Spot the difference with fake news workshop

Controversy about fake news largely circulating the media in recent month has prompted the Pierce College Library to open a student workshop. The first Fake News vs. Real News was on March 1 and will host another on March 21, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Technology Librarian, Clay Gediman said the workshop is designed to help students evaluate news they come across from multiple aspects.

“We’ve had faculty asking us about some of the fake news that’s been going around lately,” Gediman said. “Especially with the last election last semester, this semester we really decided to go forward with it. We got so much feedback from faculty that we decided to do the workshop.”

Library Department Chair, Paula Paggi said the workshop was based on the input of students and the recommendations of professors.

“We do a survey at the end of each workshop and ask for input on what you would like to see presented,” Paggi said. “We go from there to develop these workshops.”

Pierce student Monica Torrico said the workshop would be beneficial but not enough students know the library is hosting these events.

“I don’t know if people will actually go, there is not enough word going around and people aren’t very involved with the campus,” Torrico said. “People just come here to get their credits and move on.”

The library also hosted workshops on evaluating online sources that research strategies and tools starting March 27. Information on these events and times are available on the Pierce College Library website.

There will be two more workshops, coming up on Tuesday, March 21 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the other on Wednesday, May 3 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.