Like most librarians, I teach one-shot instruction sessions for numerous departments across campus on myriad topics. Fortunately, most faculty give me the entire class period to go over research techniques and evaluating sources. Prior to 2017, my discussion around evaluating sources happened towards the end of the class period, after I had demoed a few databases and searched the library catalog. This worked until it didn’t anymore. After the 2017 presidential inauguration, faculty and students returned to a more complex classroom climate, accentuated by tension, fear, and sadness.

Because of this new climate, I noticed a change in instruction requests. For the first time, faculty were asking me to specifically mention how to spot fake news. After a few of these sessions, word got out and suddenly faculty were requesting whole sessions on evaluating sources and fake news. With the focus on (mis)information, I felt it was finally time to blend evaluating sources with social justice.