Library and Information Science Commons^™

Toward Ethical And Inclusive Descriptive Practices, Shira Peltzman, Kelly Besser

Journal of Critical Digital Librarianship

This case study describes the context which galvanized our Collection Management unit at UCLA Library Special Collections to collectively craft a descriptive practices statement within a study group focused on an anti-oppressive approach to discovery and access. This paper discusses the planning and design of the study group, our direct engagement at meetings, collaborative iteration, and liberatory pedagogical strategies that enabled the statement’s publication, and its impact within our department, library, and beyond. This work speaks to radical descriptive change and provides a potential path for the development of ethical and inclusive descriptive practices at other institutions.

Open Access Publishing Biases Oer, Chelsee Dickson, Christina Holm

Open Educational Resource Collection

Academic publishing processes are shaped by the ways in which scholars within the field review and evaluate the work of their peers. In an ideal world, these methods would simply promote the publication of the best forms of research without prejudice or subjectivity. In reality, issues such as Knobloch-Westerwick, Glynn, and Huge’s Matilda effect, Merton’s Matthew effect, Blank’s institution bias, and Robert’s and Verhoef’s gender bias shape the ways that scholarly inquiry are evaluated.

Knowing that the peer review process can introduce issues of bias, what then of other aspects of the publishing cycle? For example, what of the subvention …

Information Literacy In The Covid 19 Pandemic/Post Pandemic Era: Student And Faculty Perspectives, Laura Zucca-Scott, Julia Suchan

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

This phenomenological study focused on the perspectives and experiences of students and faculty as they engaged in a dialogue on the importance of information literacy and its relevance in today’s world. As a team of a graduate faculty member and a graduate student assistant, we interviewed students about their views on information literacy and its application to scholarly and everyday activities.

The purpose of our project was to investigate the needs and wants of students. With the COVID 19 Pandemic, we witnessed a profound transformation in education and a sharp increase in remote learning. Students expressed mixed feelings about the …

Religion In The News On An Ordinary Day: Methodology, Choices, And Bias, David H. Michels, Christopher Helland

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In this article we explore the Religion on an Ordinary Day (RoD) methodology in detail. The RoD project collected news stories published on September 17 over the period of three years (2013, 2014, 2015) in Australia, Canada, Finland, and the United Kingdom. We consider our decisions regarding the variability of language, researcher bias, and intercoder reliability in data collection and coding and the implications of those decisions. We offer a case study that analyzes references to New Religious Movements in the news. We considered the intentional choices, unintentional choices in the forms of accidents and misunderstandings, as well as unconsidered …

Barriers For Library And Information Science Researchers From Developing Countries: What The “Library Philosophy And Practice Phenomenon” Tells Us, Brady Lund

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This short commentary introduces and discusses the “Library Philosophy and Practice (LPP) Phenomenon,” wherein a scholarly journal published in a developed country has an extremely large number of authors from developing countries, relative to the typical journal. Elements of journals that fit the LPP phenomenon are discussed, as well as what this phenomenon says about barriers to scholarly publishing for researchers from developing nations. Implications for journals that lack diverse authorship from developing nations are listed. This phenomenon may be studied in other disciplines to further illuminate divides in the scholarly realm.

Fake News Or Is It?, Liz Kielley

Library Staff Presentations & Publications

How can you tell if something is credible or fake news? Reliable information helps us make good decisions but with the proliferation of social media, sometimes it is hard to tell if we should believe it or delete it. We tend to want to believe those things that align with our world view, but is it true just because we want it to be? What is opinion and what is fact? Let’s sharpen our critical thinking skills and discover some tools that we can use to help us figure it out. We will learn what drives fake news, how to …

Information Literacy Vs. The Demagogue: Are We Preparing Students For Informed Citizenship?, Mark Lenker

LOEX Conference Proceedings 2013

No abstract provided.

Finding The Sonic Sweet Spot: Implementing A Noise Management Program In A Library Learning Commons, Cindy Pierard, Olivia Baca

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Noise in academic libraries has been a consistent concern of library staff and library users. This concern has intensified as libraries have emphasized their role in supporting student learning, including learning that occurs in a busy, collaborative environment. Studies of acceptable library noise levels have traditionally been conducted in areas where quiet was expected. This study adds to the literature by studying ideal noise levels for a busy, collaborative study space: the library learning commons.

Race And Racism In Collection Development: Socialization, Implicit Bias And Decision Making, And Why It's Important For Youth Collections To Include Books With Diverse Characters, Lisa A. Gooden

Presentations and Speeches

A professional development presentation designed for librarians responsible for collection development in the area of children's and young adult literature. Includes a discussion on race in the publishing industry and library profession, implicit bias and the impacts on collection development, and practical advice for building and maintaining a diverse collection of books for youth. This presentation was created for the Mid-America Library Alliance Spring 2019 Workshop: Diversity in Children’s Literature and Programming.

Gender Differences In Peer Review Outcomes And Manuscript Impact At Six Journals Of Ecology And Evolution, Charles W. Fox, C. E. Timothy Paine

Entomology Faculty Publications

The productivity and performance of men is generally rated more highly than that of women in controlled experiments, suggesting conscious or unconscious gender biases in assessment. The degree to which editors and reviewers of scholarly journals exhibit gender biases that influence outcomes of the peer‐review process remains uncertain due to substantial variation among studies. We test whether gender predicts the outcomes of editorial and peer review for >23,000 research manuscripts submitted to six journals in ecology and evolution from 2010 to 2015. Papers with female and male first authors were equally likely to be sent for peer review. However, papers …

Managing Decision-Making Bias In Erp Use By Smes, Connie L. Kahler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the use of ERP and outputs by six decision-makers in one SME manufacturing organization and provide artifacts targeted to improve their pricing decisions. Through elaborated action design research, we collect data to diagnosis decision-makers concerns and identify decision making biases and errors. Using insights and collaboration, we design, implement and evaluate seven artifacts targeted to minimize four biases identified – overconfidence bias, optimistic bias, planning fallacy and representativeness.

The data collected during the diagnosis phase reveals that concerns fell into three primary themes: data, human interfaces, and cognitive bias. The seven combined …

The Baked-In Bias Of Algorithms, Lori Bowen Ayre, Jim Craner

Collaborative Librarianship

Algorithms are created by and used by humans in software programs and in everyday tasks. They are composed of input data, a series of steps, and output. When it comes to computer algorithms, we often see the results of algorithms but we don't see the processing steps or the input data that has determined the output. It is important to be aware that all these components are subject to mistakes and biases - the input data as well as the processing steps.For this reason, we should seek transparency in the algorithms that are put to use and which affect our …

Why Wikipedia Often Overlooks Stories Of Women In History, Lara Nicosia, Tamar Carroll

Articles

Wikipedia's reliance on a volunteer editing base has resulted in a gender bias both in the quantity and quality of content around women. With less than 20% of Wikipedia's editors identifying as women, only 30% of biographical entries have been written about women and entries on women tend to be shorter and more focused on relationships and family roles than entries on men. This article explores the causes of Wikipedia's gender bias and offers ways that both individuals and institutions can help improve Wikipedia's content around women.

Human Selection And Digitized Archival Collections: An Exploratory Research Project About Choice Of Archival Materials Digitized For Online Public Availability, Randy Nelson Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Our collective memory, the history that is cultivated through reflection, documentation, and consensus of historical data, is predicated upon the citizenry having access to the historical materials that society has created. Digitization has enabled greater public access to those materials. However, are items being scanned or digitally photographed to create surrogates that are then not made available to the world? The impetus for this study is to delve into whether or not intentional or unintentional personal choices play a role in determining which items archivists transform into digital surrogates; both in the decision of what to digitize and what to …

Chemical Literature Databases: Conflict Of Interest?, Belinda L. Hurley

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

A publisher of a research database controls the search algorithms of its database and, at a minimum, partially controls the indexing metadata attached to journal articles indexed in its database. A publisher of a journal partially controls the indexing metadata attached to articles in that journal. A publisher who publishes both a research database and journals that are indexed in that database has significant control over two major aspects of the discovery process. This allows the possibility for a publisher to introduce a bias into its algorithm that could favor discovery of its own articles. This work looks at search …

An Annotated Bibliography On Bias In Library Services And Collections, Denise George

University Library Faculty Publications

This annotated bibliography provides a selection of resources that delve into the topic of bias as it relates to library services and collections in the 21^stcentury. Globalization, corporate hegemony, Internet search engines, and technologies such as virtual reference contribute to an environment where the librarian must be aware of personal and external biases in order to make appropriate decisions. The resources presented touch on ethics, neutrality, social responsibility, advocacy, selection and censorship. This broad spectrum of bias related topics will be especially helpful for librarians providing reference services and collection development in today’s library information environment.

An Annotated Bibliography On Bias In Library Services And Collections, Denise Dimsdale

Georgia Library Quarterly

This annotated bibliography provides a selection of resources that delve into the topic of bias as it relates to library services and collections in the 21^st century. Globalization, corporate hegemony, Internet search engines, and technologies such as virtual reference contribute to an environment where the librarian must be aware of personal and external biases in order to make appropriate decisions. The resources presented touch on ethics, neutrality, social responsibility, advocacy, selection and censorship. This broad spectrum of bias related topics will be especially helpful for librarians providing reference services and collection development in today’s library information environment.

Both Sides Of The Story, Barbara Tuck

Library Faculty Presentations & Publications

It is to your advantage to know who sponsors a publication and what its agenda or bias might be.

Magazines for Libraries and Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory are the sources for this information.

How Do You Know That? An Investigation Of Student Research Practices In The Digital Age, Randall Mcclure, Kellian Clink

Library Services Publications

This study investigates the types of sources that English composition students use in their research essays. Unlike previous studies, this project pairs an examination of source citations with deeper analysis of source use, and both are discussed in relation to responses gathered in focus groups with participating students and teachers. The researchers examine how students negotiate locating and using source material, particularly online sources, in terms of timeliness, authority, and bias. The researchers report on how teachers struggle to introduce these concepts and how students fail to perceive authority and bias in their sources.