Research Methodology Instruction in U.S. LIS Programs: A Tale of Two Perspectives

Academic librarians beginning tenure-track positions are often expected to conduct research studies to meet publication expectations at their institutions. However, a review of professional literature reveals that academic librarians often do not feel comfortable with many of the steps involved in carrying out these studies.  These librarians may have had limited, if any, instruction in research methodology during their academic programs.  It can also be challenging to find the time to pursue continuing education while balancing a myriad of other professional responsibilities.  Motivated by their own challenges navigating academic research, the presenter became interested in examining the scope of research methodology coursework within ALA-accredited Master’s programs.  The presenter sent out a survey to the administrators of these programs within the United States to learn more about their curriculums as well as their familiarity with and opinions of research methodology.  This poster will summarize both librarians’ perceptions of their academic productivity experiences according to the literature as well as the results of the administrator survey.  It will also provide recommendations for how LIS programs can support students considering pursuing careers in academic libraries

Strengthening our Resolve: AI ethical standards and resolving to make ethical AI decisions

Much has been written and discussed about artificial intelligence (AI) and growing sentiment suggests it is here to stay. How should AI be used, positioned, developed and governed? Will AI be the solution to persistent and inconceivable challenges, positioning early adopters  for competitive advantage and economic growth?  Questions and concerns abound but it is time we move beyond debate and come to resolution regarding ethical AI standards and policies to influence and govern use. Co-sponsored by the Information Policy and Information Ethics special interest groups (SIGs), this proposal is for a pair of 90-minute speaker panels, facilitated by the respective SIG convenors. This joint-panel presents a continuous conversation to strengthen our resolve of ethical AI standards and policies. Panelists will present intercultural and geopolitical perspectives to frame an ethical stance that will be workshopped across panels for an ethical pedagogical position to inform policy.  The first panel, AI Ethical Standards: Resolving to make AI ethical decisions, will feature four speakers focusing on ethical considerations. Kyle Jones (Indiana University Indianapolis) will present his development of the course “AI for Information Professionals,” focusing primarily on the boundaries (and lack thereof) of pedagogical ethics when designing a course for and with generative AI tools. Clara Belitz (University of Illinois) will present research on the usage of AI in middle and high school mathematics classes in the United States, centering student experiences with these systems, speaking to how “AI fairness” is conceptualized and measured. John Burgess (University of Alabama) will speak on human dignity and AI from a sustainability ethics perspective, drawing on the work of Emmanuel Levinas. Finally, Spencer Lilley (Victoria University of Wellington) will speak on ethics from an Indigenous perspective, including transparency of training AI, the use of this data to spread mis-/disinformation about Indigenous peoples, and implications for indigenous intellectual and cultural property rights.     We acknowledge and appreciate the individual and collective decolonizing efforts and commitments of our SIG members. Our conversations reflect complex intercultural challenges, which we discuss with an ethic of care, confidentiality, and intellectual curiosity and respect for divergent perspectives and practices

How Much Do Universities Care About Us: Lecturers\u27 Perspective Towards the Use of Learning Management Systems

While there has been tremendous development and support in the use of learning management systems (LMS) such as Moodle, Canvas, and Blackboard by lecturers to enhance their teaching and learning interfaces in the university environment, there are significant ethical concerns associated with the adoption of new technologies in creating, changing, and sharing information with students during lectures. Many lecturers, in their bid to render teaching and learning services, continue to struggle with new LMS technologies introduced in universities without prior notice and preparation, due to the application of software and thinking skills (Snyder & Snyder, 2008) required by the lecturers. In the US and other parts of the world, many universities frequently introduce new LMS platforms, even when the existing ones are still functional, possibly due to changes in institutional policy. This practice has led to considerable frustration among lecturers, who feel the university does not care about their opinions. The lack of consultation and preparation for such changes leaves many lecturers feeling daunted and unsupported and struggling in silence, not knowing how to adapt or where to seek help, even when their complaints go unheard. This study demonstrates innovative ideas that the Library and Information Science (LIS) curricula could address to prepare future lecturers wishing to go into the librarianship profession. This ongoing study will apply ethnography and observation methods from interactions with lecturers (faculty members) to serve as a blueprint for library users and anticipated librarians who might want to consider a teaching position at the university

Student-Led Resistance: A Model for a Critical Librarianship Reading Group in Uncertain Times

This paper examines the formation, implementation, and impact of a student-led Critical Librarianship Reading Group (CLRG) initiated in a graduate Library and Information Science (LIS) program in the U.S. South. Designed to fill gaps in formal curriculum related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the CLRG became a transformative space for students to critically engage with social justice theory and practice. The significance of this intervention is heightened by recent political attacks on DEI efforts, most notably, Donald Trump’s moves to dismantle federal DEI initiatives and defund related programming (Haberman & Karni, 2020; White House, 2025). As higher education institutions face increasing scrutiny and censorship around critical race theory and queer inclusion, the CLRG offers a case study of resilience and student-driven curricular repair

A Pedagogical Zine Collection: "Decoding the Catalog"

A zine, pronounced ‘zeen’, is a small-circulation, self-published, often free, inexpensive, or traded print booklet (Bindery, n.d.). Through this creative track, art media project, the artist, zinester, LIS educator and scholar, Dr. Abigail Phillips, provides space for exploring themes of identity, representation, advocacy, and epistemological justice. Zines and zine-making – the unconventional openness, joyful self-expression, and revolutionary spirit – will encourage attendees to scrutinize how LIS pedagogy ignores the voices of marginalized communities (Zine Librarians Interest Group, n.d.). Zine collections are common to find in school libraries, academic libraries, public libraries, community archives, and digital libraries (Queer Zine Archive Project, n.d.). This creative track project, Decoding the Catalog, invites attendees to interrogate how traditional cataloging schemes, classification, and related practices often reinforce structures of power, privilege, and exclusion (Wrekk, 2020). The collection itself will be composed of 7 to 10 zines, forming an interactive print media art exhibit during which attendees can handle, read, pass around, photograph, and generally engage with the zines. Copies of each zines within the collection will be available for attendees to freely take and share. In combination with the collection itself, an area will be set up for those at the session to create a zine(s) to further explore the focus of the presented zine collection, the conference theme, or whatever they are inspired to create. The DIY, activism driven, and introspective nature of zines, zine making, and zine culture help motivate action, critique, discussion, and brainstorming as part of LIS courses, scholarship, and our field broadly. The beginnings of this movement librarianship, library work, and education, including zine making and sharing, are already underway (LIS Mental Health, 2023). Emerging LIS scholarship, teaching, and advocacy demonstrates ongoing discussions around support and change—a momentum reflected in the 2025 ALISE conference theme. Viewing zines as tools for critical reflection, deconstruction, unlearning, and creative expression contributes to evolving LIS pedagogy into more equitable, accessible, and empathetic practices

“I See Inclusive Description as the Practice That Slowly, Hopefully, Edges Out the Need for Reparative Description”: Exploring How Archival Practitioners Describe Queerness Within and Through Finding Aids

This poster reports ongoing research involving semi-structured interviews with 29 archival practitioners who work with LGBTQIA+-focused archives and collections. The research examines how practitioners construct finding aids for their collections and how questions of LGBTQIA+ identity and queer culture informed their construction, evaluation, and maintenance of these finding aids. This poster emphasizes findings related to tensions between practitioners’ desires to be inclusive of queer potentialities within their respective collections and professional demands to adhere to steadfast concepts of archival description such neutrality, respect des fonds, and more product, less process. Specifically, the discussed findings highlight how practitioners understand their work constructing LGBTQIA+-related finding aids as an additive conversation to emerging questions of reparative description. In particular, the research examines how collection-level description paradigms of finding aids requires examining how best to represent queer identity as both individual and collective concepts. Further, the research explores how these challenges of monolithic representations of queerness within finding aids surface concerns regarding other intersectional identities, while laying bare the role of privacy and transparency to archival collections, especially in moments of anti-queer political backlash. The research concludes with practical and theoretical implications from this research with a particular emphasis on how findings might inform archival pedagogy for describing diverse populations within archival records in an era of increasing automation and linked archival interaction

Re-Imaging Public Librarianship Education: And No, Not for Social Work

This paper demonstrates the importance of historicizing seemingly novel phenomenon as a means of defamiliarizing what is presented as obvious and inevitable. Thus, the popular constitution of the library as community hub and the placement of social workers therein is problematized when read against a parallel history involving the introduction, in the 1960s, of social workers into the library to assist in the delivery of community Information and Referral services (I&R). Starting from the question, if social workers are the solution, what is the problem their employment in public libraries is meant to solve, a literature search of social work and library science databases was conducted followed by a textual analysis of the research revealing competing narratives about professional competencies and legitimacy. The analysis surfaced critical questions regarding the current state of public librarianship and why a return to the reference desk might be a good idea

Children Survivors of Family Violence: A Framework for Enhancing Mental Health Literacy among Helping Professionals

Family violence is a widespread issue that significantly impacts children, often leading to mental and physical health problems (Barnett et al., 2010; Lopez et al., 2021). Despite various interventions and programs, the problem persists. Collaborative efforts across educational, legal, and healthcare systems are essential to ensure the safety and well-being of children and families (Abura-Meerdink & Mehra, 2023; Wallace et al., 2019). This study reviews literature on children\u27s coping behaviors, assesses service gaps, and maps existing resources within a framework useful for helping professionals. Using the American Psychological Association’s PsychInfo (i.e., a database used by mental health providers) the following Boolean search strategy identified 127 relevant articles: •    (child* AND ("domestic violence" OR "domestic abuse" OR "intimate partner violence" OR "family violence") AND (coping OR cope) AND TX ("united states*" OR "america*" OR "u.s.")). The authors conducted content analysis of the articles’ titles/abstracts using the Association of College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL) (2016) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, with a focus on mental health literacy for children. The findings were mapped to the six ACRL Frames, offering valuable insights for educators, librarians, and mental health professionals to improve teaching, learning, and practice competencies (Mehra & Jaber, 2021)

Exploring Intersectionality Theory and Its Implications for LIS Pedagogy:: Insights from LGBTQIA+ Communities Across Age, Gender, Immigrant Status, and Race/Ethnicity

This paper explores how intersecting forms of marginalization shape health information access for diverse LGBTQIA+ populations, focusing on sapphic individuals across generations and LGBTQIA+ people of color. Guided by Collins’ matrix of domination, we identify structural, disciplinary, cultural, and interpersonal barriers to health information across multiple identities produced by interlocking power systems of race, gender, sexuality, age, and citizenship. Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for how the LIS curriculum can incorporate intersectionality theory into training future information professionals to work with equity-deserving populations within health contexts

Teaching Accessibility in a Library and Information Science MLS program

Students in library and information science programs need to develop the knowledge, skills, and awareness necessary to create inclusive and accessible libraries for all users (American Library Association, 2018; Jaeger et al., 2013). While there is an awareness that LIS schools need to cover these topics, surveys of LIS schools have shown only minimal increases in the number of ALA-accredited programs covering these topics in core or required courses (Gibson, 1977; Walling, 2000). LIS students are interested in practical coursework designed to support patrons and librarians with disabilities in their library spaces and services (Pionke, 2019; Pionke, 2020). There is also an increasing awareness that DEI should be expanded to DEIA to better serve patrons with accessibility needs (Burress et al., 2024).  A more comprehensive look at the skills, knowledge, and strategies LIS students learn while completing their degree would help identify gaps for future course and program development. This exploratory study examines syllabi and assignments for courses taught in the 2024-2025 academic year.  Researchers interviewed faculty and adjuncts to help provide context for how accessibility was approached and examined what pedagogical tools, techniques, and mindsets were utilized. These results will inform the development of a scope and sequence to assess the LIS curriculum itself in hopes that an overarching set of structures can guide how well LIS students are prepared to meet accessibility and inclusion challenges in their professional careers.  Research questions How are future librarians trained to achieve a mindset of inclusivity in the library and information sciences? What types of pedagogical tools and techniques are used to teach accessibility and inclusion? What skills and techniques are students being taught to help them measure the current accessibility in their future libraries and plan for more inclusive spaces? Methodology  Participants will be asked to share the most recent copies of their class syllabi (2024-2025 academic year) as well as assignments or discussion board prompts that relate to the topic of accessibility in libraries. Once this data has been collected from participants, they will be asked to schedule a zoom-based interview. The ALISE presentation of this work will provide preliminary data on this work-in-progress study and the beginnings of the identified scope and sequence.