What is academic integrity? Academic integrity is about good academic practice in research, reading and writing, but it is also about how to spot and solve problems with plagiarism and other academic breaches. The Oxford Brookes Academic Integrity course covers the rules of plagiarism but also gives students useful advice on building confidence to avoid …
Tag: academic liaison librarian
How to spot a satirical news article
Sprinter Blames Positive Covid Test On Nutritional Supplement She Didn’t Realize Contained Coronavirus This alarming headline comes from this article in the the online parody news site The Onion. At first glance, the headline could appear genuine. And if you didn’t know The Onion was satirical, you may think it was a real story. However, …
Explore UK Black Pride
UK Black Pride was founded in 2005, and has continued to grow over the years. The organisation promotes unity, solidarity and co-operation among all LGBTQ+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Latin American descent. Image from http://www.ukblackpride.org.uk The pride festival begins on Friday 2 July 2021, with the theme “Love and Rage” which …
How to find reliable information about COVID-19
With the growth of social media and instant communication, online discussions about health and vaccinations have become ubiquitous. Despite greater access to health information, and efforts by public health officials to be transparent, there can be mistrust about the authenticity of scientific advice. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in misinformation shared …
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YouTube rabbit holes: Are algorithms pushing us to consume more fake news?
You may have heard YouTube and other social media sites referred to as ‘rabbit holes’. ‘Disappearing down a rabbit hole’ means that even when you start out with good intentions in searching for information, you could end up reading or watching extremist content or fake news as you continue to follow links to the next …
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Is this information out of date?
As the world opens up for international travel again, many of us are desperate to get away for a well -earned break. But if you were heading off to Paris, would you be happy using a travel guide written in 1886? It might mean that you’re missing something rather important… When we reference sources in …
Who wrote this? Are they authoritative?
In the digital era, anybody can publish a research article, a news item, or an opinion piece online. If we want to prevent the spread of misinformation, we should usually ensure any publication we use comes from an authoritative source. What is an authoritative source? An authoritative source can range from an expert in your …
What is fake news and how can we spot it?
Let's start with a definition of fake news: Any manipulative account of a supposedly newsworthy event or state of affairs which purports to be factually accurate but which is deceptive, misleading, fraudulent, demonstrably false, and/or unverifiable — especially sensational accounts in social media that are designed to ‘go viral’.'Fake news' (2020) in Chandler, D and Munday R (eds.) A Dictionary of Media …
Decolonising and diversifying the library
A number of academic liaison staff have been involved in projects looking at how the library could help with decolonisation and diversification of the curriculum. Libraries are complicit in supporting constructions of knowledge that perpetuate existing power structures, and how at the same time they may have the potential to serve as sites of resistance …
Learning Resources: Still Working For You – Academic Liaison
Helping students and academic staff access what they need online is always a big part of what the Academic Liaison teams do, so unsurprisingly we have been busier than ever since our physical campuses closed and we all moved to working from home. Within a few days of universities starting to send students home, big …
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A defence of subject specialism in academic librarianship
As anyone with an unusual surname will know, it has its pros and cons. Mine was a real asset recently when my dad was taken into hospital with a serious illness. Everywhere in the health system where my Dad was treated, or my anxious Mum comforted - from paramedics to rehab and all the hospital …
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OXFORD BROOKES LIBRARY NEWS 