Infodemic-COVID-19-p

Programs

"Infodemic, Info-Vaccine and Libraries during the COVID-19 Pandemic" Webinar

On Line

16/12/2020

Overview

The term “infodemic”, first coined by Gunther Eysenbach in 2002, refers to the rapid, large-scale dissemination of all kinds of health information and misinformation through a variety of media and information channels.

The term is apt because the global consequences of this mode of information dissemination, which results in an overabundance of information, some of it accurate and some not, resembles the transmission of a pandemic.

The current COVID-19-related infodemic is of such significance that the World Health Organization has created Mythbusters to help stop the spread of misinformation, and multiple disciplines are collaborating in a new field of research – infodemiology – to combat this infodemic.

How can the library and information field respond? The Naseej Academy and Mortenson Center for International Library Programs will present a two-hour webinar on the infodemic during the COVID-19 pandemic for library and information specialists.

Objectives

Introduce the COVID-19-related infodemic, discuss the need for an information vaccine (Albright, 2016), and describe its significance for libraries.
Explore solutions that library and information specialists can undertake, through a discussion of experiences with infodemics.
Present ideas and actions that library and information specialists can undertake as solutions and to prevent the spread of the COVID-19-related infodemic.

ًWebinar Moderators

Prof. Kendra S. Albright

Goodyear Endowed Professor in Knowledge Management, School of Information, Kent State University
Editor-in-Chief for Libri, the international journal of libraries and information studies
Consultant to numerous corporations and government agencies

Prof. Clara M. Chu

Director and Mortenson Distinguished Professor, Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2019–20 President of the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T)
Co-developing an institute on artificial intelligence and libraries

Prof. Bharat Mehra

Professor, School of Library & Information Studies, University of Alabama
Leader in diversity and social justice in library and information science (LIS)
Specialist in community informatics, or the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enable and empower minority and underserved populations

Target Audience

Management and staff in any type of library and information center.
Library and information science students, researchers and educators.