Librarians know that in the 21st century, information literacy is more than just the ability to identify credible sources; to be fully literate, students also need to know how to spot incredible sources.
In 1835, an ambitious New York City publisher named Richard Adams Locke set out to tell the world an incredible story, indeed. An article appearing in the pages Locke’s newspaper The Sun detailed the extraordinary discovery of alien life—on the moon! Some of the creatures described in Locke’s article included:
- Horned bears
- Unicorns
- Bipedal beavers (who could build huts and had discovered the use of fire)
- Four-foot-tall “man-bats”
Needless to say, Locke’s article caused quite a stir among his 19th century readers. It was the beginning of a battle between truth and misinformation that has been raging ever since; and now, the ability to sort fact from fiction is more important than ever.
To place modern media issues in context, read about Locke’s early experiment with fake news in this excerpt from Libraries Unlimited’s Information Literacy and Libraries in the Age of Fake News, by Denise E. Agosto:
This resource is featured as part of School Library Connection’s Information Literacy Series, a multipart exploration of innovative tools and strategies to help you teach students to spot misinformation online. Click here to learn more about School Library Connection!
