Faculty Perspectives on Mis- and Disinformation across Disciplines

Librarians, who have long promoted the criticality of information literacy, were quick to identify a role for themselves in confronting the challenges of mis/disinformation through library instruction. Nevertheless, little research has been done to examine discipline faculty's perspectives on mis/disinformation or the extent to which they are addressing the issue in their classrooms. This paper begins to address this gap in the literature through a nationwide study and follow-up interviews of faculty across disciplines to probe their perspectives on the challenges of mis/disinformation. Participants were asked about their views on mis/disinformation, whether and how they address mis/disinformation in their courses, and their perceptions of their students' ability to identify and evaluate mis/disinformation. The findings of this study have implications for academic librarians, especially liaison librarians with instructional responsibilities, and may be of interest to academic library directors and deans who oversee library instruction programs.