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AI and memes: Across the boundaries
Get PDFMemes have become one of the most popular cultures encapsulated by digital artifacts across digital spaces of all kinds. Users can create memes by themselves but can also use online services or tools. Among these, AI tools are popularly used because they can quickly generate creative memes by exploring vast stores of preexisting resources. Depending on the configurations of their algorithms and storehouses of resources, different AI meme generators can create different memes with the same prompt; further, the same generator can create different memes at different times with the same prompt. In addition, AI-generated memes may include controversial content through images and captions or other components, unanticipated by the writer of the prompt. In this study, we will examine several AI meme generators by creating memes using identical prompts and a series of prompts and compare the outputs, with a focus on cross-world ethical issues through the theoretical lens of information domains (Burnett, 2015; Burnett & Burnett, 2019). The results will provide insights into learning, meme generation, and ethical issues related to the use of AI tools
Understanding the Lived Experiences of Women Refugees from the Middle East and North Africa Region: A Phenomenological Approach
Get PDFThis qualitative study explores the role of urban public libraries in Texas from the viewpoint of women refugees from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. These women encounter challenges as they navigate their daily lives in the U.S. By implementing Intersectionality (Crenshaw, 2017), critical feminist theory (De Beauvoir, 2009; hooks, 2009), and critical race theory (Ladson-Billings, 1998), the researcher examines the information needs and information seeking behaviors among women refugees (including their connection with public libraries).
The researcher utilizes phenomenology by conducting interviews and focus groups with MENA women refugees. Through phenomenology the researcher examines the connections amongst MENA women refugees and their lived experiences in the U.S., explores truth by stating that human knowledge is generated from the work of the expert researcher and somebody who can mention “I” and who is responsible for their knowledge, and educates citizens to become accountable agents of truth (Sokolowski, 2000, Vagle, 2014).
When conducting the semi-structured interviews and focus groups, MENA women refugees share their individual and collective experiences in relation to the information services that public libraries offer to them. These women understand the world by interacting with other people and things, and then they disclose their valuable experiences “truth” with the researcher. The knowledge that these women reveal proves that their experiences are crucial, valuable, and that the creation of human knowledge is not only an outcome of the expert researcher but represents the achievements and possession of all individuals who participate in the research project (Bevir, 2003).
Documenting the War: American Library Community Supports Ukrainian Colleagues
Get PDFThis project shares experiences of a multi-institutional team of library scholars to document the crimes of Russo-Ukrainian war. It highlights construction of a community archive of Ukrainian libraries affected by the war. The project employs participatory archiving with the Ukrainian partners engaged in collection, appraisal, and description and the U.S. researchers create platforms to preserve, classify and disseminate the knowledge, via digital archive in two languages. The project brings experiences of the war to American audience seeking to end the war and prevent future violence
Actively Learning and Practicing Ethical Stewardship
Get PDFThe Archival / Preservation Education SIG session offers pedagogical insights on master’s-level information science and archival education. Five ten-minute individual presentations and audience discussion explore educators’ active learning activities; presenters bring perspectives from multiple states.
“Teaching and Practicing Ethical Stewardship” by Sarah Buchanan reflects on graduate archival classroom experiences with the lodestar of ethical stewardship.
“Exploring Digitized GLAM Collections through the Lens of Critical Data Literacy” by Angela Fritz shares some active learning principles that have provided an instructional framework for the critical analysis of digitized collections in graduate classes focusing on archives and digital preservation.
“The Interconnected Educational World of Archives” by Jeff Hirschy presents a pedagogical argument for breaking down the rigidity of “correct” archival boxes in the archival educational space.
“Fostering Inclusivity: A Comprehensive Exploration of Disability Justice in Information Institution” by Alexandra Pucciarelli proposes approaches to integrate disability justice into archival education.
“Connecting Curriculum to Community: Findings and Recommendations from the Classroom” by Chelsea Gunn, Jane Thaler, and Mahogany Thaxton outlines insights and findings from interviews with community archivists in Pittsburgh conducted during the Connecting Curriculum to Community project.
The moderator will facilitate Q&A within and across the presentations.
Preparing Students for the Workplace: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Get PDFCurriculum for master’s level education in library and information science is an historically popular subject of discussion in the disciplinary literature. Specific topic areas are interrogated (Saunders & Bajjaly, 2022), opinions are solicited about courses or topics which ought to be required of all students (Saunders, 2019) or required of students in particular sub-areas of the profession (Davis & Saunders, 2020; Saunders, 2020; Williams & Saunders, 2020), changes over time are analyzed (EunKyung Chung, Schalk, & JungWon Yoon, 2022), and external standards are developed to articulate the breadth and depth of curricula which “should” be included (ALA, 2023). Similarly, the literature promotes a range of pedagogical approaches (Ely, 2023), and conference programs (such as the ALISE conference) and webinar series (such as those sponsored by ALISE, including the “LIS Pedagogy Chat” series) also address pedagogy.
One aspect of professional practice that has received less consideration is the way students are prepared to hold realistic expectations for the workplace. Those expectations may relate to organizational cultures, practices, and challenges, all of which may be minimally addressed during students’ pre-professional education or ignored completely.
The panel highlights specific aspects of workplace experience as revealed through research projects delving into the lived experiences of library workers. These research findings will be considered in terms of the ways in which they may inform the curricula of master’s programs in the field. The panel will open with a very short introduction by the moderator, Dr. Heidi Julien. Then each panelist will have 15 minutes to summarize results of their recent studies, and individually will suggest their implications for preparing master’s students for the realities of professional practice. The remaining 40 minutes will be devoted to audience discussion about possible ways students may be exposed to these realities. Prompting questions for the audience include:
Are there other workplace realities not addressed by the panel that would be relevant to students?
Who is best positioned to discuss these realities with students – e.g., practitioners? Adjunct instructors? Regular faculty members? Alumni?
Are there existing opportunities in master’s curricula to include these discussions, or would extra-curricular opportunities be more effective?
Ideas generated by the panelists and the audience will be captured and shared with attendees orally at the close of the session
You are not Alone: Confusion with Software Applications in African University Libraries
Get PDFBuilding on Nardi and O’Day’s (1999) classic book on information ecologies exploring the complexities of using multiple software applications in settings including libraries, we note that even though the technologies have changed over the decades, the importance of the work of librarians in assisting patrons has not changed much. Keeping up with popular, constantly evolving software packages like EndNote, Koha, NewGenlib, Baobab eLibrary, Openbiblio, Evergreen, Greenstone, and D-Space to support digital collections in various formats remains a constant challenge. constant challenge. Some librarians feel daunted by learning and explaining new software in a constantly changing technological ecosystem, while others embrace the challenge. As well as using software for their work, librarians have the responsibility to help their patrons learn, adapt, and apply new software to meet their information needs more effectively and efficiently. Like other client-facing professionals, librarians must also be mindful of the ‘myths’ (Ehrlich & Cash, 1994) that clients understand their problems and use online information if available. These software-related challenges have been documented in many countries (Asim et al., 2023, Adhikari, 2023), but our research identified a gap in the literature regarding the situation in Africa. The study implies the importance of education for librarians in adopting the right software and avoiding confusion. We conducted a review of LIS papers harvested from the LIS Ebscohost database about this topic in various countries of Africa between 2012 and 2022, identifying 75 papers as relevant according to our criteria. The poster presents the findings of the scoping review
Hear our Stories: A Call to Action for Indigenizing Information Educational Spaces
No full textThis panel will present a case study of the lived experiences of Native North American Indigenous (NNAI) students and faculty at the University of Washington’s Information School (UW iSchool). NNAI students, both a racialized and politicized group (Brayboy, 2005), are the most underrepresented and underserved within higher educational institutions (Fish & Syed, 2018; Shield, 2004), representing both faculty and students. Overall, less than 0.3% of Native Americans represent the field of information science (Poole et al., 2021). The numbers of NNAI Peoples in information science fields are the most underrepresented of any racialized group (Ball & Lar-Son, 2021; Kim, 2023). Currently, the UW iSchool supports a community of six NNAI PhD students and three NNAI faculty members. Through their personal narratives the UW iSchool Native students and faculty panel will share strengths, strategies, and resources for navigating the multifaceted challenges they have encountered during their academic journeys.
The experiences of NNAI academics have revolved around the historical injustices and institutional biases which contribute to disproportionately higher dropout rates, lower graduation and retention rates, and limited access to culturally relevant resources (Braine & Segundo, (2015). Although it is imperative to identify and address these challenges to uphold principles of justice and promote equitable educational opportunities, this panel will take on a strength-based approach to highlight the successes of the NNAI students and faculty.
Our panel session will be moderated by Dr. Miranda Belarde-Lewis and will start with an overview of our topic, an introduction to the panelists and a briefing on the UW iSchool. The iSchool is interdisciplinary in nature which is also reflected by the diversity of research specializations within our panel. Due to having a large number of presenters, each individual will have five minutes to share their story. First, two out of the three faculty members will share their pathway from being a former PhD student at the iSchool to a current faculty member today. These faculty witnessed and participated in the initial development of Indigenous research groups and initiatives at the iSchool which provided support, resources, and mentorship opportunities for the NNAI community. Examples of these will be showcased in the panel examples such as iNative, the Indigenous Information Research Group (IIRG) and the Native North American Indigenous Knowledge (NNAIK) Initiative which address the information challenges within NNAI communities in support of tribal sovereignty and Indigenous empowerment. These faculty members will discuss how they were supported and mentored during their PhD journeys and how they are passing the baton onto the next generation of future Native faculty and researchers.
Second, four of the six students will share their journey of transitioning from a master’s student in one of the programs at the iSchool to becoming a PhD student. These individuals will share their personal experience of mentorship and support received from the faculty members. The students will discuss the challenges they had to overcome during their transition. Third, the last two students and one faculty member will discuss their experience coming from interdisciplinary backgrounds and how their experience has been supported within a field that incorporates other fields. Their experiences of being part of a Directed Research Knowledge Family will be discussed. At its core, the yearlong DRG Knowledge Family revolved around an Indigenous Health Equity research team. This group prioritized Indigenous research methodologies and approaches.
This panel will provide a platform and space for NNAI academics to amplify their voices and perspectives to share strategies to promote equitable educational experiences for the NNAI experience in diverse areas of the field. Through the fostering of dialogue and sharing encouraging personal experiences and stories encountered at the UW iSchool, the aim is to develop solutions in order to create an inclusive and supportive space for NNAI academics to thrive.
Cultural identity and tribal sovereignty are central to the academic success and well-being of NNAI academics (Isaacs et al., 2020). Therefore, the panel will discuss the importance of culturally relevant education and community engagement initiatives. Through the incorporation of authentic and relevant Indigenous perspectives into the curriculum, the fostering of mentorship opportunities and the support for cultural revitalization efforts, academic institutions can create more inclusive learning environments which accurately represent the cultural identities of NNAI students and embrace their sense of belonging.
Through discussions using Dr. Littletree’s “kitchen table methodology, participants will share best practices, have networking opportunities, and give guidance for other information schools to develop action plans in order to help foster a supportive educational environment for Indigenous scholarship. By leveraging collective expertise, resources, and advocacy efforts, we can drive meaningful change and advance support for NNAI students in academia and beyond, in person and in virtual settings. Together, we attend to a critical call to justice and ensure that the NNAI community receives the respect, dignity, and opportunities they deserve in pursuit of their education
UMLS-Based Approach for Developing VoiS: Voice-Activated Conversational Agent for Self-Management of Multiple Chronic Conditions
Get PDFThis abstract proposes a system design for an ontology-based conversational agent (CA) for the self-management of chronic conditions. The proposed system plans to integrate the largest medical ontology, the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) (Bodenreider, 2004), aiming to narrow the vocabulary gaps between health professionals and patients and to make the agent more responsive to the users.
Recently, conversational agents (CAs) like ChatGPT, or computer dialog systems that simulate human-to-human communication in natural language, have risen and gained popularity in various health contexts (Bin Sawad et al., 2022; Montenegro et al., 2019) including self-management of chronic conditions (Griffin et al., 2020). Despite their potential, the currently available CAs are often criticized for lacking the capability to understand natural language inputs (Montenegro et al., 2019). This limitation can be highlighted in medical areas due to the known vocabulary gaps between health professionals and health consumers. The knowledge-grounded dialog flow for CAs presents the potential to lift this limitation, making CAs naturally converse with their users.
In the proposed voice-activated self-monitoring support (VoiS) application, the research team plans to integrate the UMLS to make the agent better understand lay terms from patients and properly map those terms to medical concepts. This automated process is expected to improve the user experience in two folds: a) promote the quality of communication between the patients and health providers and b) make the VoiS app more responsive to user inputs, overcoming accepting only constrained user inputs (e.g., multiple choice of utterance). 
Youth Services: Culture, Community, & Learning
Get PDFThe ALISE Youth Services Special Interest Group (SIG) presents a panel exploring the ways in which youth services in libraries empower youth and families and how youth programs address learning and incorporate culturally-relevant approaches. The session will begin with presentations of papers (15 minutes each) plus a themed question and answer portion to conclude. Attendees will be able to share their own experiences and work in progress on these topics in the discussion.
Cahill, Joo, Minniear, LeFebvre, & Garcia will present “Math Talk in Public Library Virtual Storytime Programs.” This work presents an analysis of mathematics content integrated in public library virtual storytime programs. Cahill et al. characterize the mathematics environment of public library virtual storytime programs, discuss whether there are differences in the virtual storytime mathematics environment based on the population density of the community the library serves (i.e. urban, suburban, town, rural) and on library size. Preliminary findings suggest substantial differences in the amount of mathematics-related talk across virtual storytime programming for children.
Kim, Choi, & Kang will present “Family Makers: A Culturally Relevant Online Engineering Programming for Youth Through Research-Practice Partnership with Public Library Professionals.” This work details research-practice partnership with seven rural libraries across the U.S using co-design and culturally-relevant pedagogy to develop the Family Makers program and strengthen library staff to deliver engineering learning opportunities. Kim et al. will discuss the importance of leveraging families’ cultural practices of making and forms of everyday sensemaking to design for family learning in engineering and highlight that rural library staff can support family learning in engineering by drawing on their personal experiences, relational knowledge, and non-engineering expertise as resources.
Zalot will present “The kids are alright:” Understanding Youth Agency in Book Banning Discourse.” This presentation will discuss some of the factors influencing the absence of young people in book banning discourse and how social media operates as a means of access for young people in both book banning and political discourses.
Youth services can nurture youth, community, and support learning and family connection. This presentation and the subsequent attendee discussion will explore the ways that the LIS field can work to address these and other community needs through excellent youth services
Examining Diversity and Equity in LIS Education: A Syllabus to Reading List Analysis
Get PDFTo determine how effectively the Master of Library and Information Science curriculum at Indiana University - Indianapolis is addressing the new ALA core competency related to social justice, we analyzed all the course syllabi and are now in the process of analyzing all course readings, using various text analysis methods. We found the initial review of syllabi to lack the level of granularity that would have revealed the different kinds of diversity and equity issues in the curriculum. Additionally, courses we know for certain that covered topics related to social justice, the syllabus alone indicated otherwise. For these reasons, we decided to examine the readings that comprised the entire curriculum. With 68 courses and over 3000 readings to date, gathering the data for analysis has taken several months of time. Metadata and PDFs of course readings were stored in Zotero and extracted from there for analysis. Terminology, as identified from the study that examined all ALA-accredited LIS program course descriptions, will be used to frame the textual analysis (Dill, Grote, & Hardin, 2023). We will present the topics and trends identified through bibliometric analysis, topic modeling, and visual analysis of the citation data. This analysis will shed light on areas of strength and for improvement within curriculum with the goal of preparing students to effectively work in socially just library environments.