Análise das ações de enfrentamento à desinformação realizadas por bibliotecas universitárias federais da região Nordeste do Brasil

Abstract

Disinformation has generated harmful situations for society, since the misrepresentation of information, through manipulation and fraud, works against the right to quality information for social processes aimed at the common good. The disservice generated by misinformation on important issues, such as politics and public health, has negative consequences for everyone, including putting many people's lives at risk. It is therefore essential that efforts be made by various areas of knowledge to combat disinformation and, in this sense, university libraries are considered to have a relevant social role due to their reliability in terms of the information organized and made available to society. The object of this research was to discuss the role of university libraries in combating disinformation. In this context, the general aim of the research was to describe the actions taken by federal university libraries in the northeast of Brazil to combat disinformation. Specifically, it sought to map the actions taken by the BUs to combat disinformation on institutional websites and social networks; to analyze the perception of university library managers about actions to combat disinformation; and to describe the actions found with reference to information mediation. It was based on the assumption that the university library, by proposing actions such as courses, lectures, programs and campaigns aimed at dealing with information, plays a fundamental role in combating disinformation, strengthening the collective understanding of the need for the dissemination and sharing of information to be based on criteria of quality, veracity and a reliable source. The study analyzed the initiatives of university libraries at federal universities in the Northeast region, seeking to identify and describe actions to combat disinformation. This is an exploratory, qualitative and documentary study, using a questionnaire as a data collection tool with library managers. The results of this research provide an overview of how disinformation is being dealt with by the university libraries under analysis, providing a discussion on the urgency of creating policies to tackle disinformation within university libraries. It was concluded that the university library, as an information institution, has an important role to play in the face of disinformation, where it must be vigilant of quality information, always checking the content before passing it on to its users.