Play-based learning activity asking students to intentionally create "fake news" and engage with their emotional reactions in coming across information. 

Two librarians at NKU developed an Informed Voting workshop to help students navigate information during the 2024 election season. Attendees were provided a worksheet to learn about the candidates/issues on their ballot and dig into one issue/race to investigate during the workshop.

This is part of an introductory first-year class to the university where students are introduced to the library and asked to think critically about how information is organized using the framework of critical cataloging. After watching a short video on the idea of classification and its problems with fixing identity categories, students analyze and categorize selected book from the collection, and then reflect on how knowledge is organized and their choices as authors.

Algorithms are everywhere, and they have increasing power over what we consume (Amazon, Netflix, TikTok), who we date (“the apps”), and how we understand the world (Google, ChatGPT). So, what are algorithms, and how did they become so powerful? Who are the humans that create them, and why does it matter?

In this workshop, we will explore how algorithms can perpetuate bias and discrimination, and discuss some preventive strategies. It is open to learners of all backgrounds and experience.

Workshop Instructors: Shelby Hallman, Physical Sciences and Engineering Librarian; Ashley Peterson, Research & Instruction Librarian, Media and Data Literacy; Alexandra Solodkaya, Rothman Family Food Studies Librarian

Credits: This workshop was derived from LMU's Rise Against the Machines: Understanding Algorithmic Bias workshop. 

This learning session, led by a librarian, is for first-year community college students in an academic library setting. The intention of this session is to scaffold onto existing research writing skills acquired in previous education, as well as use of popular video sharing platforms to obtain information, like TikTok. Informative videos produced by everyday people are a growing form of intellectual connection between all audiences and scholarly sources based on relatability, as well as visibility of marginalized issues larger news organizations do not address. When the information messenger is familiar yet dynamic in their presentation and provides information that the public is not informed on, viewers are more inclined to listen than if it were just a research paper or a scholarly representative of a research community. There are, however, citation issues and basic research principles missing in several of these videos, based solely on most video sharing platform’s intention to obtain engagement, not to responsibly inform/educate its users. As researchers, it is crucial to discern engagement-intended, incendiary content with informative, well-researched content that our neighbors are making, even if their intentions are good.

This library class was designed for the courses Scene Design and Technical Theatre. However, it can be adapted and used for courses that make use of digital archives and other types of digital objects to support their arguments.

This workshop engages participants in exploring corporate data collection, personal profiling, deceptive design, and data brokerage practices. Workshop content is contextualized with the theoretical frameworks of panoptic sort (Gandy), surveillance capitalism (Zuboff), and the four regulators (Lessig) and presented through a privacy and business ethics lens. Participants will learn how companies make money from data collection practices; explore how interface design can influence our choices and behaviors; and discuss business ethics regarding privacy and big data.
The workshop is designed for 75-minute class sessions, but can be compressed into 60-minute sessions.
Includes workshop guide, presentation slides, learning activities, and assessment instrument.