O Bibliotecário e as Fake News: análise da percepção dos egressos do curso de Biblioteconomia da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

The excess of information is not a phenomenon of the 21st century, nor is it the creation of false news. In the midst of this context, it is linked to the information society, which, faced with the excessive production of fake news, leads to the moment of post-truth and results in disinformation in different scopes and on a global scale. The research links the issue of false news to the information professional, elucidating their competencies and ethical behavior in the current information scenario. The objective of the study is to analyze the perception of graduates of the Librarianship course of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte regarding the ability to combat the dissemination of fake news. As specific objectives outlined: present the concepts of fake news and post-truth; identify the professional competencies of the librarian; to disclose the results collected from a research carried out with librarians from the Librarianship course of UFRN; and to expose the analyzes and understandings from the information given by the librarians about the theme of fake news. It uses as methodology the inductive approach, of exploratory character. As a tool for collecting information, a questionnaire composed of quantitative and qualitative questions was used, with graduates of the UFRN Librarianship course. In order to do so, it perceived that the graduates are satisfactorily performing their professional competencies, adapting the necessary competencies to the context of the informational needs of the current society. It adds that the librarian has the ability to adapt to the professional environment, serving his community in an efficient, responsible and ethical manner. It concludes that the librarian uses the competencies acquired in the academy to prevent the spread of fraudulent news through the instructions provided to users. It suggests the expansion of the research on the competencies of librarians from case studies, in front of the topic of the dissemination of fake news and post-truth.