IOPN Journals (Illinois Open Publishing Network)
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Reducing Uncertainty Caused by Social Noise on Social Media Platform
Get PDFSocial noise and social entropy are two concepts that have been the subject of studies in the last two decades (Bruno, 2010; Matei et al.,2010; Alsaid et al., 2020; Alsaid & Pampapura, 2022; Pampapura et al., 2022). Studies that discussed misinformation, fake news, conspiracy theories, controversies, and disinformation also focused on certain aspects of social noise (Romer & Jamieson, 2020; Van Prooijen & Douglas, 2018). In this study, social noise refers to users intentionally or unintentionally participating in creating, disseminating, or spreading misinformation on social media. Recent studies have identified six characteristics or constructs of social noise. The six constructs identified by the recent studies include image curation, relationship management, cultural agency, conflict engagement, affiliation & politics, and norms & beliefs. In this study, we use the constructs to quantify and measure social noise using entropy and uncertainty reduction theory. The study focuses on two questions. How do we measure entropy as a degree of uncertainty caused by social noise? How does reducing uncertainty and social noise contribute to reducing the spread of misinformation? The primary analysis indicated that entropy as a measure of disorders of a tweet 1.5. This result is in line with the results produced by Son et al. (2019). Sentiment analysis results show that 66.6% of the tweets are subjective, while 33.4 % of the tweets are objective (facts). Topic modeling results also indicated the presence of keywords that is characteristics of social noise constructs in the dataset
Are Library and Information Science Educators Teaching Accessibility? : Content Analysis of Syllabi
Get PDFLibrary and information science (LIS) graduates are expected to serve patrons from diverse backgrounds, including disabled patrons. While serving patrons with disabilities is a core value of librarianship, graduates often feel unprepared to serve disabled patrons, suggesting that programs inadequately train students to design accessible services. This study’s authors analyzed hundreds of course descriptions and 73 syllabi from 20 North American LIS programs to determine how often accessibility and disability topics are covered and how educators teach accessibility. Findings indicate that accessibility and disability topics are mostly covered in electives, meaning students may never develop accessibility competencies during their programs. Additionally, a lack of disability-focused assessments may create the impression that serving disabled patrons is less important to LIS than addressing the needs of other underserved communities. Recommendations for educators include creating or revising learning objectives and assessments to prioritize accessibility education and support disabled patrons
The Medium is the Data Set: Art and AI
Get PDFA review of the exhibition, The Imitation Game: Visual Culture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
Hoverboards in the Metaverse: A Conversation with Asad J. Malik
Get PDFThis interview, which took place in September 2021, explores the history of projects carried out by Jadu and the possibilities of Web3, NFTs, and the futures of data in the metaverse
More than ESL: Exploring cultural collaboration opportunities with international students
Get PDFInternational students are frequently consolidated into a monolith of students with language needs and information poverty, constituting a disservice to both students and the library staff who seek to better serve them. In this study we interview international students to better understand the potential for cultural collaboration in programming in an academic library setting, and the barriers that keep students from participating. Our findings broaden the view of international students from remedial library users in need of catch-up information literacy and language education, and position them more holistically as potential full partners in programming efforts moving forward
Moving Between Scales: Computationally Modelling Social Dynamics in the Elite Society of Premodern China
Get PDFThis dissertation employs the perspective of library and information science (LIS) to inform and guide methodological reflections in two interdisciplinary fields, computational social science (CSS) and digital humanities (DH). However, CSS often prioritizes recent digital trace data over archival material from earlier periods, and the large-scale methods used in DH face criticism from humanists for their incapability to capture perspectival and interpretative nuances.
This dissertation blends humanistic and social-scientific approaches to study premodern China, emphasizing the importance of “moving between scales.” It bridges different scales of analysis by transitioning dynamically between them, examines small-scale structures to uncover how they reflect large-scale dynamics, and explores mid-range social phenomena by investigating prosopography of elite society members. Four research questions are posed: (1) What are the challenges and opportunities in investigating a social network based on biased text? (2) How can prosopographical data lead to conclusions about the shifting center of political power? (3) How can structural characteristics in multiple networks reveal changes in political culture? (4) What can bibliographic metadata reveal about the particularity of publishing history of 16th-to-19th-century Chinese books?
By addressing these questions, this dissertation intends to leverage theories and practices of LIS to develop computational models unveiling historical trends. It seeks to contribute to CSS by enhancing social scientists’ understanding on how societies and cultural systems evolve over time, to DH by revealing the historical changes in the longue durée in premodern China, and to LIS by fulfilling its mission of providing an information perspective to traditional academic disciplines
Writing the Book You’ll Teach
Get PDFWhat “bridges the gap” between professional librarianship and the educational practice of LIS programs or iSchool curricula? Textbooks.
Library and information science students require learning materials that will help them enter a rapidly changing field. They need to blend theory with practice to be ready for the varied responsibilities that will accompany jobs in many different kinds of libraries—or jobs outside of libraries. How can a textbook help? Textbooks offer authority, structure, consistency, and reference materials. Authors have done the hard work of validating information. Textbooks are structured to provide an overview of the field of study. They offer consistency; in a class of many students, everyone has access to the same materials. And a good textbook becomes a valuable reference when courses are finished and students enter library practice.
As the field of LIS education changes, LIS textbooks must change with the times. Students need to learn both the practicalities of librarianship and the history, ethics, and pedagogies of their chosen career. It’s increasingly important for textbook authors to be innovative thinkers while still being deeply grounded in the area of their expertise.
Textbooks are changing along with the field—professors require that books integrate diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. Students may read a big foundations textbook or a number of smaller texts more specific to a particular track. Student demographics and interests are changing with the times. Archiving is of great interest. Data is important. Media literacy is critical. Many new literacies are entering course syllabi: health information literacy. Privacy literacy. Business information literacy.
So who writes these textbooks? You and your colleagues do. In this informative and entertaining discussion designed to introduce you to textbook authorship and publication, you’ll learn from a senior acquisitions editor and published author how to propose, write, and market a textbook.
Senior acquisitions editor Jessica Gribble (Bloomsbury Libraries Unlimited) will offer information about coming up with and refining an idea, writing a proposal, signing a contract, working with an editor, and the challenges and joys of writing the book.
Coming up with and refining an idea
Writing a proposal
Signing a contract
Working with an editor (from the editor’s perspective
Writing the book: Author Laura Saunders will share her experience.
Marketing the book
In our question-and-answer session, we’ll encourage all participants to share their experiences with textbooks, both good and bad, and to ask questions about the publication process and the writing process. Our conversation will be open to discussion of the future of textbooks, open educational resources, and textbook affordability initiatives. Textbooks require experienced, knowledgeable authors who are excellent teachers; please join us no matter what stage of your career you’re currently in.
 
Difficulties with reading and humanity in the teacher librarian training courses
Get PDFIn Japan, the national curricula for future teacher librarians and school librarians includes the subject “Reading and Rich Humanity.” Reading will help develop language, expression, and imagination. However, the relevance between reading and rich humanity is not clear. Therefore, we conducted a survey of the educational content being offered in Japan. Guidelines by the (Japan) School Library Association, textbooks for this class, and syllabi by each university were analyzed. The guidelines for school librarians state, “(2) The significance of reading in nurturing the minds and fostering rich humanity of students.” However, the other guideline for teacher librarians does not mention character at all, even though the teacher librarian has more teaching responsibilities. It is mentioned in the textbooks, but only to explain the relevance of reading to a part of humanity. There were 55 types of syllabi collected from 45 universities. Only 25 universities included words such as Character or Humanity. A class in which character-related terms do not appear on the syllabus, despite the fact that dealing with characters is a requirement, is evidence that this university faculty member does not see a positive connection between reading and characters. The results suggest that many university faculty find it difficult to teach the relevance of reading and rich humanity in their classes
"People Have Died To Get Us To Where We Are" : Combating Aging Services Information Marginalization Alongside LGBT+ Older Adults
Get PDFWe live in an aging society, but lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender plus (LGBT+) people often lack equitable access to aging-related information and services. Systematic barriers to information, or information marginalization, has been described as affecting various populations including LGBT+ people; organizations perpetuate it, but research often ignores their role in addressing it. The purpose of this study is to combat aging services information marginalization in partnership with LGBT+ older adults and community-based organizations. Utilizing concepts from Information Marginalization Theory and a community-based participatory research design, this study asks LGBT+ older adults what they see as their aging-related needs, what barriers they see to getting those needs met, and what practices they would like to see providers use to help remove those barriers. Thematic analysis of interviews with 25 LGBT+ older adults 50 years and older in East Tennessee produced 5 need, 7 marginalization, and 4 practice themes which served as the basis for a strategic plan to improve aging services to this population. Nineteen of those 25 interviewees discussed and finalized the strategic plan across 5 focus groups. A constructivist grounded theory analysis of all of the interviews, focus groups, and the author’s participant researcher data resulted in an 8 point model for combating information marginalization that may be implemented with marginalized people in various contexts. This study contributes to a social justice understanding of action and design theory, expands action research methodology, and brings attention to a fast growing population that is understudied in library and information science.
 
“Impart Information Unsparingly": Exploring how abortion information is shared in a post-Dobbs country
Get PDFAbortion is not only a reproductive health issue, but an information access concern. With the U.S. Supreme Court\u27s repeal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, abortion has been banned or heavily restricted in at least 18 states. This includes Wisconsin where an 1849 law has halted clinical abortions in the Badger state. Research conducted by the Society of Family Planning found that in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court\u27s decision, clinical abortion in Wisconsin plummeted by 100%. This means that people seeking an abortion must search for abortion care out-of-state or through self-managed options.
The purpose of this poster presentation is to discuss the role of information professionals in sharing abortion information in a post-Dobbs country. This poster will explore several concepts: abortion information as an intellectual freedom issue; the role of public librarians and in sharing abortion information, and legislation that relates to abortion information. This poster will include an overview of previously collected data, as well as explain future research plans. This poster presentation will help information professionals consider how libraries and information organizations can share abortion information