IOPN Journals (Illinois Open Publishing Network)
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Bringing Critical Disability Studies to Library & Information Studies Pedagogy and Practice: A Dissertation Proposal
Get PDFFew LIS courses apply a critical lens to the understanding of disability and its impact upon library practice. Library staff can have conscious and/or dysconscious ableist understandings of disability that shape their interactions with disabled patrons and staff. Dysconscious ableism is a distorted or impaired understanding of disability that arises from an incomplete analysis of social reality and implicitly accepts and reproduces dominant ableist norms and privileges. Broadly viewed and investigated, much of the field of librarianship is dependent upon pre-social models of disability, that are both uncritical and neutral. While greatly valuing the social model and acknowledging its limitations I have sought a more critical, flexible, and applicable model that can better inform LIS instruction and library practice. At my institution I designed and instruct an LIS course specifically focused on understanding disability and serving the information needs of diversely disabled patrons, while pursuing my doctorate in cultural foundations of education. This WIP poster accompanies the next task in my doctoral program of developing a dissertation proposal addressing the questions: 1) How does dysconscious ableism operate in public librarianship? 2) What are disabled library patron and staff experiences of ableism in public library physical and virtual spaces? 3) What might be done to disrupt dysconscious ableism and to move public library staff toward a more liberatory, anti-ableist praxis of librarianship
Uncovering Anti-Blackness in Newbery Award-Winning Books with a Hybrid Content Analysis Approach
Get PDFThis Work in Progress poster for the 2023 ALISE Conference, themed "Bridge the Gap: Teaching, Learning, Practice, and Competencies," presents ongoing research examining anti-blackness in John Newbery Award-winning children\u27s books using a hybrid content analysis approach. The study aims to understand racial representation in children\u27s literature and identify ways to align LIS education and practice with professional competencies addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion. The poster outlines the research objectives, methods, data collection, and preliminary findings related to the frequency, types, and patterns of anti-blackness in the selected books. The study\u27s implications for bridging the gap between LIS education and practice will be highlighted, emphasizing the need for a dialogue between practitioners and educators on addressing racial representation in children\u27s literature. Recommendations for integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion into LIS pedagogy and curricula, as well as fostering collaboration between LIS educators and practitioners, will be presented. This includes developing culturally responsive collection development strategies, promoting critical literacy skills, and incorporating anti-racist teaching practices. By presenting this poster, the researcher aims to contribute to the conference\u27s goal of building a dialogue between practitioners and LIS educators, facilitating the development of timely, relevant, and valuable education for students. Attendees will learn about the research methods, discuss preliminary findings, and engage in the ongoing conversation on this critical topic
Native Students in Library and Information Science Education, 1990-2019: Past Trends and Implications for Future Advancement
Get PDFIn this longitudinal study, we explored institutional-level factors that may have contributed to the success of Native students in graduate Library Information Science (LIS) programs from 1990-2019. We used a mixed methods design: first we assessed patterns of participation of Native students in LIS for that period; next we identified the LIS programs that graduated the most Native students and investigated them in depth using a case-study approach. We utilized data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE). We found that the low participation of Native students in LIS replicated overall trends in the participation of Native students in graduate education in non-tribal establishments. We also found that the low participation of Native students remained a major historical trend characterizing the participation of Native students in LIS. The study suggests that institutional factors contributing to the success of Native students in LIS include effective recruitment, financial aid, and the assurance of their continuous enrollment and graduation via cohort learning, mentorship, flexibility of curriculum choices, and practical experiences. Substantively, this study contributes to the understanding of factors affecting the participation of Native students in graduate education, and it may be a foundation for further research into factors affecting Native students’ success in non-tribal colleges. Methodologically, it offers a model replicable for similar investigations in other fields
2023 ALISE Annual Conference - Proceedings Introduction
No full text2023 ALISE Annual Conference - Proceedings Introductio
Archiving for Extinction
Get PDFAnjali Arondekar, Wendy H. K. Chun, Verne Harris, N. Katherine Hayles, Shannon Mattern, Saidiya Hartman, and Kate Eichhorn, among other scholars of the archives, have questioned the presumption of the archive as complete, whole, legitimate, authoritative, and ultimately in any way “total,” by looking beyond the contents that the physical repository hosts and guards, as well as how, what, and who goes under-, mis- and altogether unrepresented. In their tradition, we find that the contemporary moment provides exemplars of where an archival (re)making is being uncritically taken up, increasingly envisioned, and subsequently reliant upon present-day technological capacities and the technological imaginaries of the future near and far. Under the guise of scientifically vetted global betterment, and drawing on a long legacy of publicly funded innovation that is then recaptured and taken up by private industry, Big Tech takes profit and credit for these particular future-oriented deployments, but takes on little to none of the social, political, and environmental responsibility. In this article we explore specifically what users can do when their abstracted data production or consumption is based not only on deeply flawed science and technology that is pervasive, powerful, and compelling, but also invariably presented as the only solution to climate catastrophe and the end of human existence. The three archival projects explored in this article—ordered by scale—are Alphabet’s “The Selfish Ledger,” Big Tech’s “Genomics in the Cloud,” and Arch Mission’s launch of a “Solar, Earth, Lunar, and Mars Library.” By exploring the sociotechnological imaginaries of Big Tech, we reposition the archive in terms of its legitimation and framing of humanity’s past, present, and future. We demonstrate that the ledger is a political frame, cloud-based genomics is a biological and terrestrial fix, and the space library is a speculative implementation of the total—and final—archive for extinction
The Horror of Serenity: The Romantic Sublime Within Psycho-Pass
Get PDFThe sublime is a common subject in European literary studies, particularly in Victorian and Romantic period literary scholarship. The Greek writer Longinus proposed the concept in the 1st century in On the Sublime (first printed in 1554), and Edward Burke later popularized it in his work A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757). The sublime is less discussed in anime studies due to its European origins, but it has a robust history in Japanese literature and philosophy. Recently, scholars have begun discussing its presence in anime. This paper examines European and Japanese definitions of the sublime and then applies the European Romantic definition to Psycho-Pass. Psycho-Pass’s focus on horror, self-knowledge, and European philosophy makes it an ideal subject for examining the sublime in anime. Rikako Oryo is a schoolgirl who murders her classmates and is hunted by the protagonists in one of the show’s side arcs. Her art emphasizes how the sublime\u27s "horror" element can stimulate critical thought and concurs with the Kierkegaardian theory of the sublime. The primary antagonist, Shogo Makishima, represents the more transcendent aspects of the sublime and its role in self-knowledge and identity. After examining Rikako and Makishima, the paper takes a step back and apply the principles of the sublime to anime as a medium and Psycho-Pass as a whole. Psycho-Pass reminds viewers that violent media like horror anime and crime stories can use the sublime as a catalyst for critical thinking without endorsing violence
With Passionate Purpose: How Public Library Outreach Staff Are Transforming the Library from a Building to a Service
Get PDFThis research study, part of the Institute of Museum and Library Services-funded [name of study), employed a nationwide survey of library staff to learn their motivations for engaging in outreach, the types of support library staff receive for this work, the challenges they face in serving the community outside library walls, and their future plans for outreach work. Survey analysis found that 100% of respondents believe that libraries should be engaged in outreach. Furthermore, library staff expressed a variety of purposes for their outreach, including to promote and support learning for children and families and to inspire future engagement with the public library. For most respondents, outreach is highly valued by their library, though library support can differ in terms of staff time, funding, and materials. Outreach work, particularly with families and children in underserved communities, brings with it a variety of challenges that do not seem to deter most of the respondents who indicated an intent to maintain or expand their outreach efforts. This research builds a picture of the passionate purpose underlying the commitment by library staff to meet communities where they live and thrive, while also making visible and validating the invisible labor of these dedicated staff as they transform the library from a building to a service
Idea Lab: Discussing Library Social Media Ethics
No full textIn recent years, social media companies like Twitter (or “X”) and Meta have come under scrutiny. These companies face data leaks, provide platforms for hate speech and disinformation, promote unchecked echo chambers, and are becoming increasingly predatory. Still, many libraries continue to use these platforms as a convenient tool to reach their users. Considering these ethical challenges, we sent out a call for contributions targeted to LIS professionals and students that asked, “should librarians and libraries walk our digital footprints away from exploitative platforms?” Potential authors were encouraged to consider the following topics and questions:
As information professionals, do we have a responsibility to our users to lead by example and stop lending our credibility to troubling products?
What other platforms (Mastodon, post.com, Bluesky, etc.) are you using or considering as Twitter alternatives and why? How effective are they
Expanding the Core Competences of Librarianship through Designing a Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Course for Social Work: Reflections from the Field
Get PDFIn contemporary knowledge society, the impact of library and information professions has expanded to practical workforce preparation in many adjacent fields, including social work, that heavily rely on information competencies to promote community well-being and public good.This poster adds a practitioner perspective to the ongoing conversation about the need to reimagine LIS education to better align curricular priorities with the demands of the increasingly interconnected information landscape. Through a tale of a subject librarian and Social Work faculty partnership to develop a tailored credit-bearing information literacy course for Social Work pre-majors, the author illuminates the evolving role of librarians who are called upon to educate members of other information-intensive professions in the use of general and subject-specific resources essential for their field. The poster highlights the shared values that inform the practice of both librarianship and social work in response to the issues faced by communities in times of uncertainty and change. Built around the ALA’s Core Competences of Librarianship and the Social Work Competencies established by the Council on Social Work Education, the project reflects on the challenges and opportunities associated with integrating information literacy education into a domain where advanced information literacy skills are an indispensable component of the current professional practice. Finally, the project discusses several implications for LIS programs keen on creating a better connection between the LIS foundational values and other professional competency frameworks today’s librarians lean on, particularly in such vital areas as user services, lifelong learning and continuing education, and social justice
A Logic Model Using Theory of Change Applied in Grant Development of Civic Engagement for Racial Justice in Public Libraries: Implications for LIS Education
Get PDFThis poster highlights insights from application of a logic model using Theory of Change (ToC) applied in ongoing grant development of civic engagement for racial justice in public libraries of the American South. An externally funded grant project, Civic Engagement for Racial Justice in Public Libraries (RJ@PL), awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ “National Leadership Grants for Libraries” to the University of Alabama and the Chicago State University serves as focus in partnership with multiple state public libraries (August 2022 – July 2025). RJ@PL explores the role of public libraries in their support of racial justice and positive social change in communities. RJ@PL is conceptualized in five interrelated components in the logic model: (1) Assessment; (2) Strategic planning; (3) Actualization of information-based solutions; (4) Evaluation; (5) Dissemination. Data collected will help develop contextually relevant strategic information tools (e.g., roadmap, action plan, taxonomic framework of information responses) for civic engagement that public libraries can use to overcome problems related to racism in their communities. ToC will be used to develop the community engagement frameworks and strategic action plans. ToC is an approach to creating change that emerged from the efforts of philanthropic associations that funded comprehensive community change initiatives; it was developed to measure philanthropically funded projects’ progress and determine their efficacy in meeting their goals (Andrews, 2005; Weiss, 1995). RJ@PL bridges gaps at multiples levels, including (not limited to) social justice scholarship, competences and practices, and has strong implications for LIS education.