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(TEST) Navigating Misinformation: Trust in Information in the Digital Age Online
A panel discussion hosted by the University Librarian, Beth Sandore Namachchivaya, featuring librarians Brie McConnell and Kate Mercer, and associate professor and director of Waterloo's U&AI Lab, Lai-Tze Fan.
Misinformation. Disinformation. Malinformation. Navigating the vast amounts of information we encounter daily has never been more challenging. From social media to AI, information is spreading faster than many of us can keep up, let alone determine its authenticity and quality.
In this discussion, the panelists will cover confirmation bias, information and data literacy, and developing AI confidence. Learn how to navigate social media with more confidence and understand the basics of large language models so you can discern the limits of your trust.
This is an online event; please register to receive the event link. If you have accommodation requests or questions, reach out to libevents@uwaterloo.ca with your needs. All are welcome.
- Date:
- Thursday, August 21, 2025
- Time:
- 6:00pm - 7:00pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Online:
- This is an online event. Event URL will be sent via registration email.
- Audience:
- Community Members Faculty / Instructors Graduate Students Library supporters Researchers Undergraduate Students Waterloo staff
- Categories:
- Panel Discussion
Panelists
Dr. Kate Mercer graduated with a Master of Information (MI) from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Pharmacy from the University of Waterloo, focusing on communicating health information. Mercer is the liaison librarian for Systems Design Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Waterloo where her job includes collaboration, teaching, and research. Kate is passionate about understanding how people are accessing, understanding and disseminating information, and researches misinformation, scientific communication, artificial intelligence and empathy in engineering teaching and learning.
Dr. Lai-Tze Fan is a Canada Research Chair in technology and social change and Director of the U&AI Lab at Waterloo. With a focus on artificial intelligence, Fan’s research seeks to intervene in biased technological design and to heighten technological literacy. Fan was a postdoctoral fellow at Concordia, assistant professor at Lingnan University and a visiting scholar at the University of Mainz.
Brie McConnell specializes in literacy and evidence-based research strategies for science and medicine. Brie graduated with a Master of Information Science (MLIS) degree from Western University in 2009, then spent the next 11 years in clinical research at Western and London Health Sciences Centre. In 2020, Brie joined the University of Waterloo Library where she is active in research collaborations and consultations. As a practicing librarian, she is a biomedical database expert and research strategist.
Facilitator
Beth Sandore Namachchivaya is University Librarian at the University of Waterloo. As a member of the University’s senior leadership team, she provides overall leadership for 130 staff in several library facilities for the delivery of library information services that support over 35,000 students, faculty, and staff at Canada's most innovative university. Prior to her appointment at Waterloo, she was Associate Dean, Associate University Librarian for Research, and Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Event Support
Graham Yeates is an administrative assistant at the University of Waterloo Libraries. He helps coordinate event registration. If you have questions about this event, please contact him at libevents@uwaterloo.ca.