Digital Commons Network^™

From Philosophy To Nlu: Evolving Definitions With Research Hypotheses, Jian Wu, Sarah Rajtmajer

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Over the past decades, alongside advancements in natural language processing, significant attention has been paid to training models to automatically extract, understand, test, and generate hypotheses in open and scientific domains. However, interpretations of the term hypothesis for various natural language understanding (NLU) tasks have migrated from traditional definitions in the natural, social, and formal sciences. Even within NLU, we observe differences defining hypotheses across literature. In this paper, we overview and delineate various definitions of hypothesis. Especially, we discern the nuances of definitions across recently published NLU tasks. We highlight the importance of well-structured and well-defined hypotheses, particularly as …

From Philosophy To Nlu: Evolving Definitions Of Research Hypotheses, Jian Wu, Sarah Rajtmajer

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Over the past decades, alongside advancements in natural language processing, significant attention has been paid to training models to automatically extract, understand, test, and generate hypotheses in open and scientific domains. However, interpretations of the term hypothesis for various natural language understanding (NLU) tasks have migrated from traditional definitions in the natural, social, and formal sciences. Even within NLU, we observe differences defining hypotheses across literature. In this paper, we overview and delineate various definitions of hypothesis. Especially, we discern the nuances of definitions across recently published NLU tasks. We highlight the importance of well-structured and well-defined hypotheses, particularly as …

Humans Vs. Llms On Open Domain Scientific Claim Verification: A Baseline Study, Benjamin Curtis, Stefania Dzhaman, Matthew Maisonave, Jian Wu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Verifying scientific claims is challenging for the general public because most people lack domain knowledge. Manual verification by subject domain experts is accurate, but it is obviously not scalable to meet the rising number of scientific claims on the Web. Whether the emerging large language models and large reasoning models can be used for scientific claim verification, and how their performances compare to humans, are still research questions. To this end, we developed a new benchmark MSVEC2 that consists of 138 claims from credible fact verification websites and science news outlets. Two tasks were given to both human and LLM …

An Analytical Review Of Preprocessing Techniques In Bengali Natural Language Processing, Sovon Chakraborty, Protiva Das, Shakib Mahmud Dipto, Md Aktaruzzaman Pramanik, Jannatun Noor

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Research in Bengali Natural Language Processing (BNLP) is rapidly expanding. Despite being one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, BNLP research remains insufficient, particularly in Bengali speech recognition. The languages rich morphology, agglutinative structure, and diverse dialects make text and speech processing especially challenging. However, these challenges can be addressed with effective preprocessing techniques. Various organizations in Bangladesh and West Bengal are integrating Natural Language Processing (NLP) into their services, but without a thorough understanding of preprocessing, these implementations remain incomplete. Applying proper preprocessing techniques to the Bengali language will serve as a foundation for developing robust …

The Use Of Peer-To-Peer Observation And Feedback Cycles To Address Factors Impacting Perceived Professional Self-Efficacy Of School Librarians In A Kentucky School District: A Mixed Methods Action Research Study, Kelli D. Reno

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Research has shown that the school librarian occupies a unique and singular role in school settings. As such, their belief in their ability to master professional competencies is often self-referential and subject to negative influence from external organizational forces. This Mixed-Methods Action Research study explored the effect targeted institutional support for professional practice, via Peer-to-Peer Observation and Feedback cycles, has on perceptions of professional self-efficacy among the school librarians in one district.

A literature review focused on self-efficacy theory and school library research relating to role perception, organizational positioning, professional competencies, and job satisfaction anchored the diagnosis phase of this …

Socio-Economic And Infrastructural Determinants Of Response Time Disparities Across Emergency Service Agencies, Alice N. Ottah

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This study comprehensively analyzes the determinants of disparities in emergency response times for EMS, Fire, and Police agencies in San Francisco from 2021 to 2023, utilizing a multilevel modeling framework and publicly accessible data. Contrary to a primary reliance on structural neighborhood factors, this research reveals that while neighborhood disadvantage statistically significantly interacts with agency type to influence response times, its direct effect is weak and not uniformly consistent across services. Specifically, the analysis demonstrates that variance in call response times across neighborhoods is minimal (Intraclass Correlation Coefficients < 0.02), the effects of disadvantage are agency-specific (null effects for Police and Fire), and even when significant (for EMS calls only), response times are faster in more disadvantaged neighborhoods. These findings challenge the existing literature on emergency response times and highlight the need for tailored policy interventions that consider both neighborhood context and agency-specific operations to promote equitable emergency response.

Investigating Post-Adoption Abandonment Of Mental Health Mobile Applications Among Young Adults, Donald Harris

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The rising prevalence of mental health issues among young adults has driven increased interest in Mental Health Mobile Applications (MHMAs), which offer accessible and cost-effective solutions to traditional barriers such as financial limitations, stigma, and restricted healthcare access. Despite their promise, MHMAs frequently experience high rates of attrition and abandonment, significantly limiting their long-term effectiveness. Employing a mixed-methods, multi-stage research design, this dissertation explores the determinants of MHMA abandonment among young adults, emphasizing the interplay between technological inhibitors and enablers, individual user characteristics, and the mediating roles of user satisfaction and perceived usefulness.

Study 1 utilized quantitative text analysis, including …

Self-Preservation: Autobiography As A Form Of Archivization As Seen Through The Life And Poetic Works Of John Clare, Meghan J. Slaff

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This paper will look at how the processing efforts of an archivist mirror that of an autobiographer through the shared motivation of adding to the cultural memory or textual canon of a society. For archival purposes, the typical steps of ingesting, preparing, and presenting a collection are creation, capture, arrangement/description, and pluralization. To create an autobiography, writers take the memories that have been created and experienced due to events in their lives and capture those memories via recording in the literary form known as autobiography. These autobiographers then arrange and describe their memories in a way that shows vast similarities …

Managing Compliance: The Role Of Leadership Styles In Information Security Practices In Nigerian Public University Libraries” Insights From North-East Nigeria, Musa Giade Ya'u Musagiade, Gaberial O. Alegbeleye, Madukoma Ezinwanyi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Background: Information security compliance comprises adhering to established policies, protocols and to ensure absolute security. Despite the importance of security compliance in academic libraries, evidence from previous studies reported a low level of information security compliance among personnel in public university libraries in North-East Nigeria. However, proper leadership styles influence information security compliance leading to absolute protection of information systems. So, this study explored the influences of leadership styles in security compliance in public university libraries in North-East, Nigeria.

Method: This study adopted a survey research design. The population consisted of 618 library personnel from the 14 public university libraries …

School Library Professionals’ Perceptions Of Students’ Digital Information Literacy, Margaret Kristin Merga, Saiyidi Mat Roni

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Young people need strong digital information literacy (DIL) skills to effectively source, interpret and evaluate the credibility of online information. As DIL educators and advocates within contemporary schools, school library professionals can provide cross-contextual insights into their students’ DIL knowledge, skills and learning opportunities. Data from the 2024 International School Library Workforce Survey suggest that developing DIL may not be a typical priority in all schools and countries. Students’ DIL was felt to be low. School library professionals may be underutilized for supporting DIL learning in 35% of contexts, highlighting the need for greater understanding of this professional role.

Interactive Visualization Workflows For Mitigating Analytical Uncertainty, Kaustav Bhattacharjee

Dissertations

This dissertation takes a process-centric and stakeholder-first perspective for handling analytical uncertainty: the form of uncertainty that confronts data analysts' insight-generation processes in high-consequence decision-making scenarios. The cost of an incorrect decision when data is used for movie recommendations as opposed to when personal data is used to drive insights or when data-driven modeling is used to drive real-time decisions for maintaining the health of a grid are vastly different in terms of consequences. This dissertation looks at analytical uncertainty in two real-world scenarios: i) how sensitive information leakage can be prevented during the open data release process with data …

Fostering Future Librarians: Best Practices For Remote Internships In A Post-Pandemic Library, Yoko Ferguson, Helena Marvin

Urban Library Journal

Remote library internships in cataloging and digital scholarship can be valuable for both librarians and students. Leveraging online tools, we provide learning opportunities to library school students regardless of their time zone. In this presentation we share best practices for post-pandemic internships that nurture future librarians while tackling challenging projects. This presentation, delivered at the 2024 LACUNY Institute, explored the implementation and benefits of remote internships in academic libraries. Provided here as conference proceedings is a PDF of the slides.

An archival version of the recorded presentation can be found at https://irl.umsl.edu/library-faculty/26/.

Symbolic Cultural Value: Creativity And Counterproductivity In Citayam Fashion Week 2022 In Indonesia, Fuad Noorzeha, Agus Sutono, John Abraham Ziswan Suryosumunar

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The phenomenon of Citayam Fashion Week has symbolically influenced the way lower-class youth dress in central Jakarta. What was once an urban area in Sudirman has transformed into a fashion arena after videos of young people sporting distinctive clothing styles went viral. More than just a social gathering, this occurrence has attracted significant attention on social media, showcasing unique fashion expressions. However, this spontaneous and instantaneous trend has sparked a wide range of responses, with opinions varying from viewing it as a creative expression to considering it counterproductive. This study employs Jean Baudrillard’s theory as its formal framework in qualitative …

Enterprise Content Management In Cultural Heritage Institutions: A Study Of Sharjah Landscape, United Arab Emirates, Ahmed Adel Zidan, Mohamed Boufarss

All Works

This study examines the landscape of digital content management within heritage institutions in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It aims to evaluate the state, characteristics, and roles of these processes in preserving and promoting cultural heritage in the digital sphere. Utilizing a descriptive analytical approach, the research employs a checklist as the primary data collection instrument to investigate existing policies, plans, systems, and projects. Findings highlight the absence of formalized content management strategies in most institutions, which rely on unwritten, tacit policies. This lack of structured frameworks adversely impacts communication, operational performance, service delivery, and the long-term sustainability of their work. …

Graduate Student Journal Article Writing Group: Creating Community Around Publishing, Gabrielle Brehne, Catherine Baird, Alicia Remolde

Journal of Graduate Librarianship

At Montclair State University, the online and outreach librarian and the assistant director of the Center for Writing Excellence paired up to create a supplemental program to support graduate students seeking to publish journal articles. A graduate assistant joined the team and created content based on Wendy Laura Belcher’s book Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks. We will discuss how we collaborated to establish this writing group and what we learned from the experience. A journal article writing group is a great addition to any graduate program, and we hope our story will inspire others.

Complete Issue: Vol. 12, No. 2, Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

No abstract provided.

Selection Of Spring And Fall 2024 Master’S Project Posters, Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

Students are required to create academic research posters on their capstone research project and present them in class. The following selection of the Master’s Project Capstone Posters are from LIS 695 in the Spring 2024 and Fall 2024.

Interview With Cyndee Landrum: Usm Slis Graduate And Acting Director Imls, Gabriel Morley, E.D.

SLIS Connecting

Cyndee Landrum, a 2006 graduate of the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at The University of Southern Mississippi was named acting director of the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), an independent federal agency charged with supporting and empowering the country’s libraries. Dr. Morley interviewed her history and her perception of the future.

Website Accessibility In Mississippi Public Libraries, Jennifer Vance, Mlis

SLIS Connecting

The Americans With Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990, significantly increasing the disabled community’s access to public life. Since then, life has branched out into digital and physical spaces. With this shift came the need to integrate accessibility considerations into web design, in the same way an architect would consider accessibility when drawing up plans for a new building. However, while buildings are usually designed by professionals, websites are often not. Libraries are no exception, as many may not have dedicated staff to design and maintain a website. In cases where they do have dedicated staff, they may …

Library Services For Patrons Experiencing Homelessness: An Examination Of Three Urban Libraries, Jason Lefebvre, Mlis

SLIS Connecting

The need to consider the most equitable way to provide services to people experiencing homelessness must also be balanced by how these services will affect staff in their daily duties. What can realistically be expected from a staff member when dealing with more complex social service issues? At times, the staff is tasked with answering questions that may fall outside their education and training. It is necessary to establish which needs in the community can successfully be provided by someone with an educational or professional background relating primarily to the Library and Information Science field, and which are better facilitated …

Teen Programming On Virginia Public Library Websites, Melissa Howley, Mlis

SLIS Connecting

communities they serve. As such, teen programs offer an assorted range of experiences tailored to the interests and needs of the local teen population. The state of Virginia, with a diverse geographical landscape, presents a unique case study from which teen programming can be examined. This study examined teen programming in public libraries across six different public library regions, as recognized by the Virginia Library Association (VLA) (The Library of Virginia [LVA], n.d.). Exploring these regional variations revealed valuable insights into how public libraries effectively adapt teen services as well as how these services can be enhanced to empower teens …

Internet Archive Website: Pulp Fiction Mystery Collection Analysis, Ramona Elder, Mlis

SLIS Connecting

Detective magazines were a source of entertainment and fascination for the working-class readers of the early 20th century (Smith, 2000). Their illustrated covers drawn by pulp artists, such as Dalton Stevens and Jerome Rozen, were made to be attractive. Caronia (2019) tells how weekly periodicals continued to circulate as the rise of detective stories grew in popularity before the first detective magazines were printed and published. It was the American writer Edgar Allen Poe who is credited with having written the first detective story when he published The Murders of the Rue Morgue in Graham’s Magazine in April 1841 giving …

Lgbtq+ Content In The Ala Top Most Challenged Books, Kaelynn Edmondson, Mlis

SLIS Connecting

2,571 titles were challenged in 2022, double what was recorded in 2021, but it was noted that 45.5 percent of all those titles were LGBTQ+ books (Perfas, 2022). The rise in challenges and the fact that almost half the books contained LGBTQ+ topics indicates that, within recent years, there has been a shift in the type of content and the speed at which challenges are happening in the United States. Books like Obie is Enough by Schuyler Bailar are banned in states that do not allow books that discuss gender identity, and in turn, these books cannot reach the audiences …

Graphic Novel Censorship, Tiffany Buono, Mlis

SLIS Connecting

Graphic novels have been growing in popularity and demand since they were first introduced as a format in 1978 by Will Eisner with his publication of A Contract with God (“Will Eisner”, n.d.). Graphic novels (GN) are a format of writing and illustration that spans fiction and non-fiction genres with many classic works being adapted into the format to encourage more young adult engagement. Yet, many libraries nationwide, including school and public libraries, lack a strong graphic novel collection. The American Library Association (ALA) is a national authority on issues related to intellectual freedom including the increase of challenges and …

Historical Use Of Libraries In Inpatient Psychiatric Treatment In The United Kingdom, Jessica Buckey, Mlis

SLIS Connecting

In the 19th and 20th centuries, libraries were a common amenity in psychiatric hospitals, particularly private ones. This paper sheds new light on the history of these libraries in inpatient psychiatric treatment centers. The prevailing medical philosophy held that occupation and moderate intellectual stimulation were important for recovery, a mode of thought culminating in the 20th century bibliotherapy movement. This is not a clinical study, and it assumes no stance on the therapeutic value of reading. Instead, it is a historical study of libraries in inpatient psychiatric centers: how these libraries were curated; how patient libraries, throughout their history, responded …

Mental Health And Well-Being In Academic Libraries: A Bibliometric Survey Of Scholarly Publications, 1994-2024, Rebecca Arthur, Mlis

SLIS Connecting

Academic libraries are crucial pieces of the higher education system; national accreditation standards for colleges and universities require the existence of accessible library collections and knowledgeable, trained staff. Traditionally, the academic collections, both physical and digital, of these libraries have been their focal point, and the importance of the academic library on campus has been derived from its ability to provide instructional materials and support to students, faculty, and staff. However, the educational paradigm of academic librarianship has shifted as higher education has evolved throughout the twentieth century. Previously long-established pedagogies have become insufficient in the face of changing technologies …

From The Gas: Publications, Congratulations, And Presentations, Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D., Teresa S. Welsh, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

Includes book reviews by the graduate assistants for Gigi Shin Is Not a Nerd, Wild Dreamers, and The Blonde Dies First. Highlights what SLIS faculty are reading, alumni updates, faculty publications and presentations, and student congratulations.

Spotlights: Faculty, Alumni, Festival, Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D., Mary A. Osborne, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

Meet Dr. Kaeli Gretter, alum Miranda Loper, and learn about the keynote speakers for the 2025 Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival.

Slis Director's Report, Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

Welcome to the Spring/Fall issue of SLIS Connecting.

Book Review: Decentering Whiteness In Libraries: A Framework For Inclusive Collection Management, Andrea Jamison, Shala K. Howell

School of Information Student Research Journal

No abstract provided.