Portal: Libraries and the Academy 2019 Johns Hopkins University Press Award for Best Article

The Best Article Award Committee has announced the selection of "Post-Facts: Information Literacy and Authority after the 2016 Election" as recipient of the 2019 Johns Hopkins University Press Award for the best article published in portal: Libraries and the Academy during 2018. Written by Stefanie R. Bluemle, the article appears in volume 18, number 2, pages 265–82 and can be accessed at https://muse.jhu.edu/article/690729.

The criteria used in the selection process for this award include the caliber of the research framework; the extent to which the article places library issues in a broader academic or higher education context; the degree to which the article makes a significant contribution to the literature or the advancement of knowledge; and the timeliness, originality, and overall quality of writing. After an assessment of all articles in volume 18, members of the Editorial Board submitted nominations, from which the Best Article Award Committee compiled a short list of three contenders for further consideration. The voting overwhelming endorsed Bluemle's piece as the 15th annual recipient of this award. The author will receive a plaque from the Johns Hopkins University Press and a $500 cash prize.

As noted in the committee's report, this relevant, well written, and highly readable article confronts us with shocking implications for the work librarians do in organizing and making research accessible if objective reality is denied and language is used to dissemble and mislead. It weaves together the LIS literature and current news and, in so doing, challenges the status quo in information literacy theory and practice. Additionally, it forces academic librarians to grapple with the present realities of the national political landscape and and gives them much to think about in terms of how they approach teaching students to explore and determine authority. Timely and original, the article offers a thoughtful reflection on the subversion of objective truth and provides a tangible example of the value of libraries.

Bluemle is a research and instruction librarian, library liaison to the humanities division, and coordinator of the information literacy instruction program at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.

Thanks to this year's Best Article Award Committee members: Rebecca Albitz, Melody Herr, and Maribeth Slebodnik (chair). Their thoughtful efforts identified a most deserving recipient of this recognition.