Staying Informed in the Age of Covid19: Fight Fake News and Information Overload with These Helpful Tips

By Alan Kilpatrick

Our personal and professional lives have been dramatically impacted by Covid-19.  We’re are all trying our best to stay informed, remain physically and mentally healthy, and to live and work in this brave new world.  I’m certain that I am not alone in suggesting that staying informed about this pandemic and experiencing this constant barrage of information about Covid-19 through the media, social media, and web has become mentally and physically exhausting.  How do you stay informed, prevent information overload, and remain mentally well all at the same difficult time?

Last week, nurse and legal consultant Chantel Josiak, for Lawyer’s Daily, wrote about the Struggle to Stay Informed during this crisis.  Aptly, Josiak identified the need to combat fake news and for credible information:

Knowing when to trust not only the information, but the informer, is challenging. For instance, I wonder how many people believed Fox TV’s Geraldo Rivera saying that if you can hold your breath for 10 seconds, you don’t have the virus… Accurate information is the single most powerful weapon we have right now.

As your Regina Law Librarian, one of my skill sets lays in navigating, curating, aggregating, and communicating sources of information and content.  At the Law Society, we are doing our best to guide you towards reliable sources of information about Covid-19 and its impact on your physical and mental health, the practice of law, and the judicial system.

In this vein, we offer four suggestions that may help you to stay informed:

1. Fight Fake News:

Misinformation and unsubstantiated stories about Covid-19 have become rife. Don’t forget to critically evaluate and assess the content you view.  In this infographic, the International Federation of Library Associations suggests you evaluate the source, check the author, consider the supporting sources, and more!

2. Follow Legal Sourcery Daily:

Legal Sourcery, the Law Society’s award-winning blog, is already the most reliable and trusted source for Saskatchewan legal news.  It’s now your leading resource for everything you need to know about Covid-19’s impact on the legal profession and judicial system in the province.  Your first step should be follow our blog daily, as well as the Law Society’s Covid-19 page.  Look no further afield than Legal Sourcery!

3. Follow These Information Sources to Learn More:

We encourage you to follow these excellent resources for frequent posts and accurate information regarding Covid-19 and the practice of law:

• Corona Virus Guidance / LexisNexis Practice Advisor
This document provides practical guidance regarding the virus’s impact on Canadian employment law, commercial law, corporate law, and litigation practices.  This material is only available to those firms that have access to LexisNexis Quicklaw.

• Court and Law Firm Updates and Roundups / Canadian Lawyer Magazine
Canadian Lawyer provides a daily post aggregating updates from Canadian courts and law firms.

• Covid-19: Emergency Measures Tracker / McCarthy Tétrault
Lawyers at McCarthy Tétrault are monitoring and gathering all emergency measures being made by Canada’s Federal and Provincial governments during the pandemic.

• Covid-19 Legal Materials / Westlaw Next
Westlaw Next, available to our members through the Members’ Resource Section, is collecting and curating all case law, decisions, and bills related to Covid-19.  Scroll to the bottom of the Westlaw Next homepage and select the “Covid-19 Legal Materials” link.

• Covid-19 Resource Hub / Canadian Bar Association
The CBA resource hub provides legal and justice system updates, a great collection of mental health resources, and a variety of professional development resources you may want to take advantage of during the pandemic.

• Covid-19 Updates / Lawyer’s Daily
Perhaps the leading news source for news about the legal and justice systems during Covid-19, follow Lawyer’s Daily for multiple daily posts about the Corona virus.

• Law21 Blog / Jordan Furlong
How is the pandemic driving innovation in the legal sector and the justice system?  Follow Jordan Furlong’s Law21 blog to learn more!

4. Take a Break!

Finally, don’t be afraid to take an “information break” from the news media, social media, or any other sources of information about Corona virus.  This is an overwhelming situation and we are experiencing a global pandemic after all!

Despite the closure of the Law Society’s physical office and library spaces, our top-notch law library professionals are still here to support you virtually.  Don’t hesitate to contact us by email at reference@lawsociety.sk.ca for research assistance and legal information questions. As legal information navigators, we can quickly and efficiently locate whatever you are looking for.  If it takes longer than five minutes to find, contact us!