Distrust in Institutions: Reference and Library Instruction During an Infodemic

Abstract

Librarians strive to educate patrons and curb the spread of disinformation by providing reference services, research consultations, and instruction in information literacy. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought into stark relief deceptive information practices used to further political agendas. We focus on the dissemination of Covid-19 disinformation by the United States government, particularly the Trump White House where the federal pandemic response was centered. The consequences of Covid-19 disinformation produced at the federal level continue, such as Covid-19 denial, distrust in government institutions, distrust in science, and over 570,000 deaths in the U.S. so far. We identify different kinds of deceptive information practices deployed by the executive branch that contributed to an already fraught information ecosystem. We discuss how this affects academic librarians, students, and researchers who work with government information, as well as potential solutions found in information literacy and scholarly communication.