Through the selection of books they curate, how have libraries historically portrayed “truth?” By viewing their catalogs holistically, how do different libraries portray different truths? Should libraries preserve all types, or specific kinds, of truth (e.g. propaganda)? What is the role of a librarian as a purveyor of truth? How have we, as information consumers and now curators, taken on that role ourselves? How has that role changed and adapted with the shifting permanence of text, as we moved from using mainly physical books to constantly changing databases (such as Wikipedia)? In a time when CNN (a reputable news outlet) publishes stories with the title: “ALLEGATION ABOUT SUSAN RICE UNMASKING IMPROPERLY IS “FALSE” ” (with the word “false” specifically put into quotations), what is the sociocultural and greater historical role of knowledge/truth collection?
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