This paper highlights principles of propaganda analysis as supplements to the Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, helping librarians redesign instruction sessions and teaching students to navigate an ocean of information in a Post-Truth era using propaganda examples as pedagogical tools. The Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA), established in 1937, taught the American public to recognize and analyze propaganda materials created by domestic and foreign sources. Violet Edwards, educational director of IPA, believed that librarians were in unique positions to teach propaganda analysis to the public. Edwards noted that librarians “must be encouraged to take a position of leadership and of responsibility in today’s most vital educational task—the development on the part of all of us of the ability to think critically and creatively.” The ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education educates information users about “the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.” Eighty years before the adoption of the Framework, the IPA developed the ABC’s of Propaganda Analysis as a seven-point guide for the general public to analyze propaganda materials. The IPA disbanded in 1942, but its ABC’s of Propaganda Analysis are relevant and valuable in a Post-Truth era where “fake news” and “alternative facts” pervade the information ecosystem. This paper explores where the ABC’s overlap with the Framework. This paper also highlights principles of propaganda analysis as supplements to the Framework, helping librarians redesign instruction sessions and teaching students to navigate an ocean of information in a Post-Truth era using propaganda examples as pedagogical tools.

1. 1
Incorporating Propaganda Analysis in the Use
of the Framework for Information Literacy for
Higher Education in a Post-Truth Era
POPULAR CULTURE AND INFORMATION LITERACY
Greg Hardin, MLS
Associate Librarian
Information Literacy Coordinator
University of North Texas
Doug Campbell, MLIS, MA, MDiv
Associate Librarian
Library Learning Services Librarian
University of North Texas

2. 2
A Night at the Garden (clip)
https://vimeo.com/316170430

3. 3
Godwin’s Law

4. 4
At its most basic, information literacy can
be defined as the ability to think critically
about information.
-adapted from ACRL IL Standards
What is Information Literacy?

5. 5
Information Literacy Defined
“Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities
encompassing the reflective discovery of
information, the understanding of how information
is produced and valued, and the use of information
in creating new knowledge and participating
ethically in communities of learning.”
Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to
“recognize when information is needed and have the ability to
locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.”
FRAMEWORK
STANDARDS

6. 6
ACRL Information Literacy
Competency Standards for Higher Education
 Standard One: Know
 Standard Two: Access
 Standard Three: Evaluate
 Standard Four: Use
 Standard Five: Ethical/Legal

7. 7
The Framework
 Authority Is Constructed and Contextual
 Information Creation as a Process
 Information Has Value
 Research as Inquiry
 Scholarship as Conversation
 Searching as Strategic Exploration
• Six Frames
• Knowledge Practices
• Disposition

8. 8
The Framework
• Combines core concepts, with options for
implementation within each context.
• Envisions information literacy as the set of
integrated abilities
• Provides the foundation to scaffold learner in
their understanding of the core information
literacy concepts through all stages of their
academic careers and beyond.

9. 9
The Frames
Explore Create
Inquire
ValueConverse
Construct
FRAMES

10. 10
Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA)
"propaganda analysis is critical thinking"
-Violet Edwards, Educational Director of
the IPA

11. 11
Seven Common Propaganda Devices
Glittering
Generalities
Testimonial Bandwagon
Name
Calling
Transfer Plain Folks
Card
Stacking

12. 12
Seven Common Propaganda Devices
Oh, we are the seven devices,
We turn up in time of crisis;
We play upon your feeling,
We set your brain a-reeling,
We are seven active contrabanders,
We are seven clever propaganders.

13. 13
ABC’s of Propaganda Analysis
Ascertain Behold Concern Doubt Evaluate Find Guard
A B C D E F G

14. 14
Using the ABC’s Today
Don’t be stampeded.
Beware of your own prejudices.
Suspend your judgment until
more sides of the issue are
presented.
Analyze them.

15. 15
WWII Anti-Discrimination And Race Relations (clip)
https://youtu.be/7ZKPpEUsjLo?start=636&end=693

16. 16
“It is essential in a democratic society that young people and adults learn how to
think, learn how to make up their minds. They must learn how to think
independently, and they must learn how to think together. They must come to
conclusions, but at the same time they must recognize the right of other men to
come to opposite conclusions. So far as individuals are concerned, the art of
democracy is the art of thinking and discussing independently together.”
- The Fine Art of Propaganda
The Art of Democracy

17. 17
THANK YOU