I'm sure we've all read articles about the fake news that circulates in an information environment anchored by social media, and the relation of that information environment to the election.

Libraries are participants in this new information enviroment, so I have some questions.

1. Do libraries understand the algorithms and metadata that guide search results and suggestions in the services they provide? Do these algorithms reproduce biases in our society?
2. Are libraries provide compelling enough services to be meaningful and reliable participants in public discourse?
3. When libraries connect their services to social networks (for example with a Facebook "Like" button) are they making user's the information environment better or worse?
4. With many users fearing a more authoritarian state, are libraries providing services that are safe from surveillance by commercial or government entities?


Eric Hellman
President, Free Ebook Foundation
Founder, Unglue.it https://unglue.it/
https://go-to-hellman.blogspot.com/
twitter: @gluejar