Proceedings of the Annual Conference of CAIS / Actes du congrès annuel de l'ACSI
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1726 research outputs found
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Reconciling Different Approaches to Reference and Information Service Using Q Methodology
No full textTo make sense of the variety of conflicting conceptualizations of reference and information service (RIS) in the literature, this study uses Q methodology, which involves a card sort and interview, to identify librarians’ espoused conceptualizations. Librarians in South Africa and the United States sorted 35 statements representing the breadth of approaches to RIS. Preliminary data were analyzed to identify prominent conceptualizations based on like sorts. Results will inform theoretical work and professional education for RIS
Young Women Encountering Information on Sexuality in Young Adult Literature
No full textThis paper investigates Young Adult (YA) Literature as a source of information on sexuality for young women readers. The data for this study is derived from semi-structured interviews (Seidman, 2006) that were conducted with 11 female participants. Six major categories of information on sexuality were found within the interview data: sexual acts, types of relationships, relationship realities, strategies for dealing with relationship problems, sexual abuse, and consent. These findings provide empirical evidence that YA Literature can act as a valuable source of information on sexuality and may promote the sexual agency and well-being of young people, especially young women
Transfer of academic information literacy skills to workplace contexts
No full textThis paper reports preliminary results of a study analyzing transfer of information literacy skills learned in a compulsory undergraduate course at the University of Pretoria. Twenty-three alumni with a range of disciplinary backgrounds, and currently working in a diversity of workplaces, participated in critical incident interviews which explored transferability of the skills learned in the course, and information practices in the workplace
Whatever it Takes: A Close Examination of the Roles and Services Public Libraries Provide During Community Crises
No full textThis paper explores the roles and services public libraries provide during community crises. This is accomplished through a directed and summative content analysis of news articles concerning the services provided by public libraries during various crises. Seven roles and four adaptive capacities are closely examined, including how they have changed over time and whether or not they differ depending on the type of crisis, in order to attain a thorough understanding of the essential roles and services public libraries can offer to enhance their communities’ resilience
Identity in Information Behaviour Research: A Conceptual Analysis
No full textUsing a conceptual analysis approach, this study explores how identity has been conceptualized in the information behaviour literature. Findings indicate that researchers have employed three main approaches when conceptualizing identity: identity as personal project, identity and social groups, and identity as selfpresentation were the three most common conceptualizations of identity. The findings contribute to the identification of the key factors of information behaviour and suggest areas for future research
Language Classification in The Ethnologue and its Consequences
No full textThe Ethnologue is a widely used classificatory standard for the world’s 7000+ natural languages. However, the motives and processes used by The Ethnologue’s governing body, SIL International, have come under criticism by linguists. This paper investigates how The Ethnologue answers the question “What is a language?” through the theoretical lens presented by Bowker and Star in Sorting Things Out (1999) and presents some consequences of those classificatory decisions
Opening the Conversation: How Ontario Public Library Websites Frame Disability
No full textPublic library websites are an early point of contact for the community. These sites are the library’s voice when queried by current and potential patrons about services and resources. For those with disabilities, this conversation may include questions around accessibility. This research investigates Ontario public library websites for accessibility information to answer the question, ‘How is disability defined by Ontario public libraries?.’ Fifteen Ontario public library websites were analyzed through a critical disability framework. Findings indicate a broader framing of accessibility than in previous research using more of a social model, with some instances of disability framed as a binary
Affective Collections: Care Practices in Digital Community Archives
No full textThis paper will present the literature, theoretical framework, and preliminary findings of my MLIS/MA thesis. My research explores how digital community archives use participation-based methods to build a feminist ethics of care into the archival process. These participation-based methods encourage community members to contribute to the collecting, describing, and creating of records. I will use thematic analysis and critical discourse analysis to explore communitymade content associated with the Flin Flon Heritage Project and Harvest Moon Oral History. I am specifically exploring how community archives could enact an ethics of care through the use of care practices in a digital environment
Rerouting Google Maps: drawing- and performance-based methods in action
No full textThe following paper outlines an arts-based research project that uses drawing and performance to critically examine the perceptual conditions generated by locative media, specifically the dominant Google Maps platform. The research is based on a series of wayfinding encounters in four major urban centres—Toronto, ON, New York, NY, London, UK, and Amsterdam, NL—during which the artist-researcher asked passers-by for directions with the additional request the directions be drawn using the instruments provided. The paper considers the street-level behaviours and practices of location-awareness and orientation set against the constructions of trust, seamlessness, and claim to space Google Maps deploys
Building infrastructures for university-community knowledge exchange: The Role of Information Professionals and Literacy Educators
No full textThis panel argues that information professionals and literacy educators play an important bridging role between universities and community groups and stakeholders. We describe the context of universitycommunity knowledge exchange, which is increasingly expected, but remains under-supported and under-theorised, and consider new opportunities that exist to support and build capacity in researchers and communities to co-create, share, and use information. We focus on the training and professional development needed to position information professionals and literacy educators as knowledge brokers, and innovative projects that demonstrate their value and potential in this role