Western Libraries OJS
Not a member yet
7960 research outputs found
Sort by
To Belong: “Seeking Bromance” in Y tu mama tambié
No full textThis essay examines the role of attractiveness, road trips, and sex as means to belonging, as depicted in the film Y tu mama también and in the music video Seek Bromance, two works that arguably belong to the film genres of road film and of bromance
Algorithmic Microaggressions
No full textWe argue that machine learning algorithms can inflict microaggressions on members of marginalized groups and that recognizing these harms as instances of microaggressions is key to effectively addressing the problem. The concept of microaggression is also illuminated by being studied in algorithmic contexts. We contribute to the microaggression literature by expanding the category of environmental microaggressions and highlighting the unique issues of moral responsibility that arise when we focus on this category. We theorize two kinds of algorithmic microaggression, stereotyping and erasure microaggressions, and argue that corporations are responsible for the microaggressions their algorithms create. As a case study, we look at the problems faced by Google’s autocomplete prediction and at the insufficiency of their solutions. The case study of autocomplete demonstrates our core claim that microaggressions constitute a distinct form of algorithmic bias and that identifying them as such allows us to avoid seeming solutions that recreate the same kinds of harms. Google has a responsibility to make information freely available, without exposing users to degradation. To fulfill its duties to marginalized groups, Google must abandon the fiction of neutral prediction and instead embrace the liberatory power of suggestion
Feminism, Social Justice, and Artificial Intelligence
No full textIntroduction to the special issue by editor Carla Fehr
Counting the Undercounted: Enumerating Rural Homelessness in Canada
No full textUntil recently, homelessness in Canada was largely considered to be an urban phenomenon. This assumption has been reinforced by homelessness interventions that primarily focus on urban areas. The past decade has seen a steady increase in research and reports on rural homelessness, using primarily qualitative methods. Recently, there have been some efforts to develop enumeration methods to measure and describe the scale and scope of rural homelessness. These enumerations have resulted in unprecedented availability of quantitative data on the number and characteristics of people experiencing homelessness in rural Canada. In this article we report on research which collected and analyzed data from Canadian rural homelessness enumerations. Significantly, these reports show per capita rates of homelessness in rural communities that are higher than those seen in Canada’s largest urban centres. These enumeration reports also show that a significant percentage of persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) in rural Canada are unsheltered and fall into the category of absolute homelessness. This research provides a snapshot of rural homelessness that is contrary to the dominant narrative of predominately “hidden homelessness” in rural communities. We suggest adjustments to policy and funding of homelessness programs that consider this evolving knowledge about the scale and scope of homelessness in rural Canada
Fisher information approach to understand the Gompertz model
No full textAs a measure of sustainability, Fisher information is employed in the Gompertz growth model. The effect of different oscillatory modulations is examined on the system's evolution and Probability Density Function (PDF). For a sufficiently large frequency of periodic fluctuations occurring in both positive and negative feedbacks, the system maintains its initial conditions. A similar PDF is shown regardless of the initial values when there are periodic fluctuations in positive feedback. By periodic fluctuations in negative feedback, the Gompertz model can lose its self-organization. Finally, despite the fact that the Gompertz and logistic systems evolve differently over time, the results show that they are exceptionally similar in terms of information and sustainability
“To Teach Empathy and Fight Racism”: Exploring the Necessity of Fugitive Libraries in Black Canadian Contexts
No full text“Fugitive libraries,” as described by Shannon Mattern in her titular work, are Black libraries that emerge in American contexts in response to conditions of exclusion and antiBlackness. The question of whether they are necessary in a Canadian cultural context has not been investigated before, in part due to the lack of distinct existing scholarship on Black Canadian librarianship. Using an interdisciplinary framework informed by Black Canadian and Indigenous scholars, I undertake a content analysis and close reading of Black History Month and Black Lives Matter programming and booklists in two Canadian public libraries from 2020-2021 to investigate whether the programming meets the needs of Black Canadian communities, and whether fugitive libraries are a necessary response. I determine that though clear efforts towards the inclusion of Black narratives are apparent in these libraries, Black History Month programming and the discourse surrounding it are shaped to benefit and mobilize non-Black Canadians, rather than to address the needs of particular Black communities, and propose fugitivity as a solution to these conditions
That time I fell down a (research) hole and had to create a zine on how to consult on manga & anime to fight my way out!!!
No full textOnline Content Analysis of Ontario Public Libraries’ Sensory Programming and Service Offerings
No full textSensory storytimes and other similar sensory programming and services, are those which have been specifically designed to respect the needs of autistic children and/or children with sensory processing disorders, even while also being open to a range of neurodiverse attendance. These programs and services are important ways in which public libraries can work to become more inclusive spaces. Nonetheless, sensory storytimes and other sensory programs and services are not as widely offered at Canadian libraries as they could be. In order to concretize and draw attention to this gap, this paper describes our content analysis research, conducted in July 2021, of Ontario Public Library (OPL) websites and their sensory programming and services listings. Although we found that some OPLs are offering sensory storytimes, as well as other sensory programming and services, we emphasize that offering and advertising these programs and services effectively remains an area of growth potential within Ontario.  
Odegard and Rose’s Failure to Resolve Descartes’ Cartesian Circle
No full textIn this paper, I contend that two proposed solutions for Descartes’ fabled Cartesian Circle have failed in their attempts. This paper only focuses on two criticisms to keep the discussion focused and in depth. This combination was chosen due to their differing methods of attempting to resolve the circle. In Odegard’s case, he mistakenly puts forth that all ideas can be imperfectly certain whereas Rose’s failed since his distinction of ideas was not enough to save Descartes from circularity. I will be evaluating their papers on their own merits, and while other papers may succeed, these two philosophers provide insufficient arguments to resolve the Cartesian Circle
Poetry, Prayer, and Politics: An Autoethnographic Exploration of Womanhood in the Canadian Ugandan Khoja Ismaili Diaspora
No full textThis article takes up an autoethnographic approach to exploring how women in the diasporic Canadian Ugandan Khoja Ismaili community navigate intersecting gendered, ethnic, and religious dynamics. Canadian Ugandan Khoja Ismaili women negotiate these tensions from their positions as racialized and gendered subjects across different geographical locations as members of a ‘twice-displaced’ community. Forces of structural racism that act upon this community as well as patriarchal and cis-heteronormative power relations that function within the community inform how Canadian Khoja Ismaili women navigate their subjectivity. My positionality as a queer Canadian Khoja Ismaili woman and experiences leveraging poetry as a resistance technology provide me with insight into these dynamics