ATG Special Report — The Power of Collaboration: How Librarians and Publishers Can Restore Confidence in Research By Emily Singley (Vice President, North American Library Relations, Elsevier) <e.singley@elsevier.com>
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he research landscape has seen significant technological and cultural shifts over the last few years following the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Elsevier’s global Confidence in Research study, these shifts have resulted in a loss of confidence in scientific research among the research community (“Confidence in Research — Elsevier,” n.d.). About 78% of U.S. researchers surveyed believe the pandemic has increased the importance of separating good quality information from misinformation, and 79% believe the pandemic increased the importance of science bodies and researchers explaining and communicating their research better. A rapidly changing scholarly communication ecosystem is also impacting confidence in research. We have seen the rise of new threats such as paper mills and predatory publishing, which prey on early career researchers who are in the “publish or perish” stage of their careers — and these less-than-reputable actors are muddying the scholarly record with their questionable content. Advancements such as artificial intelligence (AI) hold the promise of boosting productivity and efficiency, but also present challenges we will need to overcome. And the success of Open Access publishing models, while spurring our transformation to a more open, transparent, and equitable society, has also undoubtedly made scholarly communication more complex. As information providers, librarians are uniquely positioned to help both researchers and the public navigate this rapidly evolving research landscape and restore confidence in research. The need for information literacy — and especially science literacy — has never been greater.
The State of Information Literacy Academic libraries have long seen information literacy as a core part of their mission. Back in 2016, the Association of College & Research Libraries’ Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education outlined information literacy as an educational reform movement and called on academic librarians to create a new cohesive and collaborative curriculum (Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, ACRL). According to a recent study that surveyed 189 instruction librarians, 96% said they were concerned about the impact of misinformation, and 79% said they teach misinformation in their library instruction courses (Saunders, Laura, 2023). But the study also found a low rate of collaboration between faculty and librarians on misinformation topics and suggests many are using outdated instruction methods and are not assessing learning outcomes adequately. And the latest Ithaka S+R Library Director survey found that although most academic library directors (98%) rank information literacy as a high priority function for the library, only 16% of all library directors in the survey sample believe they have a clear vision for futureproofing that considers technological and socio-political trends, and only 17% have a clear vision for redressing the influence of misinformation among their
Against the Grain / November 2023
community members (“US Library Survey 2022” n.d.). Information literacy, as it stands, is not keeping up with today’s needs. Is it time to reinvent information literacy again? And do we need to think more broadly and consider how to address information literacy not just within our institutions but for our communities and our society? During the pandemic, we saw libraries begin to take up this challenge and become anti-misinformation warriors. In San Diego, academic and public libraries partnered with both local government and the National Library of Medicine to address the infodemic. Local universities, public libraries, and government agencies collectively created a Toolkit to help stop the spread of health misinformation in their communities (Henderson n.d.). Margaret Henderson, a Health Sciences Librarian from San Diego State University involved in the Toolkit, noted that the inclusive aspect of the project, involving librarians from different backgrounds and with differing expertise, was critical to its success: “it wasn’t just one voice” Henderson said, “all of the different librarians that were collaborating on this gave input to it.” Scott Walter, Dean of the San Diego State University Library, also emphasized that collaboration is key to addressing social crises rooted in the slackening of public confidence in scientific and scholarly expertise. “Bringing researchers, librarians, policy makers, and community members together may be the ‘next level’ of information literacy engagement that is needed at the present moment,” Walter said. “Any meaningful solution goes well beyond what we have previously thought about when discussing ‘information literacy’ and well beyond the familiar models for collaboration among librarians, faculty members, and publishers. It’s all bigger than that now.” In South Africa, a review of academic library websites showed librarians responded to pandemic “fake news” by employing various strategies including relying on their empowerment programs (in the form of information and media literacy), provision of quality and credible information to users, and support for research and collection development (Bangani 2021). The study found South African libraries played an important role as sources of trustworthy health information during the pandemic but that there is more work to be done — particularly around the need for resources to be provided in local languages other than English. Joyce V. Garczynski, Assistant University Librarian for Communication and Digital Scholarship at Towson University, said she would like to see library workers advocating on the national stage for the need to teach information literacy and critical thinking skills at all levels, kindergarten through adulthood. “If education isn’t seen as a possible solution to misinformation, we will continue to see an erosion of public
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