IOPN Journals (Illinois Open Publishing Network)
Not a member yet
1384 research outputs found
Sort by
The Tech Core Curriculum: Teaching Technology as a Core Competence
Get PDFThis panel addresses the ALISE Call for Proposals’ “questions of mutual interest” about integrating professional competences into pedagogy by providing interpretations and strategies for including information and communications technology (ICT) core competences into teaching and curriculum at ALA-accredited programs of Library and Information Science. Through an informal roundtable discussion followed by semi-structured and open audience solicitation, four faculty members who teach courses and modules in information technology from two ALA-accredited programs that have recently undergone curricular audits will provide an overview of technology core competences from the American Library Association and the Society of American Archivists (SAA). Discussions will include…
Interpretations and interpretive problems with the ALA technology competence and sub-competences.
A comparative interpretation of the Graduate Program in Archival Studies (GPAS) Curriculum’s technology competence from the SAA.
How instructors have adapted these competences in courses and curriculum.
How instructors have addressed student skill gaps and technophobia.
A survey of which ALA-accredited programs do and do not have a technology core requirement as well as the types of courses that count for such a requirement.
The pros and cons of a technology core requirement for ALA-accredited programs.
Strategies for intentionally embedding technology competences in other required courses.
A technology competence for programs that prepare information professionals of the twenty-first century appears at once essential and assumed. Previous studies show that graduate programs in library and information science have cut ICT core requirements in favor of embedding technology instruction in other requirements that principally satisfy other competences. Partly this is a solution to economizing core requirements in order to facilitate flexible course paths for students, and partly this is a solution to the vagaries set forth in standardized core competences, which remain media-agnostic.That is, the principles set forth in ALA core competences do not specify the types of technologies to address in any one competence, including the technology competence, making ‘technology’ an overly fungible term that can be applied to almost any instruction or practice. While theoretically media-agnosticism creates continuity with past and present analog means of information practices, all means of information practices are, of course, mediated. The majority of programs seem to make the assumption that ICT competence necessarily implies digital mediation. For larger, digitally focused programs in the iSchool movement, the assumption that ICT competence means digital competence further means that demonstrations and assessments of that competence are already embedded in the majority of courses. Compounding the assumption that digital practice satisfies ICT competence is an assumption of student digital nativity. While research has dispelled the myth of the ‘digital native,’ such a mythos persists in programs’ imaginations of their own graduate students who must de facto navigate sophisticated digital environments in order to participate in graduate programs of the twenty-first century knowledge economy. This roundtable aims at the outset to lay bare the tenuous relationship between standardized competences’ media-agnosticism and curricular assumptions of media-embeddedness. Then, participants will address strategies for curricular demonstrations of technology competence that are intentional, media-situated, student-focused, and strategic.
Intentional: Rather than assume technological competence from demonstrated digital, information practices, instructors and programs should produce Stated Learning Objectives (SLO) and aligned assessment mechanisms that ask students to do more than demonstrate technology use.
Media-situated: Students should understand that barriers to information access vary not just according to social vectors like race, gender, and income, but also by medium of access, which requires on the part of the student or information professional a media-comparative approach to ICT.
Student-focused: Instructors should not assume student digital nativity or proficiency and should instead meet students where they are within a multi-dimensional matrix of technological practices and attitudes. In addition to being good pedagogy, a student-relational approach to technology also models exemplary user services.
Strategic: Moving from the myth of the ‘tech savvy librarian’ of the early 00s, which largely relied on assumptions of generational digital nativity, instructors and programs should refocus on a model of the ‘tech strategic librarian,’ one who is not necessarily a coding-multilingual early adopter, but one who understands the stakes and intersections of technocapitalism, information capitalism, library resources, and community users.
The highly interactive 90-minute roundtable will begin with a ten-minute introduction from the chair followed by three five-minute, informal statements from the panelists touching on the above topics. Semi-structured discussion from the panel will proceed for the second 25-minute block followed by open-room discussion and audience solicitation for fifteen minutes. This will leave a final 25-minute block for guided audience small-group discussion and reporting mediated by panelists. In small groups, audience members will be asked to generate Stated Learning Outcomes and assessment mechanisms based on the ALA’s technology sub-competences
Integral Pedagogy in LIS Education
Get PDFLIS educators have an obligation to assist burgeoning LIS practitioners and scholars in developing field competency and enacting their visages into the LIS industry. Our work concerns care for the whole person of our students. Student well-being has experienced heightened consideration and conversation in academia since 2020. Masters level LISprograms are not immune to these discussions, or the student, faculty, and campus administrator concerns—retention rates, student mental health—that warrant them. Campuses actively promote services and resources aimed to help students that are in crisis, coping with an aspect of neurodivergence, or another condition—chronic or undiagnosed. Since 2019 I have experienced increasing levels of three student behaviors that cause me concern: 1) perfectionism, 2) anxiety, and 3) validation-seeking. Wholly ignored, or mitigated simply by pedagogical discipline, these behaviors persist in classroom, distend beyond a student’s time at campus, and eventually permeate sectors of LIS. Proven teaching and learning strategies—active-learning, grading rubrics, gamification modules—increase students’ immersion with course content and assuage student coursework anxieties. However, teaching and learning tools cannot holistically impart the needed competencies for an LIS professional to our students. Conversely culture of care pedagogies solely center student inclusiveness and belonging to promote a shared education community. Integralpedagogy provides LIS educators with a model that integrates both teaching and learning best practices and culture of care pedagogies to promote student self-regulation of concerning behaviors, self-actualization via a commitment to gaining LIS field competencies during their studies, and continued life-long discovery during their career
Where Theory and Practice Converge: Community-Based Learning as a Pedagogical Approach for Teaching AI Ethics
Get PDFAs artificial intelligence (AI) technologies continue to inundate the current information landscape, questions surrounding the ethics of AI and its responsible use in teaching and learning remain firmly on the forefront of the pedagogical discourse in the LIS field. Indeed, one implication of the ongoing AI revolution for LIS education that has become evident from these conversations is the pressing need to develop an ethical instructional framework that would enable students and educators alike to successfully navigate the rapidly evolving generative AI universe.
This poster discusses the effectiveness of several pedagogical approaches that are currently being implemented to help students identify and address the ethical challenges associated with these technologies across a wide range of graduate level LIS courses, spanning such key areas of the professional practice as library and information center management, academic librarianship, and community-engaged librarianship. The common denominator in these courses is an emphasis on community-based learning that constitutes the core of complex sequential semester-long course projects students are asked to complete by designing and performing various community outreach, observational, and analytical exercises in an information organization of their choice. Based on the data collected from the above-mentioned courses during the past four semesters, the presenter demonstrates the value of the community-based learning component present in these activities for developing in LIS students a higher level of critical thinking about AI-related ethical dilemmas, all the while preparing soon-to-be information professionals for real-world applications of ethical considerations in their current and future professional roles
A Case Study Applying a Framework of Contemporary Archival Theory to Lexicography Projects for Under-Resourced Languages
Get PDFArchivy’s turn toward principles of inclusiveness and decolonization has been the topic of much recent scholarship (Cook, 2013; Lee, 2016). This ethical paradigm shift has been marked by an acknowledgment of the varied needs and desires of community stakeholders in archiving contexts, and ongoing efforts to explore the ways communities are participating in archiving their cultural heritage. There are parallels between this work and the preservation of endangered languages as one manifestation of cultural heritage although, traditionally, they are most readily observed in the domain of language archiving (Henke & Berez-Kroeker 2016; Wasson et al., 2016). This dissertation research initiates an exploration of community archiving principles that directly apply to lexicography (the creation of dictionaries). After conducting a rigorous scoping review of archival science literature and developing a framework of concepts from said literature that apply to lexicographic work, this research is pursuing a case study of four individual dictionaries for their respective languages (Frederick & Roeschley, 2024). Specifically, the case study aims to identify the extent to which the previously identified concepts of relationality and nontraditional conceptualizations apply to each dictionary project, the extent to which community archiving praxis is being utilized in each project, and the perceptions of each of the lexicographers regarding the applicability of the two aforementioned concepts to the scope of their work. An overarching goal of this research is to argue for enhanced collaboration and communication between two disciplines with similar histories and goals to create ethical and empowering outcomes for heritage communities
Shannon, Wiener, and the Alethic Value of Information
Get PDFThis paper uses historical and deconstructive methods to examine contrasting visions of information’s alethic value. It focusses specifically on the research and legacies of Claude Shannon and Norbert Wiener, two founding fathers of information science. Shannon’s formulation of information as a statistical function of probability emphasizes a kind of pragmatism: information that can be broken into bits and transmitted through a system possesses alethic value. Wiener’s research and career set a contrasting example to that of Shannon in relation to a construction of truth. The alethic value of information in the Wienerian tradition is derived not only from its pragmatic transference within a system, but also from the way in which it interacts with other systems through feedback loops. The dichotomy set by Shannon and Wiener implicates broader questions surrounding conceptualizations of truth in LIS research today
The Relationship Between Misinformation And Social Noise And Their Impact On The Information Ecosystem
Get PDFSocial noise and social entropy are new concepts modeled after Shannon’s information and communication theory, in which the interference of noise between the sender and receiver is measured using entropy. Social noise in the context of social media plays a vital role in magnifying and spreading misinformation, which in turn impacts the overall information ecosystem. Ecosystems are made of interconnected and integrated parts that rely on one another to maintain balance and survive. Studies related to social noise and misinformation have shown that social noise can contribute significantly to spreading misinformation and potentially alter the original intended message (Alsaid & Pampapura, 2022); Alsaid et al. (2024). paper investigates methods of quantifying social noise using entropy to minimize the spread of misinformation on social media, particularly X. Using a combination of Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT) and Social Entropy, data analysis was performed using one million tweets harvested from #Ukraine. Data analysis involved several methods: sentiment analyses, term association, network maps, and entropy computation. Results have shown a direct relationship between social noise and social entropy as a measure of uncertainty. Also, social noise and uncertainty decrease with the use of URLs and rich content. It is evident from the results that the entropy value is influenced by the accuracy of keywords identified using topic modeling as descriptive of social noise constructs. Semantic analysis of tweets can help improve the definition of social noise constructs, leading to enhanced and more accurate entropy calculation. Future studies may consider advanced machine learning and A
Information Privilege: Considerations for Library and Information Science Curriculum Design
Get PDFEmbedded within the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and building on the broader concepts of privilege and oppression, information privilege (IP) might be a useful lens for centering library and information science (LIS) curricula on information-related aspects of social power. IP suggests that individuals\u27 access to and utilization of information is connected to demographic factors like socioeconomic status, place of birth, and gender. Despite the relevance of this concept to LIS scholarship and teaching, LIS scholarly discussions on information privilege are limited. The limited existing literature mainly extends Booth’s foundational essay exploring IP through the lens of institutional affiliation, stopping short of fuller sociocultural considerations. This essay considers IP as an information-focused organizing perspective within LIS teaching and curriculum development. The authors conclude with suggestions for building discussions of IP into LIS curriculum and teaching.
“This is No Time for Being Underwater”: Ableism, Rape Culture and Care Work in The Nowhere Girls
Get PDFThis paper analyzes ableism, rape culture, and care work in Amy Reed’s The Nowhere Girls. Although this novel offers complex and diverse forms of care work by all three protagonists as they collectively mobilize anti-rape resistance and enact dynamic solidarity that is both responsive and relational, Erin’s character arguably activates the most radical employment. Calling for change in the world while also endeavoring to facilitate such change, she offers multifaceted and nuanced care work in a number of ways, including: (1) through friendship and family, (2) care for herself, and (3) creative activist care that explicitly supports other victim-survivors
Censorship in Early Childhood: A Critical Content Analysis of Banned and Challenged Latine Picture Books
Get PDFBook bans have historically been used to limit the types of books that students have access to, especially for communities of Color and historically marginalized groups. Using Critical Race Content Analysis, we analyzed how Latine individuals and experiences are portrayed in banned/challenged picture books to understand the experiences portrayed in the texts. We identified ten Latine picture book titles that were banned or challenged and also award winners. We found that Latine picture books that were challenged or banned included experiential knowledge, the centrality of race and racism, challenged the dominant ideology of Latine communities, included interdisciplinary perspectives, and exhibited a commitment to social justice. All children, especially Latine children, should engage and discuss children\u27s books that include the Latine experience and their own stories. 
