Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
In this era of new media technologies where access to and distribution of information have become very easy, it has been noticed that this development has brought about increase in the spread of malicious and harmful information product which tend to pose a threat to the society. This study therefore took a look at the perceived roles of librarians in fight this cankerworm called information misuse in an era of new technologies. The study which was guided by six research questions employed a descriptive survey design with a sampled population of 420 librarians purposively selected among librarians in Nigeria. The principle instrument used for data collection is the questionnaire structured according to a modified Likert scale on four point rating scale. while the data collected were analyzed using frequency and simple percentile and presented in tables. The outcome of the study shows that information misuse do come in the forms of misinformation, malign-information, disinformation, hoaxes, propaganda, and fake news etc and mostly created by politicians and other individuals for different selfish purposes at the detriment of the wider society. The study further discovered that various new media are used to promote information misuse whose effects include among others; erosion of trust among the people, manipulation of public opinions, weakening democratic established institutions and polarization of the society, In this case, it was established that libraries and librarians can help curb this societal menace by engaging on enlightenment campaigns, leading digital literacy, teaching fact-checking techniques and collaboration with other professional bodies. It was based on the findings that it was recommended among other things that libraries and librarians should occupy the drivers’ seats as information mediators and directors with a view to winning public confidence through the provision and dissemination of accurate and reliable information and that Libraries’ management should as a matter of necessity train every staff on cyber and data security as a general corporate policy.