In light of recent events surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, sorting and prioritizing true and reliable information are now more important than ever. Additionally, the World Health Organization has described the secondary issue of an infodemic, which they define as “an overabundance of information — some accurate and some not — that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it.” Thus, UTM Library has taken the initiative to combat misinformation on the disease by creating a platform in the form of a website which includes selected resources on latest events, news and developments on COVID-19 in Malaysia.
The Covid-19 information website is developed by UTM Library and accessible from the URL http://library.utm.my/covid19. The website utilizes RSS feed which allows users to receive the latest updates on Covid-19 as reported by the mainstream news provider namely Berita Harian, New Straits Times and The Star. Additionally, article archives are also created on reports of Covid-19 in Malaysia to further facilitate research on the topic.
UTM Library also recognizes the ongoing efforts by our researchers on creating innovations in combating Covid-19 and has included open access resources from various academic and scientific publishers. These open access resources contain research data and findings relevant to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and immediately available in one place via the website. Among the resources are from the World Health Organization (WHO), Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Emerald, The Lancet and others.
Subsequently, with the new shifts in the media ecosystem, misinformation or ‘fake news’ is spreading like wildfire especially across social media platforms. UTM Library realizes action is needed to educate and advocate for reliable access to authentic information. Hence, the webpage also provides links to verified sources related to Covid-19 in Malaysia such as the Ministry of Health’s website, daily statistics on Covid-19, media conferences from the Prime Minister or Senior Ministers as well as press releases. Rapidly updated information is crucial as ever to combat the dissemination of ‘fake news’ among the community.
For more information and resources on Covid-19, please visit http://library.utm.my/covid19.
Article Prepared by Mdm Syahranah A. Raqi