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Call for Chapters

Building Health Misinformation Immunity: A Professional's Guide to Helping the Public

Part of the Medical Library Association Books Series, to be published by Rowman & Littlefield, 2022.

Editors: Alla Keselman, PhD, National Library of Medicine; Catherine Arnott Smith, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Amanda J. Wilson, MSLS, National Library of Medicine

We are looking for original work that has not been published elsewhere, of a length between 5,000-6,000 words. Research papers presenting a single empirical study will not be considered. The contributor selection process begins on June 1, 2021. All contributors will be notified by July 1, 2021. Drafts are due to coeditors on September 1, 2021, and final manuscripts on January 15, 2022. An overview of the book appears below.

Please send chapter proposals (750 - 1000 words -) and a current curriculum vita to lead editor Alla Keselman (keselmana@nih.gov). Use the subject line “MLA Book Chapter” in your email. Either Dr. Keselman or coeditors Catherine Arnott Smith (casmith24@wisc.edu) and Amanda J. Wilson (amanda.wilson@nih.gov) can be contacted with questions.

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Overview of the book

“Building Health Misinformation Immunity: A Professional's Guide to Helping the Public" is a timely book to help librarians, health professionals, and educators combat the proliferation of online health misinformation. The book, written from the e-Health literacy perspective, is unique in its nuanced approach to misinformation. It draws on psychology and information science to explain human susceptibility to misinformation and discusses ways to engage with the public deeply and meaningfully, fostering trust and raising health and information literacy. In describing proposed solutions, the book draws on the rich experience of the National Library of Medicine and Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM).

Suggested topics for submission

The following outline gives an idea of the topics we are particularly interested in; however, this list is not meant to be exhaustive or restrictive, and potential contributors with other ideas are encouraged to contact us with their suggestions.

"Part I: The Ecology of Online Health Information" provides an overview of the digital health information universe, showing that misinformation is prevalent, dangerous, and difficult to define. It also discusses the role of social media in the phenomenon.

"Part II: Susceptibility and Safeguards" addresses cognitive, social, and emotional competencies that affect susceptibility and skepticism. These include components of e-Health literacy (e.g., information literacy, science literacy, health numeracy) and trust in the various institutions that provide health information. This section also focuses on the historical and cultural experiences of different population groups and how these shaped their health information practices. Last but not least, the section discusses the challenge of producing information quality guidelines for the changing health information landscape.

"Part III: Practice" focuses on education and community engagement initiatives that help the public access high quality information and reject misinformation. In this section, we describe successful programs in public libraries, clinics, schools, and other community settings, as well as effective health communication campaigns. We also discuss expert- led, crowd-sourcing, and automated misinformation detection approaches to flagging and refuting health misinformation online.

About the coeditors

Alla Keselman, PhD, is a Senior Social Science Analyst in the Office of Engagement and Training, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. She holds a PhD in human cognition and learning and an MA in biomedical informatics from Columbia University. Dr. Keselman coordinates NLM efforts in evaluating the impact of its health information outreach and community engagement programs. Her research interests include lay understanding of complex health concepts, scientific literacy, and the provision of health information outside clinical settings. She has done work on bringing health and environment-related topics to the science classroom and conducted research into the role of libraries in providing health information to the public.

Catherine Arnott Smith, PhD, is Professor in the Information School, University of Wisconsin-Madison. A former medical librarian, she moved into biomedical informatics for her PhD through the Center (now Department) of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh (2002), where she was a National Library of Medicine medical informatics predoctoral trainee. Her research centers on consumer interactions with clinical information systems, mediated through text, in settings that range from patient portals to public libraries to disabilities support centers.

Jointly, Dr. Catherine Arnott Smith and Dr. Alla Keselman co-edited "Meeting Health Information Needs Outside of Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges" (2015, Elsevier) and co-wrote "Consumer Health Informatics: Enabling Digital Health for Everyone" (Dec 2020, CRC Press/Chapman & Hall).

Amanda J. Wilson, MSLS, is Chief, Office of Engagement and Training (OET) at the National Library of Medicine. She holds a MS in Library Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA in music and psychology from Emory University. OET brings together the general engagement, training, and other outreach staff from across the library whose primary focus has been on the Library's presence across the U.S. and internationally and coordinates the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM), the field force for the National Library of Medicine. Wilson is also an adjunct professor at The Catholic University of America Department of Library and Information Science.

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