The Austrian National Library will counter ‘fake news’ with digital literacy courses

As a public institution, library authorities believe that media literacy is the basis for equal participation in society

Yesterday, the Austrian National Library launched its new Centre for Information and Media Competence. The centre will work to bridge the digital skills gap between different segments of the population.

Furthermore, as a public institution dedicated to collecting and preserving knowledge, it will also offer courses in media literacy, finding information and distinguishing between trustworthy and questionable sources. Through the initiative, the library hopes to help Austrians become more resilient to fake news and misinformation.

Media literacy – a very broad concept

According to an official statement by library authorities, the concept of media literacy is very broad and tutors in the new Centre for Information and Media understand it as: “The ability to recognize one's own information needs, to find one's way around the range of information and then to correctly evaluate and use what is found.“

One of the main target groups of the new programme for digital literacy are schoolchildren. Some of the skills the National Library wants to foster include identifying reputable sources on the internet and offering a practice-oriented introduction to research techniques.

Tutors will pay particular attention to writing pre-scientific work for school but also ways to expose fake news through a fun and playful game. Attendants will also learn how to use the library, navigating only via their smartphones.

Authorities also plan to cover adults in the Centre for Information and Media Competence through training courses for beginners, as well as tips and tricks for research professionals. Moreover, according to an official statement, they will also offer individual courses.

National Library Director General Johanna Rachinger explained that the library should provide the required bridge between formal and informal learning, as the ORF reported. This would be a sort of re-imagining of the role of libraries in the digital age, as library authorities say that media literacy is the basis for equal participation in society.