IOPN Journals (Illinois Open Publishing Network)
Not a member yet
1384 research outputs found
Sort by
Shifting the Focus of Metadata Training to Community User Needs in Language Archives
Full text linkRepositories of digital collections focusing on languages and cultures are known as digital language archives. In the past 15 years, they have grown exponentially, due to language documentation and revitalization work. Materials resulting from these efforts – mostly housed by GLAM institutions, including in community-centered digital collections – are valuable for education, research, and empowering communities. Information professionals are responsible for organizing and describing them to facilitate access and discovery. A gap exists between the ways these information resources are usually organized and expectations of language communities’ members and language preservation and revitalization researchers. GLAM-stewarded community language archive items possess uncommon for other information resources attributes and relationships of importance to target audiences. Their metadata representation – and specific information needs of intended audiences – are not yet in the mainstream GLAM curriculum. The paper describes addressing this training gap as part of the advanced graduate metadata course
Investigating LIS Educator and Practitioner Perspectives of Professional Development: The 2025 ALISE Leadership Development Intern Panel
Full text linkThroughout our history, the field of librarianship has adapted to rapid changes in society and technology. In recent years, the list of challenges to which librarians must either adapt or push against has only continued to grow. In this context, the evolving field of library and information science (LIS) demands renewed attention into how LIS as a domain supports its researchers, educators, and practitioners and prepares students for practice in a field where our work is often subject to transitions, disruptions, and transformation. These challenges occur at many levels, from the macro-level of the social and political climate, the field-level with shifting demands on library practitioners, the education-level with the need for educators to meet these shifting demands, and the individual-level where personal circumstances shape our career trajectories.
Much has already been written about the evolving nature of LIS and the need for library education to respond, though the nature of these recommended responses varies (Abels et al., 2015; Cronin, 2012; Godsett & Koziura, 2016; Lillard & Wales, 2003; Myburgh, 2003; Sutton, 1999; Van House & Sutton, 1996; Wilson, 2002). This research is often motivated by the belief that “a system of professional education can purposefully adapt and that an understanding of environmental change and the strategies by which its components can enhance their survival is therefore useful” (Van House & Sutton, 1996, p. 133). Sutton (1999) describes both the slow, incremental changes and the discontinuous, rapid changes that the library field experiences and points to the need to prepare professionals for both. He argues that while the field may prepare librarians for the former, it may not be adequately preparing them for the latter.
LIS professional associations exist to support the profession and the professionals engaged within it (Henczel, 2015). They, along with LIS education, engage with and define the LIS habitus, or perceptions and assumptions, in the field (Van House & Sutton, 1996). Loan (2019) expands on this, offering five laws of Library and Information Science associations that outline ways associations can or should support individuals and advance the profession. The five laws include the “law of mission,” “law of action,” “law of identity,” “law of recognition,” and “law of unity” (p.1-6). ALISE, founded in 1915 as the Association of American Library Schools, is a professional organization that serves the LIS educator (ALISE, 2025). Summers (1986) notes that the organization has undergone many different and sometimes disparate themes. As a professional organization, ALISE supports its members through the annual conference, annual awards and grants, and the doctoral poster competition, designed to help engage and welcome new future LIS educators into the field (Julien, 2007). However, how ALISE’s support is perceived by its members and information professionals outside of the organization is unknown.
This panel shares preliminary findings from the 2024-2025 Inaugural ALISE Leadership Development Internship project, which examined how practicing information professionals (both educators and practitioners) understand and experience the benefits and challenges of our field, including the professional organizations that support us. This project aims to help bridge the gap between LIS practitioners and educators, which was noted among participants and has been observed in the field more broadly (Lillard & Wales, 2003; Van House & Sutton, 1996). Drawing on 38 semi-structured, in-depth qualitative interviews with both information science educators and practitioners conducted between February and May of 2025, this panel centers on three key research questions (RQs):
RQ1: What challenges do LIS educators and librarians experience in the field of library and information science?
RQ2: What do practicing librarians want LIS educators to know about their jobs and preparation to work in the field?
RQ3: What is the role of professional organizations in supporting both LIS educators and librarians?
Through qualitative thematic analysis, we developed a four-domain framework (M.L.I.S) which we used to further organize how participants articulated challenges and opportunities: Macro Domain (M); LIS (L); Institutional Domain (I); and Self Domain (S). The Macro Domain included participant responses to national and structural forces shaping LIS work, including national referendums, policy, funding, and shifting technologies. The LIS Domain included participant responses to pedagogical approaches, potential gaps in their Master\u27s curriculum, and research relevance within LIS education. The Institutional Domain included participant responses on organizational culture within their institution (library or university), administration, and the expectations of LIS professionals on the job. Finally, in the Self Domain, we included participant comments focused on professional identity, self-efficacy, and emotional labor.
Findings reveal gratitude for LIS training yet persistent disconnects between education and professional demands. Within the Macro Domain, participants noted a need for LIS programs to better engage with professional challenges like funding cuts and censorship as well as build advocacy skills. In the LIS Domain, interviewees emphasized the importance of grounding curriculum in practical skills, including management training and adapting to new technologies. Within the Institutional Domain, participants discussed the pressure to manage workloads, navigate internal hierarchies, and respond to emergent crises (e.g., book challenges). Many felt LIS programs did not adequately prepare them to understand institutional dynamics or practices. Participants described how their personal values, well-being, and evolving identities shaped how they approached their work. They acknowledged the emotional dimensions of the profession, like burnout and the resilience required in public-facing roles.
In this panel, the 2024-25 internship cohort will share the findings from this project, explain our motivations for pursuing this project, and seek input from participants on how they might consider these findings in the context of their own instruction. This panel session features three segments: (1) A 30-minute presentation of qualitative findings from the 2024-2025 Inaugural ALISE Leadership Development Internship Project; (2) A 30-minute moderated panel discussion of each domain’s tensions and opportunities; and (3) A 30-minute facilitated interactive segment inviting participants to share experiences and reimagine the MLIS framework. This panel is especially relevant for LIS educators and practitioners, doctoral students, early-career professionals, and professional association leaders. It encourages a nuanced, reflective conversation about how to co-create a more responsive, sustainable, and values-centered vision for LIS education and professional development
Luxury Fashion and Anime: Studio Ghibli and Loewe’s Unorthodox Brand Merchandizing
No full textWhile they might seem counterintuitive to traditional concepts of “luxury,” collaborations between luxury and anime brands are a growing pattern reflecting the growth of both industries for key demographics. This paper argues that luxury brands use these collaborations to establish brand relevance and cultural connection while also positioning themselves advantageously against other brands in an increasingly social and online environment. Through a qualitative and quantitative content analysis of Instagram posts and user comments from Studio Ghibli and the Spanish luxury brand Loewe regarding their three product collaborations, we argue that there is a significant amount of room for differentiation in the space. In this case, it is focused not on anime fans in general, but instead on consumers interested in the luxury market that also happen to enjoy anime. We suggest that these collaborations are not intended to massify luxury audiences outside of their existing consumers, but instead to generate additional value and interest in the brand’s luxury identity for coveted young demographics with a global perspective and potential influence
AI and Lawyering: Developing a Library Exhibit Aimed at Law Students
No full textAmong the fields where Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are having an impact is the legal profession, and law librarians are among those positioned to help law students understand, assess, and make use of relevant AI tools during their time as law students and to develop skills in, and recognize the implications of, using AI options that will be part of their new work environments once they formally begin their legal careers.
One way of capturing law student attention and emphasizing key features of generative AI tools while also highlighting some key implications of using such tools in the legal profession is through a case exhibit. Exhibits can provide a simple and effective way to engage audiences and convey information.
This study describes the creation and implementation of an exhibit titled Lawyering and AI that was displayed in the entry area of the MacMillan Law Library at Emory University’s School of Law between fall 2023 and January 2024. This is a chronological account of the stages and steps involved in creating the exhibit. The exhibit benefitted the Law School community – and law students in particular – by conveying information about some of the ways in which AI is impacting and will continue to impact the practice of law. The author describes the process of creating a display case exhibit that combined images and text, including topical examples from legal news and law firm reports. Primary goals of the project, tools used to create the display, and key takeaways are presented
Explore Your Assessment: Improving Library Orientation Using Longitudinal Assessment Data
No full textOrientations are a common practice across academic libraries. While assessment is often part of the literature about this type of programming, longitudinal assessment is often lacking. This study provides an examination of the annual library orientation at a private, four-year university and its evolution as a goal-oriented program over the course of twelve years. It details how the authors coded responses from the program’s participant registration form to conduct longitudinal analysis of the program. The authors use this analysis for a greater understanding of the program’s successes and to improve the event. The article concludes with a review of the authors’ findings and opportunities for further study
On the Trail of a Manuscript: Baron Ernst Friedrich Borgsdorf’s “Relation von Moscovien” and its Fate
Full text linkThis article is dedicated to the French historian of Russian origin, Dmitry Gouzévitch, who initiated the search for the German manuscript "Relation von Moscovien" by Baron E. F. Borgsdorf. This scarcely known source from the time of Peter the Great is currently kept in the Batthyaneum Library in Alba Iulia, Romania. The manuscript was written in 1699. A comparative analysis of this text with Baron Borgsdorf’s letters and other manuscripts in Austrian libraries and archives allows us to conclude that we are dealing with an original manuscript, written by the author\u27s hand. The text is divided into two books. The first book describes the reasons for his journey, details of the route from Vienna to Azov, the siege and capture of Azov (1696), and the circumstances under which Baron Borgsdorf and his family were allowed to return to Vienna. The second book consists of twenty chapters describing the Muscovite state: its size, governance, and military might, as well as its trade and fiscal system. Particular attention is given to justice, diplomatic relations and the conclusion of peace treaties. In the appendix, the author relates the death of the renowned French merchant and traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605-1689) in Moscow. The author also describes the measures taken by Baron Borgsdorf to leave the country; and provides a detailed description of the author\u27s drawings of the fortifications of Azov and Taganrog.The introduction of this new narrative source into scholarly circulation will allow researchers to take a fresh look at the events associated with the siege of Azov, the construction of Taganrog, and the lives and fates of foreign engineers in the Muscovite state
Anecdotes sur Pierre Ier: Jacob von Staehlin vs pseudo-Villebois
Full text linkLes Anecdotes originales de Pierre le Grand de Jacob von Staehlin et les Mémoires de Villebois incarnent deux conceptions différentes des fonctions de l’anecdote en tant que genre historiographique. Ces textes ont été largement diffusés et parfois repris dans d\u27autres recueils, sans être cités. Ils ont également été diversement appréciés par les historiens. Si leurs auteurs s\u27appuient tous deux sur des informateurs faisant autorité ou des témoins oculaires, leur véracité continue de faire débat. On s\u27intéresse à l\u27origine de ces textes afin d\u27éclairer, notamment, leur divergence d\u27objectifs, l\u27un visant à donner un exemple et à édifier le lecteur, l\u27autre reposant davantage sur les “scandales ” cachés pour donner une piètre image du monarque russe.Jacob von Stählin’s Anecdotes originales de Pierre le Grand and the Mémoires de Villebois embody two different conceptions of the functions of the anecdote as a historiographical genre. These texts circulated widely and were sometimes reproduced in other collections without being cited. They were also received very differently by historians. Although both authors relied on authoritative informants or eyewitnesses, the truthfulness of their accounts remains contested. This study examines the origins of these texts in order to shed lighton their divergent aims: the one seeking to offer an example and to edify the reader, the other relying more on hidden “scandals” to provide a negative portrayal of the Russian monarch
Transnational Anime and Spain’s Post-1992 Soft Power in Gisaku (2005)
Full text linkThis paper analyses Gisaku (2005), a Spanish animated film directed by Baltasar Pedrosa, as a strategic exercise in cultural diplomacy and transnational media adaptation. Commissioned through a public competition organized by the Sociedad Estatal para Exposiciones Internacionales (SEEI), Gisaku was created to represent Spain at the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan—an explicit gesture of soft power aimed at fostering cultural proximity through animated media, or, according to SEEI, at “selling the nation’s image”.
Importantly, the film emerges at a moment when anime consumption in Spain was becoming widespread through television, home video, and fan communities. Gisaku is also embedded in anime’s transnational cartography in the way it draws from this industrial infrastructure, employing veteran Spanish voice actors known for dubbing Japanese anime. This convergence of local talent and imported aesthetic codes reveals anime not only as a culturally determined form of Japanese popular culture but as a combination of both centralized and decentralized networks of production and convention
Regulating Japan: The Role of Indian Broadcast Censorship in Shaping Anime Narratives for Domestic Viewers
Full text linkJapanese anime continues to gain popularity with global audiences, including India. At the same time, its reception and glocalisation in India reveal crucial insights into the mechanisms of cultural mediation and institutional control. This paper examines Indian broadcasting censorship and regulatory practices that change and redefine Japanese anime stories, visuals, and thematic elements during their official adaptation, with a special focus on popular titles such as Doraemon and Crayon Shinchan. It will also analyse how Indian television networks, such as Disney Channel India, Sony YAY!, and Hungama TV, exercise content moderation to align anime with Indian domestic cultural values and broadcasting regulations, and the result of such sanitization on the final glocalised product.
Artificial Intelligence: Implications for the MLS Curriculum and Pedagogy
Full text linkArtificial intelligence (AI), in many forms, has long been a feature of research and practice in information science. Defined broadly as computers that “learn” from environmental inputs and adjust outputs accordingly, AI has a long history in information search systems, for instance. The more recent iterations of AI, namely large language models (LLMs) and generative tools such as ChatGPT, have caught the world’s attention, and are the subject of significant discussion in multiple contexts, including higher education. This panel focuses on the implications of these tools for information schools. One obvious implication is the need to expand the curriculum, at least at the master’s level, to ensure that graduates are familiar with these technologies, their affordances, and their challenges. Pedagogical implications include concerns for how best to teach these topics, as well as how to manage students’ use of LLMs in their research and writing. Multiple curricular and pedagogical issues merit discussion, and implications for programmatic or institutional policies should be included in those conversations. The panel will begin with a brief introduction by the moderator (Heidi Julien), followed by 10-minute presentations by three scholars with expertise and experience in these areas (Sam Abramovich, Sean Burns, and Saguna Shankar). A 45-minute opportunity for audience discussion will follow, in small groups first if audience size allows, followed by a 15-minute wrap-up session to summarize outstanding concerns and issues, as well as to identify opportunities for collaboration to address these matters.
Dr. Sam Abramovich is an Associate Professor (Departments of Information Science and of Learning and Instruction) and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Graduate School of Education, at the University at Buffalo. In his presentation, he will share insights gained from teaching an online course for Master of Library Science students focused on emerging technologies. Over multiple iterations of this course, he observed that many students were quietly using generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, to generate responses for assignments and discussion board posts. This practice undermined the course’s learning objectives, so he redesigned the assessments to explicitly allow and encourage AI usage, as long as students acknowledged how they employed these technologies. Surprisingly, almost no one admitted to using AI, even though his own analysis strongly suggested that many did. This lack of transparency is indicative of a larger culture of fear and secrecy surrounding AI use in Information Science education. Yet, these tools are increasingly pervasive, nearly impossible to detect, and are quickly becoming integral to library work. In his presentation, Dr. Abramovich will argue that Information Science programs must immediately embrace and normalize the use of generative AI. Otherwise, the Master of Library Science degree risks losing its relevance, with its demise hidden until the impact becomes evident and irreparable in the coming years. Therefore, failing to adapt could undermine our field’s foundation. However, by embracing AI into our curricula, we can empower future librarians to thrive in a rapidly changing information landscape.;
Dr. C. Sean Burns is an Associate Professor in the School of Information Science at the University of Kentucky. He will focus on “Shortcuts, Learning, and the Sacredness of Writing.” Our culture sends mixed messages, stressing the importance of learning while rewarding the product, rather than the process. But learning is a process and not a product. When students use LLMs to take shortcuts in assignments, they reflect a deeper societal tension that prioritizes extrinsic outcomes over intrinsic learning. This raises the question: what do we truly value, the product or the process? If it is the product, then taking shortcuts is entirely rational. We send other mixed messages. We say that writing is thinking (Zinsser, 1988), but we think in other ways, too. Transcribing interviews fosters deep intimacy with the data. Manually calculating sums of squares for an ANOVA builds understanding of statistical reasoning. In these and other cases, this engagement transforms us into scholars and not just researchers. Yet, we have handed over both tasks to computers. Why, then, are some forms of thinking, like writing, held sacred while others are not? What rule determines which shortcuts are acceptable and which are not? Dr. Burns will explore this tension within the context of generative AI tools like LLMs. Drawing on his research on ungrading and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), he will challenge assumptions about assessment, learning, and technology’s role in shaping how we engage with knowledge.
Dr. Saguna Shankar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Science at the University at Buffalo. She will discuss “Practice and Pluralism in Curricular Considerations”. While media headlines on AI often claim unprecedented innovations, existing expertise in library, archival, and information science receives less attention. Within the field, there is agreement about the critical roles and responsibilities of information professionals in shaping ethical considerations and regulations of automated, algorithmic, and AI-based systems. Threading these roles and responsibilities through curricula is a priority for educators and practitioners. Dr. Shankar will reflect on emerging professionals’ sensemaking about AI from her experiences teaching information policy. Challenges in teaching information policy, however, include addressing narratives of newness, hype, and fear, interrogating inevitability, and an erosion of agency prompted by contemporary overreach in the economics and politics of the technology industry. Drawing on her research, she will also share related issues for leveraging existing expertise and amplifying opportunities for information professionals’ participation in policy analysis and sociotechnical decision making