The aim of this Bachelor’s thesis is to expand the knowledge about teaching academic librarians' relationship with Wikipedia and their perception of the website’s credibility. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with six teaching academic librarians. The data was then analyzed qualitatively through the lens of the three concepts credibility, source criticism and source trust. The overall findings show a consensus among the librarians towards Wikipedia. They used Wikipedia in their work, though to which degree depended on their personal interest in the website. Moreover, they believed that it could be used as a way for them to further their own education in specific subjects, source criticism and academic writing. The interviewed librarians were either active writers or editors on Wikipedia or could imagine themselves becoming it in the future. However, opinions varied on the subject of researchers writing about their own research on Wikipedia, as some librarians meant that using Wikipedia as a promotional tool had a negative effect on the website’s credibility. They had a positive view of students using Wikipedia as a way to begin their information searching, but discouraged using it as a sole source, and suggested that educators might benefit from being more open-minded towards the website. It is suggested that further research could explore teaching academic librarians' relationship with artificial intelligence (AI) and their perception of its credibility, as the interviewed librarians expressed that they felt like the current concerns about AI largely had replaced the similar concerns previously conveyed about Wikipedia.

The aim of this study is to get more knowledge about youths strategies in searching for Information online. The data was gathered with focusgroups conducted with four youths in each group. The participants were students in year nine of the swedish elementary school. After two focusgroups several themes identified in the material from group one reappeared in the material from group two, the material from two groups was enough for this purpose. The themes identified were searches, results and how to evaluate sources. The findings of the study were analysed with a sociocultural using thematic analysis. The youths expressed that they see internet searches as something they do all the time. They said that they had learned how to evaluate sources and what to believe in from the school and their parents. The youths preferred to use the search-questions that Google suggested and claimed that they resulted in a better result rather than using their own queries. They reflected on the words they use to initiate a search and they change their wording if needed to get a result they are satisfied with. The youths also expressed that they just know things about digital literacy since they grew up with it. In a sociocultural context this is the learning initiated by the need for development in the society.

In this study, we have used a survey to investigate students in higher education and their self-efficacy abilities in Media and information literacy (MIL). We have investigated whether the students felt that the MIL-related education, offered by the libraries, helped them develop their abilities when they took part in it. The survey also asked if the students would like more such education. The results in this study revealed that the students at Chalmers had a high self-efficacy for critical thinking and information seeking both in their studies and in their social media habits. The result also revealed that despite their high self-efficacy the students still wished for more education in media and information literacy.

The purpose of this bachelor´s thesis is to create an understanding and reflection about how librarians at a small public library work to counter disinformation in their professional practice. Similarly, we students, aim to understand how disinformation impacts library´s democratic mission, and how they promote media- and information literacy. The practical work that librarians perform daily needs to be further highlighted to create awareness among the public. That's because librarians work for democracy, information acquisition, education, and free opinion according to the Swedish Library Law (SFS 2013:801). In a similar way, smaller public libraries need to be made more visible. A qualitative method was employed, consisting of semi-structured interviews conducted with six librarians from two small public libraries [in the middle part of Sweden]. The theoretical framework of the thesis consists of the concept of media and information literacy. The findings of the thesis demonstrate that the librarians at smaller public libraries have more control over the spread of disinformation in the practical work related to literature purchases than in their interaction with library patrons. Conversations within the library space present a complex situation and crossing a boundary pose challenges in fulfilling the library´s democratic mission. The findings demonstrate that the librarian´s action is influenced and subject to reflection, particularly when addressing social crises, like covid-19, as compassion plays a role on their practice. The thesis has helped to create an understanding and insight into how smaller public libraries work with the few resources and conditions that exist to counteract disinformation in their daily work practice.

In recent years, theories have emerged about whether the source critical approaches that are encouraged in school affect students’ trust in credible sources. The purpose of this thesis is to illuminate the perspectives of upper secondary students; their experiences of lectures in source criticism, and how the teaching has affected their trust in the credibility of established news media, scientific research, and authorities. The purpose is also to illuminate how educators can encourage upper secondary students to be source critical and at the same time maintain their trust in reliable sources.  In the beginning of 2022, a digital survey was sent out to upper secondary schools in 15 Swedish cities. The empirical material which the study is based on consists of questionnaire responses from 68 Swedish upper secondary students. The analysis is based on pragmatism and John Dewey’s thoughts on teaching to interpret, understand and explain the statements that emerged in the questionnaire responses. The study identified nine aspects related to how educators can balance source criticism and source trust in their teaching. Furthermore, the results show that source trust may need to be given more space in the lectures, and that the students’ trust in credible sources seem to have been maintained and strengthened to some extent by lectures in source criticism, while the teaching also has contributed to critical attitudes towards the same sources in some respondents. Based on this, it is concluded that lectures in source criticism can have a negative impact on individual students trust in credible sources, and that educators need to reflect upon how they teach source criticism; what messages they send out and how these can be interpreted by their students. This is a two-year master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

Skolan har ett viktigt uppdrag när det gäller att undervisa om källkritik och att träna kritiskt tänkande, som har stärkts ytterligare genom den senaste läroplanen från 2022 för grundskolan. För att värna om demokratins grundpelare där yttrandefrihet är en viktig del, behöver våra unga medborgare lära sig att se igenom desinformation och konspirationsteorier av olika slag. I en värld där information är en färskvara är det också viktigt att kunna bedöma om källan är aktuell och adekvat och att kunna skilja ut de trovärdiga källorna i mängden och våga lita på dessa. Syftet med studien är att genom en vetenskaplig teori kring källkritik och kritiskt tänkande, lyfta fram mellanstadieelevers upplevelse av vad som gör en källa trovärdig eller inte trovärdig, som ett bidrag till den fortsatta forskningen. Det empiriska underlaget samlades in genom tre olika fokusgruppssamtal med elever i årskurs fyra och sex på en mellanstadieskola på en mindre ort i södra Sverige. Studien visar att eleverna utgår från sina erfarenheter och förkunskaper när de bedömer om en källa är trovärdig eller inte. Där eleverna själva saknar kunskaper för att kunna göra en bedömning använder de sitt sociala nätverk för att vikta trovärdigheten hos information och källor. Deras resonemang visade att de hade ett kritiskt tänkande när de sökte information, även om deras kunskaper kring bakomliggande faktorer och dolda agendor var begränsade. Didaktiskt behöver lärare i samhällskunskap vara uppmärksamma på när elevernas förkunskaper gör att de tolkar information och källor på ett mindre kritiskt sätt än de borde. Eleverna behöver kunna ta både det abstrakta och det konkreta i beaktande när de viktar information och källor, förstå processer bakom och på ett djupare plan. ”Kunskap är makt”, som filosofen Francis Bacon uttryckte det. / The school has an important mission in teaching source criticism and training critical thinking, which has been furthermore strengthened by the latest 2022 curriculum for the Swedish middle school. To protect the pillars of democracy where freedom of speech is an important part, we need to teach our young citizens to see through misinformation and conspiracy theories of various kinds. In a world where information is a fresh commodity, is it also important to be able to assess whether the source is current and adequate and to be able to distinguish the credible sources from the crowd and dare to trust them. The purpose of the study is to, through a scientific theory around source criticism and critical thinking, highlight middle school students’ experience of what makes a source credible or not credible, as a contribution to the continued research. The empirical data was collected through three different focus group discussions with pupils in grades four and six at middle school in a small town in southern Sweden. The study shows that students rely in their experiences and prior knowledge when they judge whether a source is credible or not. Where the students themselves lack the knowledge to be able to make an assessment, they use their social network to weight the credibility of information and sources. Their reasoning showed that they had critical thinking when seeking information, although their knowledge of underlying factors and hidden agendas was limited. Didactically, social studies teachers need to pay attention to when pupils’ prior knowledge causes them to interpret information and sources in a less critical way than they should. Students need to be able to take both the abstract and the concrete into account when weighing information and sources, understand processes behind and on a deeper level. “Knowledge is power”, as the philosopher Francis Bacon put it.