Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Beyond Chatbots: The Emergence Of Autonomous Ai Agents In Libraries, Nikesh Narayanan

All Works

This chapter explores how generative AI and agentic AI are redefining library services through enhanced interactivity, personalization, and scalability of support. The rise of machine learning, and specifically natural language processing (NLP) with large language models, brought a new wave of capabilities to library chatbots. Moving beyond single-turn question-answering chatbots, the concept of autonomous AI agents (or agentic AI) in libraries represents a significant leap in capability. An autonomous agent is an advanced form of AI that can understand and respond to inquiries, then take action without human intervention. When they are given an objective, they can generate tasks for …

Artificial Intelligence In Governance, Sally Brown, Erica Larue, Philip Smith

Artificial Intelligence Exhibit

This section gives an overview of AI in Governance including how it might impact jobs and employment, the business and nonprofit sectors.

Artificial Intelligence: The Twilight Zone And Conclusion, Sally Brown

Artificial Intelligence Exhibit

This section concludes the exhibit with an exploration of the deepfake dilemma, existential risks and societal impacts, and takeaway inquiries.

Ai Questions; "The Ai Tea", Sally Brown

Artificial Intelligence Exhibit

This section includes a series of questions related to AI and the exhibit content, as well as button designs by WVU students and Art in the Libraries committee members, a list of the exhibition sponsors, and information on the exhibition launch panel.

The Root Causes Of Incarceration In The United States, Amaya Fiske

Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics

No abstract provided.

Harnessing Zakat To Drive Inclusive Economic Growth: Prospects And Challenges, Moh Najikhul Fajri, Andini Kusumawardhani

Journal of Middle East and Islamic Studies

This study aims to analyze the role of zakat in promoting local inclusive economic growth in Indonesia. This research uses secondary panel data of 34 provinces during 2017-2022. The analysis techniques used in this study include the Poverty Equivalent Growth Rate (PEGR) inclusive economic growth measurement method and the Static Panel Regression Fixed Effect Model. This study concludes that zakat is proven to be an effective instrument in promoting inclusive economic growth in Indonesia, with a significant impact on income distribution even though its potential is still not optimized. Unique findings reveal that inclusive growth recovered faster than GDP post-pandemic, …

A Quantitative Study Of The Relationship Between The Decision-Making Style Of School Principals And Their Faculty And Staffs’ Perception Of Their Leadership Effectiveness, Joshua D. Viola Phd

Leadership Studies

Decision-making has been studied and researched for centuries, as have the leadership qualities associated with it. In today’s complicated world, decision-making of organizational leaders is more scrutinized than ever, and this investigation will examine what the decision-making process looks like for principals in public schools (Evans & Semrau, 2015). Organizational leadership and organizational demographics are also compared to decision-making style. This study collected decision-making data from public school principals in Maine who work at schools with 50% or less free and reduced lunch as well as leadership effectiveness data from faculty and staff in those schools. An ANOVA was run …

Growth Mindset And Generative Ai, J. Elizabeth Clark, Casandra Silva Sibilin

Open Educational Resources

This module expands the CUNY Learning Mindsets framework—originally developed with the University of Virginia’s Motivate Lab to support student motivation through growth, purpose and relevance, and sense of belonging (GPS)—by introducing a fourth module focused on generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI). Designed in spring 2025 by CUNY Learning Mindset Ambassadors Casandra Silva Sibilin and J. Elizabeth Clark, the module integrates growth mindset principles with emerging research on Gen AI to help educators and students engage with these tools as opportunities for learning and development rather than shortcuts or sources of academic misconduct.

The module provides an introduction to …

Understanding Wildfire Risk Perception, Evacuation Readiness And Preparedness Information Awareness In The United States, Dominic Kyei

Theses and Dissertations

Wildfires disproportionately threaten lives, properties, and ecosystems within the U.S. states.Despite varying regional risks and demographic vulnerabilities, factors shaping public preparedness remain understudied. This study analyzes data from the 2023 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Household Survey (NHS), consisting of 507 participants, to identify key predictors of wildfire risk perception, evacuation readiness, and preparedness awareness across diverse demographic groups residing in high-risk states, including California, Arizona, and Florida. Using independent sampled t-test, ordered logistic regression analysis and correlation modeling, the study results indicate that past wildfire experience, preparedness efforts, geographic location, and perceived efficacy shape risk perception, with experienced …

How Stereotypes And Labor Shortages Lured Asians To The Sunshine: A Brief Historical And Demographic Review Of Asian Americans In Florida., Wenxian Zhang

Faculty Publications

Asians began to arrive in Florida in the years after the Civil War, concentrated mainly in railroad construction, agriculture, and service sectors such as laundry, restaurant, and grocery business. Their population grew very slowly until after World War II, when the discriminatory immigration policies were finally lifted. The 1965 immigration reform act, openings of the Walt Disney World and other tourist attractions, the end of the Vietnam War, the thriving sunbelt economy, and the rapid population growth have all brought numerous new Asian immigrants to the southernmost state in America. Shaped by multiple waves of immigration and various socioeconomic factors, …

Hunter-Gatherer Subsistence Strategies In Changing Environments In Prehistoric Mindoro, Philippines, Alfred Ferdinand F. Pawlik

Sociology & Anthropology Department Faculty Publications

As an archipelago straddling two distinct biogeographic zones, Sunda and Wallacea, the Philippines have acted as a conduit for the movements of people, material culture and ideas across Southeast Asia throughout prehistory. The Mindoro Archaeology Project investigates several caves and rockshelters from the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, located in Sta. Teresa and Ilin Island in Occidental Mindoro on the southern end of Mindoro and explores the deep history of the first anatomically modern humans in the Philippines, the timeline of their arrival and dispersal, and their adaptation to coastal and island environments. By at least 40,000 years ago, anatomically …

Home Visitor Well-Being In Oregon: Influences On Stress, Mental Health And Risk For Staff Turnover Oregon’S 2023 Home Visiting Workforce Survey, Beth L. Green, Yumi Lee, Nicole Lauzus, Ron Joseph, Erin Gaines

Regional Research Institute for Human Services

This learning brief is the fourth in a series to share findings from a 2023 statewide survey of over 700 members of Oregon’s home visiting workforce. In this brief, we share information about home visitors’ well-being across several dimensions, including 1) job-related well-being (job satisfaction, feelings of emotional/physical safety on the job, work-related stress, and job burnout); 2) personal well-being (financial strain, depression and anxiety); and 3) risk of staff turnover.

Second, we explore whether there are differences in these aspects of well-being for home visitors who have different backgrounds and life experiences. We then ask the question, “What things …

Engage & Empower: Foundations Of Social Work Practice, Elhanan Marvit

Open Touro Created

2025

Engage & Empower: Foundations of Social Work Practice is an open educational resource for social work students in “foundations of social work practice” courses. It begins by explaining Open Educational Resources and their benefits. Students then explore social work fundamentals, including the diverse roles of social workers.

With this foundation, students engage with the NASW Code of Ethics’ key terms, and principles. This ethical grounding prepares them for the “growth work” needed to develop cultural competence and cross-cultural awareness. They then learn to apply various Generalist Practice skills across different-sized systems to empower client populations.

Next, the book explores …

Marigold Lodge: Family Home, Meeting Venue, And Community Landmark; Willard (Bill) Wichers: “Mr. Holland”, Sarah Lundy, Charlotte Ulloa

Archives and Special Collections Quarterly

Marigold Lodge: Family Home, Meeting Venue, and Community Landmark

Column: From the Director of Archives and Special Collections

Willard (Bill) Wichers: “Mr. Holland”

Politics And Institutional Change: The Water Commission Act Of 1913, Mark Kanazawa

Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Economists have long argued that increasing resource scarcity can lead to more clearly defined individual property rights, but the precise mechanism whereby this occurs remains unclear to this day. This paper documents the role of politics in shaping the creation of individual property rights within the context of appropriative water law in early 20th century California, finding evidence of both party ideology and interest group influence in establishing a new system for administering appropriative water rights.

Mutualistas: La Sociedad Auxiliar De Mutua Beneficiaria, Antonito Colorado, 1937-1994, José A. Rivera Ph.D

Faculty Publications

Mutual Aid Societies proliferated in the American Southwest during a period of rapid social change, 1880-1930. In Hispanic towns, these societies were referred to as mutualistas, with a large number concentrated in the San Luis Valley of Colorado and rural counties of northcentral New Mexico. One of the men’s organizations, La Sociedad Protección Mutua de Trabajadores Unidos (SPMDTU), started in Antonito, Colorado, and quickly spread to other communities of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico and eventually to a few mining towns in Utah. With a tri-state model in place, women formed their own mutual protection societies: Sociedad Protectora …

The Relationships Between Expectancy-Value Beliefs, Communal Value Beliefs, Family Identity, And Academic Persistence Among First- And Continuing-Generation College Students, Douglas W. Snuffer

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

First-generation college students (students for whom neither parent has a 4-year college degree) have lower college graduation rates than their continuing-generation peers (Cahalan et al., 2021; Fry, 2021). First-generation students may experience barriers to higher education, leading to lower levels of academic achievement motivation for college. Two of these barriers may include 1) cultural mismatch (Stephens, Fryberg, et al., 2012) with colleges via communal value (a value set that emphasizes community and family over the self) and 2) a strong sense of family identity, which lends itself to perceived family obligations (Fuligni et al., 2007). To examine the relationships between …

Different Ways To Broker: School Social Workers, Resource Distribution, And Equity For Immigrant Students, Benjamin J. Roth, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Tasha Childs, Sophia Rodriguez

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

This study uses quantitative methods to explore the role of school social workers (SSWs) in promoting education equity for immigrant students. We focus on how SSWs act as resource brokers, connecting immigrant students to valuable resources both in schools and the wider community. Our analysis is based on data from a national survey of SSWs (N = 324). Through regression and multivariate analyses we find that a significant number of SSWs actively facilitate resource access for immigrant students. This often involves bridging the gap between teachers and immigrant parents. Notably, SSWs were more likely to engage in these brokerage …

A Comprehensive Study Of Library-Led Textbook Affordability Initiatives In The United States, Mitchell Scott, Rachel E. Scott

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This study presents findings from a survey and interviews investigating library-led textbook affordability initiatives in the United States. The results document diverse considerations and divergences in workflows, challenges librarians face in establishing and maintaining textbook affordability programs, and the intersection of these initiatives with library and institutional strategies. Findings suggest that these programs have grown in number and scale over the past few years, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, and are sustained—even without permanent, designated funding—due to consistently positive perceptions about their impact on student success, just-in-time delivery, and alignment with library and institutional goals.

Author Reply: Investment Case For Mental Health, Cyprian Mostert

Population Health, East Africa

No abstract provided.

Mexico Consensus Economic Forecast, Volume 28, Number 3, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Steven L. Fullerton

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

Socio-Economic Dynamics Of Engagement And Incentivization In Emerging Digital Platforms, Danyang Song

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The rapid advancement of digital technology—particularly mobile and blockchain technologies—has fueled the unprecedented growth of online platforms. Among these, live commerce and blockchain-based social media have emerged as two distinct business models that profoundly shape both commercial and social aspects of people’s lives. E-commerce livestreaming integrates live video streaming with e-commerce, offering consumers real-time product information and interactive shopping experiences. Different from traditional social media platforms that rely on either voluntary contributions or ad revenue sharing to incentivize user participation, blockchain-based social media platforms often use cryptocurrency or tokens to reward users for creating and curating content. This dissertation investigates …

Three Essays In Development Economics, Vardaan Chawla

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation explores policy-relevant questions through three empirical studies on issues related to education, human capital formation, and consumer protection in developing countries. The first two chapters focus on education policies in India and examine their intended and unintended impacts on children’s schooling and labour-market outcomes. The third chapter evaluates a new approach to tackle consumer protection issues in digital finance in Uganda and Bangladesh. Across all three, this dissertation reflects an interest and understanding in advancing evidence-based policymaking in developing countries, be it in education or consumer protection.

In the first chapter, we evaluate the impact of the midday …

From Disruption To Integration: Cryptocurrency Prices, Financial Fluctuations, And Macroeconomy, Zhengyang Chen

Faculty Publications

This paper examines cryptocurrency shock transmission to financial markets and the macroeconomy using a Bayesian structural VAR with Pandemic Priors from 2015 to 2024. By affecting overall risk appetite, cryptocurrency price shocks generate positive financial market spillovers, accounting for 18% of equity and 27% of commodity price fluctuations. Real economic effects are significant in driving investment but remain limited, contributing only 4% to unemployment and 6% to industrial production variance. However, cryptocurrency shocks explain 18% of price-level forecast error variance at long horizons. Narrative analysis reveals sentiment and technology as primary shock drivers. These findings demonstrate cryptocurrency's deep financial system …

News You Need July 2025

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

News You Need for July 2025 includes a listing of MDA members who have completed service on committees; a link to recent MDA Board actions; news about two dental journalism awards won by the MDA Journal; how younger patients are negatively influenced by social media; a letter to the editor regarding dental insurance; information about MDA Foundation scholarships; members receiving awards; a calendar of events; a patient fact sheet; and more.

The New Professional: Reimagining Rapport: Innovative Ways Dental Teams Connect With Patients, Amrita Patel Dds

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This article explores innovative communication strategies for dental practices to enhance patient interaction. It highlights the importance of digital onboarding for streamlined intake, two-way text messaging for efficient appointments, and personalized video messages to foster connection. Practices are adopting multilingual communication and AI tools like chatbots for 24/7 inquiry handling, integrating them with patient records for tailored responses. Interactive platforms with 3D visuals and video tutorials are used for patient education, empowering them in oral health decisions. The article also emphasizes leveraging social media for engagement, capturing real-time patient feedback, and maintaining empathy-driven human interaction despite technological advancements

Buy-Now-Pay-Later And Alternative-Financial-Service Use Among Low-Wage Workers, Somalis Chy, Haotian Zheng, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard

Center for Social Development Research

Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services offer consumers the option of short-term interest-free loans for retail purchases, but the rapid growth of such services has raised concerns about indebtedness and impacts on household financial security. This brief draws upon data from the nationally representative Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility survey to examine the use of BNPL offerings, the demographics of users, the use of alternative credit products, and differences in BNPL product use by employment status.

Stimulation Of The Rostromedial Tegmental Nucleus Induces Long-Lasting Avoidance Behavior, Jacob Ryan Watson

Theses and Dissertations

The role of midbrain dopamine (DA) activity in reward seeking and reinforcement learning is well-documented, contrasting the lesser-understood impact of inhibitory signaling on DAergic activity, especially in the context of aversive learning and avoidance. The rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) is a GABAergic midbrain structure activated by aversive stimuli and exerts inhibitory influence over ventral tegmental area (VTA) DAergic activity in response to aversive consequences. Stimulation of the RMTg decreases the firing rate of VTA DA neurons and direct inhibition of the RMTg – VTA circuit enhances persistent reward seeking despite aversive consequences, a major criterion of substance use disorder (SUD). …

Relative Hazard Losses Along The Atlantic And Gulf Coasts, Erin Kemp

Theses and Dissertations

Coastal areas face a variety of natural hazards, many of which are increasing in frequency or severity due to climate change. Continued coastal development emphasizes the need for a better understanding of the impact of these hazards on coastal communities. This study aims to improve this understanding by investigating temporal, spatial, and causal patterns in county-level relative losses (RL) from hazards along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts from 2001 to 2021. Three research questions are addressed: 1) Are relative losses increasing over time in coastal counties? 2) Where are the highest relative losses among coastal counties? and 3) Which hazards …

How Do People Discern Authenticity From Emotional Expressions, Sewon Oh

Theses and Dissertations

Emotional authenticity is a crucial element in the development and progression of social relationships. However, limited research has comprehensively examined how emotional authenticity perception is shaped by different communication channels, visual attention, and individual differences. This thesis aimed to investigate the emotional authenticity perception from multiple perspectives, including the feasibility of authenticity manipulation, the influence of multimodal cues, and visual attention allocation in assessing authenticity from facial expressions. Findings demonstrated that authenticity could be successfully manipulated by both professional and non-professional actors. Participants differentiated both authenticity and emotion most accurately in audiovisual expressions. The audio channel played an important role …