A Toast to Information Professionals Contributions in the Covid-19 Infodemic

This article does a nice job of summing up the collective work Health Science Librarians have been doing since the pandemic began. Cheers, Everyone!

Naeem SB, Bhatti R. The Covid-19 'infodemic': a new front for information professionals. Health Info Libr J. 2020 Jun 13:10.1111/hir.12311. doi: 10.1111/hir.12311. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32533803; PMCID: PMC7323420. [Free article]

Abstract: The virus, commonly known as COVID-19 which emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has spread in 213 countries, areas or territories around the globe, with nearly 144 683 deaths worldwide on 18 April 2020. In the wake of this pandemic, we have witnessed a massive infodemic with the public being bombarded with vast quantities of information, much of which is not scientifically correct. Fighting fake news is now the new front in the COVID-19 battle. This regular feature comments on the role of health sciences librarians and information professionals in combating the COVID-19 infodemic. To support their work, it draws attention to the myth busters, fact-checkers and credible sources relating to COVID-19. It also documents the guides that libraries have put together to help the general public, students and faculty recognise fake news.

Keywords: global health; information literacy; information professionals.