Posted on 21 April 2023 by SkS-Team, Doug Bostrom

As principal funder (with help from many!) and producer of Cranky Uncle, we're pleased to report that the Institute for Information Literacy at Purdue (IILP) 2023 Publication Award for Excellence in Information Literacy Scholarship has been awarded to our founder John Cook & coauthors' paper The Cranky Uncle game—combining humor and gamification to build student resilience against climate misinformation, published in Environmental Education Research. 

In IILP's words, this 2023 award "honors a publication exploring and expanding the role of information literacy in navigating current information challenges."

The IILP award includes $1,000 for recipient authors to share. Cook et al. are sending their earnings straight back into further development of Cranky Uncle, where these funds will be very useful in helping to drive forward with translations, further development and routine maintenance.

Purdue University's IILP "brings together researchers, educators, and stakeholders to investigate information literacy challenges. Our common purpose: developing new information literacy models to navigate the perilous world of information. The Institute creates a community of information literacy researchers whose work enables people to successfully navigate today’s information environment."

IILP's purpose in award recognitions:

Society faces significant information challenges today, ranging from misinformation campaigns designed to confuse and disempower, to a lack of access to credible information that can have life-altering, disproportionate effects on different communities. Information literacy researchers make a positive difference in addressing these unwieldy challenges. The Institute’s Best Publication Award highlights excellence in information literacy scholarship that results in significant developments and innovation in information literacy models addressing information challenges.

Congratulations to authors John Cook, Ullrich K. H. Ecker, Melanie Trecek-King, Gunnar Schade, Karen Jeffers-Tracy, Jasper Fessmann, Sojung Claire Kim, David Kinkead, Margaret Orr, Emily Vraga, Kurt Roberts & Jay McDowell.