Sonja Armbruster, Wichita State University Health Sciences Educator, talks via Zoom during the Oct. 14 Researching the Pandemic Series. Armbruster, along with Jeff Jarman, Elliot School of Communication; and Amy Chesser, Associate Professor of Public Health Services, were the expert panelists for the event, focusing on misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Virtual panel series invites health, communication experts to discern misinformation
The second of three virtual panel discussions focused on combatting misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Researching the Pandemic: Public Health Information and Misinformation in the wake of COVID-19" took place Oct. 14 via Zoom hosted by University Libraries. Panelists included Wichita State public health and communication experts Sonja Armbruster, WSU Health Sciences Educator; Jeff Jarman, KHF Distinguished Chair, Elliot School of Communication; and Amy Chesser, Associate Professor of Public Health Services.
Much of the question-and-answer-style discussion focused on topics such as fact-checking in the media, health literacy, information sharing on social media, and COVID-related research.
"We have to teach our students to be better questioners...we have opportunities with the information that we have as researchers and teachers to share information in ways that are more accessible than perhaps we have done in the past," Armbruster said during the panel.
All three panelists also touched on public perception of health policy and the difficulties related to that subject.
"A lot of what these issues become are really value fights over what our public policy ought to be," Jarmon said. "The challenge for the public is that it is hard to get educated about the issue to figure out what side you want to be on. The easiest way to do that is to rely on media, the news, to give you the information you need to in order to decide [on policies such as] whether to put fluoride in the water or not, whether to pass an ordinance on indoor smoking."
Aaron Bowen, Instruction/Research Services Librarian, moderated the panel.
The full recording of all three panel sessions are available at libraries.wichita.edu/researchingthepandemic.
The winners of the Second Annual Edible Book Festival were chosen in October 2020 among more than 15 entries.
Second Annual Edible Book Festival Goes Virtual
Due to the pandemic, plans for the library's second annual Edible Book Festival were pushed back from spring to fall 2020. Despite having to shift from in-person to a fully virtual event, participation among the library and Shocker community was high with 16 entries. Submissions were taken until late September, with the contest taking place and ending in October.
The Edible Book Festival is a contest to see who can make the best culinary creation based on literature. This year, participants submitted photos of their edible art, and all were allowed to vote via the University Libraries website. More than 500 votes were cast to choose this year's winners, who were as follows:
First place: "Holes" by Nicole Bloomquist
Second place: "Dune" by Kerry Majher
Third Place: "The Lorax" by Itzel Zubia
Judge's Choice: "Oh the Places You'll Go" by Rocio Del Aguila
Honorable Mention: "Pete's Pizza" by The Crane Family
University Libraries announced the winners Oct. 2 with a video that can be viewed here.
