New article out today! Grateful to share the development of this Anti-Infodemic Virtual Center with Ian Brooks at the Center for Health Informatics. DOI https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2023.5

After a two-hour WHO workshop on how to understand and use storytelling today, I'm reminded again of how much colleagues have helped support my well being simply by sharing the work of try to establish stories based on accurate data and information. The workshop was led by a UK organization focusing on qualitative research, and it was based on 68 interviews with frontlines health care providers about storytelling in their word during the Covid-19 pandemic and accompanying infodemic. The infodemic is the accompanying disinformation, misinformation, malinformation, and flood of information that accompanies major disruptive events in a digitally networked world. Here's the WHO overview of the topic.

For my part, colleagues like these were an absolutely foundational part of my sustaining not only research momentum during lockdown but also mental health. There's nothing as strengthening as being part of a team working hard on some of the world's most pressing problems. The shared values of people, health infomation, and leveraging technology for social good creates a camaraderie among the team that sustains as we move ahead with future plans to implement this anti-infodemic virtual center.


Data Storytelling Toolkit for Librarians, early demo!

 Data Storytelling Toolkit for Librarians, early demo is available! This is more of a conceptual mapping than a completed product or project, in alignment with our two-year planning grant. But you can walk through a demo mockup here:

https://uiucdstl.wixsite.com/uiucdstl

This work is a product of a year of collaboration with the Core Design Team, a team of 40 volunteer librarians, library data experts, and researchers who have contributed their knowledge and experience throughout this first year of the project.

Next year, we'll be refining the toolkit and offering larger public workshops for broad participation and feedback from the library community. Stay tuned!