Author ORCID Identifier
Angela Hackstadt: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4583-4351
Abigail D. Adams: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9328-082X
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-16-2022
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/10875301.2022.2036283
Abstract
The authors designed and distributed two surveys to answer the questions of whether the 2020 federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic affected academic librarians’ trust in government information, and whether it affected the way they use government information professionally. The results showed a limited decrease in trust in 2020, somewhat mitigated by the administration turnover in 2021. Many librarians already discussed considerations such as bias, authority, and disinformation when recommending government information to students, and others indicated they are more likely to do so going forward. They will also use or suggest more caution with government documents than before. Reference interactions do not always allow the necessary time and space for a nuanced conversation about the limits of government information, so libraries and academic institutions should look for other ways to improve student political literacy as well.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Hackstadt, Angela and Adams, Abigail D., "Reference Service, Government Information, and COVID-19" (2022). University Libraries Faculty Scholarship. 172.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/ulib_fac_scholar/172
Comments
This is the authors' Accepted Manuscript. The Version of Record can be found here: Angela Hackstadt & Abigail D. Adams (2022) Reference Service, Government Information, and COVID-19, Internet Reference Services Quarterly, DOI: 10.1080/10875301.2022.2036283
Data available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.17700782.v1