

Acknowledgments

Doris Helfer was the first mentor and colleague to approach me regarding the need to study the impact of fake news on librarianship. Since my initial presentation with Doris, many other colleagues have invited me to share my views as well as learn from theirs; thank you to John Bryans, Theresa Cramer, Jane Dysart, Kathleen Lehman, Marydee Ojala, and Sara Tompson.

Dr Toby Pearlstein is always incredibly generous with her time and expertise regarding all aspects of my work, and she was her usual supportive and encouraging self while I worked on this book.

I would also like to thank Margaret Pasulka Ritchey and Brigid Pasulka for their insight and guidance, and Brad Beeson for reasons known to him.

It is often said that the experience of being an only child is largely dependent upon who your parents are. Gerald Affelt and Carol Hughett Gugerty are the best parents anyone could ever hope to have, and I am beyond fortunate to be their one and only.

Finally, my husband, Michael G. Leslie, has taught me so much, in particular that the simple act of living can be such a joy. Thank you, Michael, for always believing that I can do so much more than I ever think possible.