We're excited to announce our second of three Library 2.017 mini-conferences: "Digital Literacy + Fake News," which will be held online (and for free) on Thursday, June 1st, from 12:00 - 3:00 pm US-Pacific Daylight Time (click for your own time zone).

This event is being organized in partnership with futurist Bryan Alexander, who will serve as moderator for the opening panel and as the closing keynote speaker. Invited panelists and presenters will look deeply at the foundational relationship of libraries and librarians to media, information, and digital literacy. 

We invite all library professionals, employers, LIS students, and educators to provide input and participate this event.


What does “digital literacy” mean in an era shaped by the Internet, social media, and staggering quantities of information? How is it that the fulfillment of human hopes for a open knowledge society seem to have resulted in both increased skepticism of, and casualness with, information? What tools and understanding can library professionals bring to a world that seems to be dominated by fake news?

In this Library 2.107 mini-conference, we start with the foundational relationship of libraries and librarians to media, information, and now digital literacy, and then we ask some pointed questions. How should library and information professionals address the issues of fake news, propaganda, and biased research? What technical skills are required for critical thinking in the digital age? As learners increasingly move from just consuming information to also socially producing it, what are the new requisite skills of critical thinking and decision-making? What are appropriate uses for social media when conducting research? What is digital citizenship in a global, globally-diverse, and often globally-fragmented world? What work on digital literacy is available, what frameworks already support these efforts, what are the perspectives of the leading thinkers?

Participants are encouraged to use #library2017 on their social media posts leading up to and during the event.

MORE INFORMATION:
The School of Information at San José State University is the founding conference sponsor, and additional support has been provided by Follett. Please register as a member of the Library 2.0 network to be kept informed of future events. Recordings from previous years are available under the Archives tab at Library 2.0 and at the Library 2.0 YouTube channel.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS:
We will have a limited number of slots for presenter sessions. The call for proposals is now open HERE. We encourage all who are interested in presenting to submit.

WEBINAR PLATFORM:
The sessions will be held in Blackboard Collaborate, and can be accessed live from any personal computer and most mobile devices. (To see if your system is already configured for Blackboard Collaborate, you can try entering the practice room at http://www.thepracticeroom.me. If you aren't able to enter that room, see Behind the Blackboard Support.)

Registration will give you access to the live event and to the event recordings. An event reminder and additional connecting information will be sent just prior to the event.

Bryan Alexander Futurist @bryanalexander Bryan Alexander is an internationally known futurist, researcher, writer, speaker, consultant, and teacher, working in the field of how technology transforms education. He completed his English language and literature PhD at the University of Michigan in 1997, with a dissertation on doppelgangers in Romantic-era fiction and poetry. Then Bryan taught literature, writing, multimedia, and information technology studies at Centenary College of Louisiana. There he also pioneered multi-campus interdisciplinary classes, while organizing an information literacy initiative. From 2002 to 2014 Bryan worked with the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE), a non-profit working to help small colleges and universities best integrate digital technologies. With NITLE he held several roles, including co-director of a regional education and technology center, director of emerging technologies, and senior fellow. Over those years Bryan helped develop and support the nonprofit, grew peer networks, consulted, and conducted a sustained research agenda. In 2013 Bryan launched a business, Bryan Alexander Consulting, LLC. Through BAC he consults throughout higher education in the United States and abroad. Bryan also speaks widely and publishes frequently, with articles appearing in venues including The Atlantic Monthly, Inside Higher Ed. He has been interviewed by and featured in MSNBC, US News and World Report, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the National Association of College and University Business Officers, Pew Research, Campus Technology, and the Connected Learning Alliance. His two most recent books are Gearing Up For Learning Beyond K-12 and The New Digital Storytelling. http://www.bryanalexander.org