Bonus Podcast: Media Landscapes and 23 Things

23 Things: Media Landscapes logo

Hi everyone, and welcome to a special bonus episode of Linking Our Libraries! We are sharing some information about the free training program available to library staffers: 23 Things Media Landscapes.

We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange. Our members are libraries of all sorts: public, schools, academics, special libraries, archives, and history centers. We talk about a lot of different skills that people will need when they work in libraries. Providing education and training is an important part of our mission. 

And of course, we are not alone in that mission!

Today we have two Guest Hosts who are both actively involved in creating and providing a very interesting, very useful training program in Minnesota: Media Landscapes: 23 Things.

Thank you to Ann Walker Smalley, our fellow multitype system director from the Metronet system, and to Linda Mork from Minitex for joining us today!

Linda will begin by telling us about the Media Landscapes Campaign–how it started, what its goals are, and how it has progressed so far.

Ann will then tell us about the Media Landscapes 23 Things self-paced online training that complements the Campaign.

So, let’s talk about this series to give everyone some perspective on this, and to get you encouraged to sign up for some – or all! – of them

How was the Media Landscapes Campaign conceived?

How it started: The idea for Media Landscapes really began last year when a public librarian in MInnesota reached out to one of my colleagues at Minitex asking if we offered any training for library staff around fake news/misinformation. She had been struggling with one of her library staff members who was spreading misinformation unintentionally to patrons.  

At the time, we pointed the librarian to some online resources that we knew about, but that request was what sparked the conversation about whether we should and how to offer training around the topic. So, we then started reaching out to a number of library groups around the state, including our funding partners in this campaign, CRPSLA, PALS, and the Multitypes, as well as MCTC, and library programs at St. Kates and St. Cloud State universities, to gather ideas about what kind of training and what topics would be helpful for various types of libraries.

Goals: What we found during these conversations was a common need to help Minnesota library staff, who are seen in all communities–public, school, and colleges–as trusted information sources, reflect on and think intentionally about the information sources we recommend and share with patrons as well as to provide a structure for helping library staff and our patrons keep up with the constantly evolving–and frequently polarizing–media landscape. 

  • Understand how people navigate the media and information landscape, and how forces within that landscape influence their navigation.
  • Learn how to build reflection and intentionality into their information consumption.
  • Gain strategies for working with their communities on intentional approaches to information consumption.

Speakers: So, we started looking around for national speakers who could address some of the topics that we had identified. Who did we know, what successful training had we been to, who did others recommend? We started reaching out to some national speakers with a description of our campaign. We also put out a Call for Proposals asking local librarians and educators to share their expertise, best practices, and programming ideas related to information literacy. 

Based on the responses we received and speakers’ availability, we jumped in and began advertising the campaign and its events on our Minnesota professional development website, LevelUpmn.org, as well as pushing news of it out in Minitex News, MetroBriefs, the ITEM school library listserv, and other library news sources.

We kicked off the campaign with Renee Hobbs who is a professor of Communication Studies at the University of Rhode Island. I had attended previous training with her at a Minnesota Council of Teachers of English conference and had learned so much from her. From there, we offered three other webinars: John Mack Freeman, a librarian from Georgia whose expertise is in deepfake technology, Lisa Hinz, an educator from the University of Minnesota on Critical Thinking and Evaluating Information, and Micheal Spikes from Northwestern University on News Literacy.

Has it been a success so far? In what ways?

We have been really pleased with the attendance numbers and feedback we have received about the campaign so far. In looking at the registration data, the total number of registrants for the four webinars we have offered so far is 548 and it seems to be split fairly evenly between library types. One third of registrants were from public libraries, one third from academic libraries, and a third from school and special libraries. We can also see how many people are accessing the recorded webinars.The total there is 311 views. 

The evaluations we have received from attendees have been overwhelmingly positive. We ask respondents to rate whether they understand the topic better and if the presentation provided them with ideas and strategies for using with patrons. Almost all rated these questions Strongly Agree or Agree. We have received many positive comments about each of the speakers:

  • Renee Hobbs, Propaganda: “I would love to learn how to train staff to recognize propaganda and question sources that use it. I would also like to learn to use it for myself!”
  • John Mack Freeman, Deepfakes: “I found it very helpful just to have the correct vocabulary to describe or refer to particular media.”
  • Michael Spikes, News Literacy: “Thank you so much for providing this session. I learned many new things about information and media literacy that I can share.”

Another benefit is that the campaign has also been bringing more people to the LevelUp website. Page views have increased quite a bit since we started the campaign. The site offers a calendar which lists all of the library PD available to Minnesota library staff, including national events that are available to us because of our membership in the Professional Development Alliance. The PDA is a group of library consortia which have agreed to share PD with each others’ members.

What’s next: We are currently taking a break for the summer, but will resume again in the fall. We have some exciting speakers lined up, including Ken Lawrence and Kelly Smith from the Star Tribune, Jameka Anderson from I Am Not the Media, focusing on working with teens, and Rachel Wightman from Concordia University on Faith and Fake News: Helping Churches Address Misinformation. Our planning committee also is reaching out for both national and local speakers on other topics such as Data Literacy, News Deserts, and Digital Citizenship.

Transition? During the summer hiatus, we are excited to offer a free, self-paced professional development which complements the webinars we have offered so far, Media Landscapes: 23 Things….

“Media Landscapes: 23 Things. The seven Minnesota Multicounty Multitype Library Systems have designed a new series of the 23 Things in collaboration with Minitex, to support the Media Landscapes Campaign. This series of 23 Things is designed to help library staff engage more deeply with the issues and concepts addressed in the Media Landscapes Campaign. By working together through these Things, we should all have a greater understanding of disinformation, information/digital literacy, and how to address these issues in various ways and in various library settings.”

A few of the topic that are covered in this series include:

  • What is the history of the 23 Things training programs?
    • MN library staff may remember 23 Things on a Stick that the multicounty multitype systems developed in the early 2000s. It was modeled on the 23 Things program developed by Helena Blower at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library in North Carolina. We put our own spin on the Things focusing on Web 2.0 tools that would be useful for library staff to know and use. It was a big success–more than 1500 staff registered. From the original Things on a Stick, we developed other programs, including Mobile Things on a Stick when phone/tablet apps started to be developed. All the Things on a Stick are self-paced online programs. It has become our ‘brand’ in a way. 
  • Who is involved in developing this program?
    • All the mcmt are involved, but the majority of the Things are written by Metronet staff–me and Olivia Morris. Our MILI program focuses on similar topics, so we can use our experience to develop the Things. The other systems’ staff suggests topics, helps proofread, and other tasks. CMLE created the 23 Things graphics, so thanks Angie & Mary! But most important ,the systems promote the program to the library community. 
  • As of today 243 people have registered! And about 50 have completed one or more of the Things. 
  • How are the topics selected?
    • We follow the Media Landscapes Campaign speakers’ topics. After the presentation, we review what they have talked about and determine where additional or more in-depth information would be helpful. We like a mix of readings, videos, and hands on activities to help people learn and remember. Judging from the comments on the evaluations, participants like that, too!
    • Some participants may find the Things are basic–and the first few are, because the goal of those Things is to set the stage and get everyone on the same page with the same vocabulary and foundational info. If you think it’s too basic for you, I encourage you to keep at it, because there is a lot of info at a lot of levels in the Things.
  • How can people sign up? 
  • What do they do in the classes?
    • It’s a mix of activities. Each Thing has readings/articles that expand or reinforce the concepts of the speakers, along with videos that do the same. There are activities like creating your own meme or deepfake, for example, or quizzes. People seem to love quizzes to test their know of deepfakes or misinformation, 
    • There is a lot of information out there on misinformation, deepfakes, propaganda, and the other topics, so we have sorted through a lot of it to make it easier for people to find useful info. These resources are in each thing. The wide array of resources helps  people expand their knowledge or develop their own programs around the topics.
  • Is there a newsletter? 
    • Yes! Everyone registered can opt in to receive the newsletter that announces when new Things are available and has new info on the Things. You don’t need to register for the Things to receive the newsletter. There have been two so far. I send past issues out to those who have registered since the newsletters were published, so everyone is up-to-date. https://bit.ly/2SRPr7p
  • We are in the process of issuing clock hour certificates to those who have completed the Things–2 hours per thing. We say that you can spend 45-60 minutes per thing, but we know people are spending more time than that based on their comments. 
  • What other programs and training opportunities could people take?
    • We are considering hosting online meetings around the topics to offer the chance for people to share what they’ve discovered and other ideas around using the Things with library users or students. 

Conclusion

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