IOPN Journals (Illinois Open Publishing Network)
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Supporting ethical and cultural competency development in cross-disciplinary information education in Germany
Get PDFThis paper discusses development, teaching, and learning of a graduate level course on information ethics in a German academic setting. It provides an overview of student and course learning objectives, course design, approach to student engagement, assessment, and educational activities. The educational environment was cross-disciplinary between library and information science informed information ethics and computer science concepts and applications. Learning and teaching were contextualized to AI in medical domains, to support focus of educational environment. Ethical and cultural competencies were incorporated into course design to support application of information ethics in design choices, alongside European and United States guidelines on ethical AI. This paper also discusses experienced challenges to balancing disciplinary perspectives and European and North American pedagogical approaches. Specific, identifiable opportunities for future course expansion to support interdisciplinary, ethically, and culturally informed professional education are discussed
Translating Practice to Positively Transform our Information Workforce: Archival / Preservation Education SIG Session
No full textThe 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 elucidate educators’ roles in developing competent new professionals; presenters bring perspectives from multiple states.
“Curricular Integration of Audiovisual Archiving and Preservation” by Sarah Buchanan explores connections between coursework and professional experiences completed by MLIS graduate students. Students actively contribute to curriculum maintenance through their digitization and documentation activities, metadata creation, and perhaps most significantly community-based dialogues around project progressions and expert input – collectively ensuring the preparedness of today’s archivists to address technical challenges.
“Operationalizing the Value of Legacy Research Data” by Gretchen Stahlman and Inna Kouper explores the need for a more systematic understanding of legacy research data efforts and the value of legacy data as perceived by various research, library, and data communities. To illuminate relevant considerations, two legacy data preservation case study sites are analyzed, further situating the socio-technical processes and impact of working with and curating legacy data, as well as the role of equity, fairness, and justice.
“The Need for Archival Triage” by Jeff Hirschy and Jessica Herr demonstrates how new archivists and educators could benefit from expanded mental models of archival workplace realities. The presentation emphasizes the values of flexibility and adaptability on the part of new archivists and educators, as they strengthen tenuous connections between “perfect” archival theory (in settings with full funding and full staff), professional problem-solving, continuing education, and the definitions of preservation and oral history.
“Bridging Gaps between Archival Studies and Social Justice Scholarship: Training of Community-Embedded Paraprofessional Archivists Who Are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color” by Bharat Mehra, Robert Riter, and Ron Harris highlights ongoing experiences in bridging gaps between archival studies and social justice scholarship via curricular development/implementation, strategic collaborations, and project design in the IMLS-funded “Archival Studies Social Justice Master’s Scholarship Program (SJ4A).” SJ4A addresses current gaps in diversifying the workforce and operationalizing the how-to’s of social justice in archival practice while proposing systematic, intentional, action-oriented, community-engaged, and impact-driven education.
“AI and the Future of Archival/Preservation Education” by Suliman Hawamdeh and Manar Alsaid discusses the types of training, competencies and practices which need to be integrated into archival and preservation education to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and yet protect the authenticity and originality of archival material. Generative AI natural language tools and chatbots such as ChatGPT have the potential to enhance archival education and research by identifying sources, gathering and processing large amount of historical material / data in a timely manner, and assisting with methodological problems and computational tasks. The recent issues concerning document classification of presidential records and gaps in the National Archives’ tracking of information highlight the magnitude of spaces where AI could be the sword with two sharp edges.
The moderator will facilitate Q&A within and across the presentations
Demystifying Law Librarianship: Educating and Diversifying the Next Generation
Get PDFIn this third decade of the 21st century, the legal information profession is engaged in dialogue about the perpetually shrinking pools of qualified candidates for law librarian positions. COVID retirements and the Great Resignation have resulted in a nationwide labor shortage and private sector hiring spree that is outpacing and outspending higher education, government, and many small businesses. This combination of factors is resulting in smaller and less qualified candidate pools, and, at times, unfilled law librarian positions. There are simply not enough new librarians coming into the field of law librarianship. While the circumstances of the last few years may be an anomaly, the demographic cliff that is upon us in higher education will only serve to worsen the situation for the foreseeable future.
Of even greater urgency, law librarians have been lamenting for decades that the legal information profession does not accurately reflect the diversity of the communities it serves. The literature shows that diversity conversations began in earnest in the 1970s and continue today. Despite efforts from a variety of entities within law librarianship, the data show the profession has not meaningfully diversified.
The panelists recognize that as a profession, we have not done enough to promote, recruit, and grow law librarianship, or to educate and diversify the next generation of law librarians. We believe that collective action and innovation are needed now. We also believe there is an opportunity at hand to collaborate amongst law libraries, law librarians, and LIS programs to leverage this shortage of law librarians to creatively recruit previously-untapped LIS students with or without a legal background.
Law libraries take many forms: academic, law firm, government, and public. Academic public services and law library director positions are the only positions that traditionally require dual-degreed (Juris Doctor (JD)/Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS)) law librarians. Technical services positions in academic law libraries generally require only the MLIS, as do nearly all law firm, government, and public law library positions. Nonetheless, librarians without law degrees rarely seem to consider a career in law librarianship, and LIS programs rarely seem to promote careers in law libraries, even though fewer than 20% of law librarian positions require a JD. Nonetheless, the myth that a JD is required for a career in law librarianship permeates librarianship and LIS programs. We aim to dismantle that myth
Consistency Matters: Comparing Term-based and Semester-based Online MLIS Education
Get PDFThis study compares the student learning outcome assessments of an online Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program offered in traditional 14-week semesters and an accelerated 7-week term program. Louisiana State University’s School of Information Studies (SIS) offers the MLIS program through two delivery platforms: SIS Online (14-week semester program) and LSU Online (7-week term program). The study explores the differences in student performance between SIS Online and LSU Online and investigates the impact of term length on students’ ability to achieve the program’s SLOs. The findings provide insights into the effectiveness of different online program delivery formats and suggest ways to improve student learning outcomes in online MLIS education
Equitable Access for Blind, Visually Impaired, and Print-Disabled (BVIPD) Students in Online Learning: How Students, Faculty, Disability Services, and Academic Libraries Can Work Together to Bridge the Gap
Get PDFThe panel presents a research project funded by an internal grant at the University of South Carolina (USC) investigating equity of access to information by Blind, Visually Impaired, and Print-Disabled (BVIPD) students. BVIPD students often experience inequitable access to information, including but not limited to a time gap in receiving course content that is otherwise more readily available to non-BVIPD students (Scott and Aquino, 2020). This is a social justice and human rights issue. The researchers will explore ways in which university Disability Service Offices (DSOs) can work with university libraries to maximize access to accessible content to BVIPD students. The BVIPD population is historically underserved by libraries (Bonnici et al., 2015; Epp, 2006; Copeland, 2011; Copeland, 2012; Copeland, 2023; Kawooya, 2023). Most published literature is not available to the BVIPD students, with only 5% of published works available in formats accessible to BVIPD learners (National Federation for the Blind, 2019). The study is designed to develop a Campus Accessibility Partnership model between DSOs and academic libraries. The overarching research question is: How might DSOs and academic libraries better coordinate to effectively and efficiently serve BVIPD students?
The presenters will share outcomes of phase one of the study, including a detailed review of literature, research design and preliminary results. Because it is essential to understand the perspectives and potential contributions of all stakeholders in developing a framework for improving equity of access and accessibility for BVIPD students, the researchers are also seeking faculty perspectives. Faculty includes all who teach semester-long courses, regardless of tenure or rank. The researchers will introduce the literature review, the methodological approach, and preliminary results. The session will continue with an interactive discussion with conference attendees, who will be invited to reflect on key concepts and the following questions:
What, if any, problems have students at your institution(s) experienced with receiving course content in accessible formats?
In working with DSOs to ensure BVIPD students receive materials in accessible formats in a timely manner, what, if any, barriers do you experience?
What role(s) do you play to facilitate greater equity of access for BVIPD students?
What is your knowledge and awareness of your students\u27 experiences with your campus DSO?
What formats of accessible course content does your campus provide as accommodations to BVIPD students?
If DSOs coordinated with academic libraries to adopt practices for saving accessible format materials for future use, what impact do you think this would have?
The theoretical framework is Jaeger and Burnett’s (2010) multi-level information worlds theory. In this framework, information worlds have structural and behavioral implications, in that social constructs (such as the value ascribed to disability and accessibility) and societal structures/infrastructures (such as law) directly and reciprocally inform one another. Information worlds “provides a framework by which to simultaneously examine information behavior at both the immediate and the broader social levels\u27\u27 (Jaeger and Burnett, 2010, p. 1). The study will analyze five interconnected concepts of information worlds theory: social norms; social types; information value; information behavior; and boundaries.
The study employs a mixed method design using both qualitative methods (interviews with DSO staff, academic librarians, and BVIPD students) and a quantitative method (survey-questionnaire with instructors). Prior to the design and execution of the questionnaires, the research team will do extensive literature review and preliminary analysis of the relevant trends using the University of South Carolina’s Social Media Insight Lab. Any news insights gleaned from both sources may lead to changes to the instructor questionnaire. The presenters will share the research design and preliminary results from the literature review and Social Media Insight Lab data.
Conference participants will work in groups to reflect upon the questions above. Understanding the lived experiences of faculty working with BVIPD populations will help begin to bridge the gap experienced by these marginalized students by identifying strengths and failures of current policies and procedures between DSOs, academic libraries and librarians, and faculty. Discussions among library and information science (LIS) faculty will contribute significantly to developing a partnership model that serves the needs of all stakeholders in ensuring equity of access and accessibility for BVIPD students. They will also steer future efforts to reduce the inequalities experienced by BVIPD students. Faculty interact with students of all abilities on a more regular basis. Accordingly, faculty can offer their insights from working with BVIPD students, DSO staff, and academic librarians. The primary goal of the panel is to raise awareness for accessibility issues faced by BVIPD students and facilitate a dialogue amongst educators. Ultimately, bridging gaps in understanding the needs of BVIPD students and the roles faculty, DSOs, and academic librarians can and should play in fulfilling these needs can impact equitable access to education. Equitable access to education impacts BVIPD students’ likelihood of academic success, subsequent employment, income earning potential, and ability to enjoy a full life experience
Investigating Community Engagement: Social Work in Libraries Ethnographic Research
Get PDFLibraries engage with their surrounding community members on a daily basis. These interactions are formally known as community engagement activities. OCLC defines community engagement as “interacting, connecting and communicating” with library patrons (OCLC, 2023). This poster demonstrates ethnographic approaches studying the impetus for social work in libraries. Data collection will occur through observations of reference desk interactions between librarian staff and patrons inside the library. Ethnography will be used as a research method to evaluate these interactions from a staff perspective to investigate the lived experiences of library staff to assess their preparedness to interact with members of their community appropriately. Interviewing staff and observing them interacting with patrons in the public library environment will be tools for collecting data. Field notes will inform the need for staffing social workers in libraries to deal with socio-economic issues and socioemotional needs of patrons. Lastly, the research addresses whether having social workers or auxiliary staff equivalent to social workers is effective from the perspective of frontline library staff. The poster presents a research path for implementing ethnographic approaches in making known the possibilities for social workers in public libraries. The literature review provides information about how librarians feel the need to have social workers on staff, due to the high volume of unusual incidents that occur in the public library. These incidents typically involve patrons with psychosocial issues. 
Relationships between Variables Related to College Students\u27 News Literacy in Korea
Get PDFThis study examines the variables that are college students’ ability to discern fact from opinion, critical thinking skills, and need for cognition. The ability to differentiate between fact and opinion appears to be a key part of being able to evaluate fake news. In addition, critical thinking plays an important role in the process of fact-checking or determining the credibility of news outlets. According to the dissertation study on college students’ fake news discernment in the U.S. (Bak, 2022), critical thinking was a variable that was positively correlated with the fact and opinion discernment, as well as the need for cognition respectively. Based on the dissertation study, the researcher will collect the survey data from college students in Korea with further developed measures. The scale that measures the ability to discern fact and opinion will include borderline statements that have both factual and opinion statements. In addition, the survey will collect information about their general news reading practices. The researcher will discuss differences in statistical models between students in the U.S. and Korea.  
Understanding the Global Problem of Technostress for Librarians
Get PDFTechnostress is a workplace reality that pre-service librarians need to be prepared to face. Isolated studies have reported the causes and impacts of technostress on various types of librarians in different countries (e.g., Farler & Broady-Preston, 2012; Norulkamar, Ahmad & Amin, 2012). Responding to Lor’s (2019) call for international and comparative research, we take a global perspective, seeking commonalities and differences that may lead to global solutions and recommendations for professional education. The first phase of our project is a scoping review of studies of technostress and librarians. Using multiple LIS-related databases and Google Scholar, we compiled 260 papers tagged with the keywords technostress and librarian*. After reviewing the results, we confirmed that 92 of these papers meet the inclusion criteria of being about technostress and about librarians. We will add to this corpus by forward and backward chaining to identify studies that were not indexed in the databases we searched. Finally, we will analyze the results, focusing on country, type of library, and research method used. In addition, we will categorize studies using Nisafani, Kiely and Mahony’s (2020) conceptual model of technostress which includes causes, strains, inhibitors, and impacts.The poster format will provide an opportunity to visualize the results of the scoping review for creative insights. We plan to build on the first phase of the project, and the input from conference attendees, to design our further research
21st Century Accreditation: Teaching, Learning, Practice, and Competences
Get PDFThe ALA Standards for Accreditation of Master’s Programs in Library and Information Studies has undergone a significant proposed revision to foreground: program learning outcomes; place more emphasis on equity, diversity, and inclusion; eliminate redundancy; and reflect the current institutional context of LIS education and/or the needs of the profession.
The revision maintains focus on: systematic planning; program level learning outcomes and curriculum; faculty; students; and infrastructure, through the maturing lens and experiences of 21st century students, educators, employers, and schools.
The revised Standards are designed to be flexible enough to support a range of program modalities (primarily in-person, hybrid, primarily online), pedagogies, concentrations, and sizes, while maintaining a professional standard and expectation of program learning outcomes relevant to an evolving and expanding range of career options and opportunities.
Whether library and information studies programs exist as faculties, schools, or departments, the Standards were revised to be expansive enough to support the development, implementation, and growth of robust teaching, learning, and research environments tailored to institutional strategic directions and local realities but focused on producing quality education experiences for students through common accreditation expectations. This panel brings together program and Committee on Accreditation representatives to review the aims of the revision, the process and results of the revision consultation process focused mainly within the United States, Canada, and the UK where ALA-accreditation is recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation as the accreditor for the field of library and information studies, the experiences and expectations of external review panels during site visits, and the accreditation experiences of two representative schools.
The panel will further explore the implementation of the revised standards, Committee on Accreditation expectations, supports available to programs from the Office of Accreditation, and initial and developing experiences in applying the revised standards. The panel will also invite comments, questions, and observations from attendees
On the type material of the Upper Ordovician mitrate “carpoid” Diamphidiocystis drepanon Kolata & Guensburg (Echinodermata: Stylophora)
Get PDFWe document the formal transfer of the holotype, seven paratypes, and two referred specimens of the mitrate “carpoid” Diamphidiocystis drepanon Kolata & Guensberg (Echinodermata: Stylophora) from the Department of Geology, Southern Illinois University (SIU) to the paleontological collection of the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) at the PRI Center for Paleontology. A tabulated list of the specimens cross-referenced with their new ISGS numbers is provided. The specimens come from the Cincinnatian (Upper Ordovician) Orchard Creek Shale (Maquoketa Group) near Thebes in Alexander County, southern Illinois