In the Face of Adversity:
FLO Information Literacy Symposium 2025
Welcome to
Cate Schneiderman (she/her)
School of the Arts Librarian
Emerson College
Christina Dent (she/her)
Asst. Director of Teaching, Learning, & Assessment
Emerson College
Joe Sikowitz (he/him)
Executive Director
Fenway Library Organization
Harnessing the Power of Information Literacy in an Era of Alternative Facts and Post Truths
Simmons Center for Information Literacy
Vivienne Piroli & Laura Saunders�Simmons University
From your perspective…�
Challenges/Issues
Poll Everywhere free text poll activity�Activity Title: In a word what is the most significant information literacy challenge you face?�Slide 3
Students: Un- and Under-Informed
Instruction Librarians
From your perspective…�
What do you need?
Poll Everywhere ranking poll activity�Activity Title: Rank the interventions in order of what you believe will have the greatest impact on student learning.�Slide 8
Simmons Center for Information Literacy (SCIL)
Our vision is a world where information literacy transcends boundaries of privilege and circumstance, where critical thinking flourishes, and where every person has the tools to transform information into knowledge, opportunity, and positive change.
Development
Initiatives
Next Steps
INITIATE INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECTS
ENGAGE IN RESEARCH
SUPPORT CURRICULAR EFFORTS
Interested in Collaborating?
Contact us:�https://www.simmons.edu/scil�scil@simmons.edu
Questions & Discussion
References
Intermission
We’ll be back soon!
Table Talks
How does giving hands-on experience working with archival resources help college students gain information literacy and critical thinking skills?
Has your institution or library encountered pushbacks to information literacy or DEI initiatives and if so, how have you reckoned with these challenges in your practices?
Dawn Stahura (she/her)
Research and Instruction Librarian & Zine Librarian Salem State University
Michael Dello Iacono (he/him)
University Records Manager
Moakley Archive & Institute at Suffolk University
Catherine Fahey (she/her)
Open Education Resources Librarian
Salem State University
Round 1 Lightning Talks
The Alternatives Library
Collection
Made with care by Dawn Stahura
To date: Pulled over 1600 items
Full run of these publishers:
Unique titles such as:
Worked with 5 courses since Spring 2024
2 student directed studies
Temporary home
Permanent home
NEXT STEPS
I hope these steps lead us here...
Reach out!
Dawn Stahura
Berry Library
dstahura@salemstate.edu
You Matter. Always.
“The Other Black Newspaper”:
Suffolk University students provide global access to the
Michael Dello Iacono (he/him)
University Records Manager
Moakley Archive & Institute at Suffolk University
The Boston Chronicle-Suffolk connection
At left, Thaddeus Kitchener’s original application to Suffolk. At right, a class photo believed to have been taken when Kitchener was a student at Suffolk.
Kitchener in the 1930 census—living at same address is Alfred Haughton, another founding member
Letterhead, 1931 (from WEB DuBois Papers, UMass)
Christiana McKenzie, BA ’25 (History/Political Science);
founding member and President of The Kreyól/Kriolu Association (TKA) at Suffolk , pursuing J.D. in fall
Meagan Columbus, BA ’25 (History), and pursuing M. Ed.in Secondary Education in fall
A unique internship opportunity
dc.suffolk.edu/bos-chron
The results (so far…)
Original description (identical for all issues)
Enhanced description and keywords
Not Neutral: Academic Libraries and Democracy
Catherine Fahey
OER Librarian
Salem State University
cfahey@salemstate.edu
Democracy
dēmos 'people'
kratos 'rule'
From the beginning of the American republic, some leaders saw the library as a social institution that could simultaneously diffuse knowledge to members of society and prevent the wealthy and socially elite from having hegemonic domination over learning and education—although it was those elite who selected materials for library patrons.
Libraries, Policy, and Politics in a Democracy: Four Historical Epochs. Paul T. Jaeger, Ursula Gorham, Lindsay C. Sarin, John Carlo Bertot. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, Vol. 83, No. 2 (April 2013), pp. 166-181.
“We are in danger of producing an educated proletariat.” Freeman said. “That’s dynamite! We have to be selective on who we allow to go through (higher education).
“If not, we will have a large number of highly trained and unemployed people.”
Ron Moskowitz. Professor Sees Peril in Education. San Francisco Chronicle. Friday, October 30, 1970.
Intellectual freedom is at the heart of democratic societies. Free people and voters have a right and a responsibility to explore ideas, consult and evaluate information, engage in debate and conversation. Active community members and voters are required to delve into topics that may include unpopular or controversial material. Providing access to information and having space to explore new ideas is among the important work of libraries in a democratic society. Librarians, through training, professional guidance and community work, recognize the importance of this role and safeguard the rights all people have under the protections of the First Amendment.
The Commonwealth Requires the Education of the People as the Safeguard of Order and Liberty
5 Laws of Library Science
The five laws of library science, by S. R. Ranganathan, with a foreword by Sir P. S. Sivaswami Aiyer and an introduction by W. C. Berwick Sayers, 1931.
Round 1
Open Q&A
Table Talks
What work do you do to integrate information literacy in your school’s curriculum?
In an environment where fact-checking is partisan and controversial, how can we encourage people to critically examine how messages are delivered and for what purpose?
Molly Hurd (she/her)
School of Communications Librarian
Emerson College
Ryan Green (he/him)
Student Success Librarian
Middlesex Community College
Stacey Snyder (she/her)
Instructional Design Librarian
Berklee College of Music
Round 2 Lightning Talks
Charting a Course: Curriculum Mapping through Uncertain Seas
Molly Hurd, Eamon Toohey, Cate Schneiderman, Tyler Rowe
What do we Mean?
The process of creating student learning outcomes for information literacy and figuring out how those SLOs align with the goals of different majors and departments across Emerson.
The goal: stop playing information literacy whack-a-mole.
Our partners: Office of Academic Assessment
The Process:
2. Rewrote ARCL Frameworks:
1. Rewrote Mission Statement:
“You are not the first
To join this conversation
We welcome your ideas”
3. Revisited current classes and partnerships
4. Wrote SLOs:
TLA 4: “Embrace their own agency as researchers and creators who can contribute to the ongoing exchange of ideas within the classroom, community, and professional world.”
Next Steps:
“At the Iwasaki Library, we work with faculty and for students. We support Emerson students throughout the research and creation process; we collaborate with faculty to build high-impact, assignment-driven instructional experiences, empowering students to become information-literate creators and lifelong learners.”
What does this look like in practice?
In the Face of Internal Adversity:
We have snapshots of current collaborations and gaps in our curriculum.
Aligned SLOs provide a guide for future high-impact
collaborations
Systematic implementation of information literacy SLOs helps with setting boundaries.
Aligned SLOs are a starting point for creating inroads with new faculty partners.
In the Face of External Adversity:
Equity, Access, and Social Justice:
Safety in Significance:
TLA 2: “Critically evaluate information resources, taking into account the origins, context, and authority of materials, while actively seeking diverse perspectives.”
Dis-batching Emails: How Excel Can Personalize Communication to Grow Connections
Ryan Green
Student Success Librarian
Middlesex Community College
Just like the color
No, the color doesn’t have an “e” at the end
Why use Excel?
Personal
Efficient
Impersonal
Inefficient
Chart O’Communication
Why use Excel?
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Mail Merge >
Mail Merge
1: Where were you two years ago
2: Feel free to take a nap for the next three minutes
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Resources:
Greenr@middlesex.edu
FLO ILS 5/8/2025
Stacey Snyder �(Berklee College of Music)
Mind Games:
Helping Students and Staff Identify Internal Bias and Flawed Reasoning
1
An invitation to “pitch”
74
74
2
School of Thought
Nonprofit Critical Thinking Projects
.
3
Identifying logical fallacies and cognitive biases
4
5
“A logical fallacy is a flaw in reasoning. Logical fallacies are like tricks or illusions of thought, and they're often very sneakily used by politicians and the media to fool people.”
&
Cognitive Biases
Logical Fallacies
“Cognitive biases make our judgments irrational. We have evolved to use shortcuts in our thinking, which are often useful, but a cognitive bias means there’s a kind of misfiring going on causing us to lose objectivity.”
Mind Games:
Can you beat the Bias and Find Flawed Thinking
Session description
Put your critical thinking skills to the test and see if you can spot flawed reasoning and hidden biases you might encounter while reading the news or browsing social media. Learn how to recognize manipulative tactics, break down misleading arguments, and sharpen your ability to separate fact from fiction. Plus, discover valuable news media resources available through the library to help you stay informed and critically engaged.
6
Submitting Answers
Socrative’s Space Race (students)
Zoom Poll (staff)
Via mobile – race rockets, unicorns, bears, etc. to increase engagement through competition
Submit same generic poll for every question to enable discussion
7
Examine
Determine
Submit
Answer & Discuss
Look at the example and determine how it might be misleading
Identify which logical fallacy or cognitive bias is present using the deck of cards
Submit your answer to Socrative
Discuss what is misleading or biased and how might the argument or analysis be improved
8
TO
HOW
PLAY
What are the fallacies?
9
What are the fallacies?
10
What are their biases?
11
What are their biases?
12
13
Be
Don’t
Tricked
Stacey Snyder (ssnyder3@berklee.edu)
Link to slides →
(thanks!)
14
Round 2
Open Q&A
Wrapping Up
FLO Information Literacy Event Planning Committee
In the Face of Adversity:
FLO Information Literacy Symposium 2025
Thank you for attending!