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At the same time 49% respondents are finding it difficult to have reliable and dependable information on
the topic.

Yet in another survey conducted by Soroush Vosoughi, a data scientist in MIT making study on Fake

News since 2013 concluded “that it is not just because of bots. It might have something to do with human
nature.” The survey results show that:
 45% of UK adults believe they encounter fake news online every single day.

 A further 19.64% believe they encounter fake news online at least once a week
 Just a fifth believe they never encounter fake news

T A Ghebreyesus, Director, WHO at Munich Security Conference 2020 said that “‘we are not just fighting
an epidemic; we're fighting an infodemic.' In the following weeks his statement has proved an

unequivocal reality as people across the world struggle to unravel an over-abundance of information about
the virus, desperately trying to find reliable guidance as they navigate their way through these troubled

times. Science is playing a key role in our battle against the virus and yet often, it has become genuinely
difficult to separate good science from bad, and work out what is actually sensible, reliable theories and
what is conjecture or just plain rubbish”

To sum up, we can conclude that majority of the population regularly encounter fake news online. If this
is the level of trust in the information being spread through various digital platforms it would be almost

impossible to manage adequate epidemic response through shared situational awareness.

We must ensure that Internet continue to play the role (same as of libraries) of universal and equal access
to information This calls for developing a sustainable information management system to do systematic
analysis of data and information being transmitted digitally and make practical recommendations for the
future. There is a need to develop robust healthy internet which is open, trustworthy and secured for one
and all.

A library’s classical role is to provide timely, germane, current, pin-pointed, exhaustive, and authentic
information expeditiously in the desired format to its users and potential users. Librarians may adopt two

prong approaches to deal with the menace of Infodemic:

1. To extend reliable guidance: Libraries should act as clearing house of authoritative and authentic

information on the pandemic
a. To raise public awareness through public health education and proving information service to
Medical/ Para-medical professionals and researchers.
b. Provide links to the authoritative and authentic sites on COVID-19 including WHO, National
and international Medical Institutes, Federal and State Government Departments, etc.

c. Host authoritative and authentic data and provide free access to the users
d. Collect relevant information like SOPs, Directives issued from time to time, etc and act as

single window source of information.

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