The first frame in the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, Authority Is Constructed and Contextual, argues that, “Novice learners may need to rely on basic indicators of authority, such as type of publication or author credentials, where experts recognize schools of thought or discipline-specific paradigms.” What happens when the authority of information, either intentionally or otherwise, fails? How can libraries fill the epistemic void? An approach, following the work of Kim and Gil de Zúñiga, utilizing the concept of pseudo-information that encompasses both unintentional misinformation and intentional disinformation is proposed. Three modes of pseudo-information are presented: erroneous, predatory, and intentional.<br/><br/>These three modes can be translated into active (pseudo)information literacy tasks: contextualizing preprints, examining article retractions and their continuing citation, the disruption of “paper mills”, defining “predatory journals” and operationalizing these definitions as critical appraisal tools, and the role of social media in scientific information discovery and distributing disinformation. The overarching goal is to provide a set of tools that allows information users to identifying the cracks that allow pseudo-information into the scholarly discourse.<br/><br/>Pseudo-information as a means of information appraisal provides the scientific and technical compliment to the sociological critique of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. This appraisal approach can be translated in to an information literacy lens that aids novice and advanced researchers in critiquing technical information, popular scientific writing, and scientific commentary. Libraries are no longer the sole mediator of scientific information, but they can help aid in the growth of critical information users.

Filling the epistemic void: Towards a (Pseudo) information literacy

ACS Fall 2021

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