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Combating the Misuse of Information

Webinar

Scope

One of the great challenges of today’s information environment is the constant need to avoid misuse or deliberate misinterpretation of information. This is as much of a problem for those working in the content sector as it is for those working in the library or classroom. The distrust that it creates is a disservice to scientists, scholars, and researchers in all fields. There are no easy solutions, but the participants in this roundtable discussion will share creative ways of combating the problem and protecting the value and credibility of the research they — and we — rely on.

Confirmed speakers: Mystery Beck, Subject Librarian for Criminology and Law, The University of Portsmouth; Esther Dell, Associate Librarian, Penn State College of Medicine; Anna Nemzer, Author, Journalist, and Archivist, Russian Independent Media Archive; and Iratxe PueblaDirector, Strategic Initiatives & Community, ASAPbio.

Event Sessions

Speakers

Mystery Beck

Criminology and Law Subject Librarian
University of Portsmouth

Esther Dell

Associate Librarian
Penn State College of Medicine

Anna Nemzer

Author, Journalist, and Archivist
Russian Independent Media Archive

Todd Carpenter, Executive Director of NISO, will moderate the discussion.

Related Information and Shared Resources:

Media Bias / Fact Check - Founded in 2015, Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC) is an independent website that has promoted awareness of media bias and misinformation by rating the bias, factual accuracy, and credibility of media sources, large and small. Media Bias/Fact Check relies on human evaluators to determine the bias of media sources and the level of overall factual reporting through a combination of objective measures and subjective analysis using our stated methodology.

ASAPbio Preprints in the Public EyeASAPbio, with support from the Open Society Foundations, aimed to consolidate and expand on existing efforts to set best practice standards for reporting research posted as preprints via the launch of our Preprints in the Public Eye project.  Read more in the project announcement.  The outcome of this project is a set of four documents that set out guiding principles for the communication of research in the media for preprint servers, institutions, researchers, and journalists.

ASAPbio: How to communicate a preprint An infographic on how to read and evaluate a preprint for scientific rigor, and how to share preprinted research in a responsible manner via social media or other communication channels.

Central Michigan University, Website Research: CRAAP Test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose) -  It can be tempting to use any source in your paper that seems to agree with your thesis, but remember that not all information is good information, especially in an online environment...The CRAAP Test is a handy checklist to use when evaluating a web resource (or ANY resource). The test provides a list of questions to ask yourself when deciding whether or not a source is reliable and credible enough to use in your academic research paper.

Office for National Statistics - Our main responsibilities are collecting, analysing and disseminating statistics about the UK's economy, society and population.

AllSides Media Bias - AllSides empowers you to understand the role media bias plays in the news and information you consume. The AllSides Media Bias Ratings™ and AllSides Media Bias Chart™ help make news bias transparent, allowing you to identify different perspectives and political leanings so you can get the full picture and think for yourself.

AlllSides Misinformation WatchHow can you tell misinformation from truth? AllSides provides multiple perspectives from the left, center, and right, so you can get the full picture and think for yourself. This page curates fact checks, balanced news, and original misinformation analysis to help you parse fact from fiction.

Additional Information

NISO assumes organizations register as a group. The model assumes that an unlimited number of staff will be watching the live broadcast in a single location, but also includes access to an archived recording of the event for those who may have timing conflicts. 

NISO understands that, during the current pandemic, staff at a number of organizations may be practicing safe social distancing or working remotely. To accommodate those workers, we are allowing registrants to share the sign-on instructions with all colleagues so that they may join the broadcast directly. 

Registrants receive sign-on instructions via email on the Friday prior to the virtual event. If you have not received your instructions by the day before an event, please contact NISO headquarters for assistance via email (nisohq@niso.org). 

Registrants for an event may cancel participation and receive a refund (less $35.00) if the notice of cancellation is received at NISO HQ (nisohq@niso.org) one full week prior to the event date. If received less than 7 days before, no refund will be provided. 

Links to the archived recording of the broadcast are distributed to registrants 24-48 hours following the close of the live event. Access to that recording is intended for internal use of fellow staff at the registrant’s organization or institution. Speaker presentations are posted to the NISO event page.

Broadcast Platform

NISO uses the Zoom platform for purposes of broadcasting our live events. Zoom provides apps for a variety of computing devices (tablets, laptops, etc.) To view the broadcast, you will need a device that supports the Zoom app. Attendees may also choose to listen just to audio on their phones. Sign-on credentials include the necessary dial-in numbers, if that is your preference. Once notified of their availability, recordings may be downloaded from the Zoom platform to your machine for local viewing.