Empowering Libraries and Librarians for the Future: The Critical Role of AI Literacy Education in Master of Library and Information Studies Education

Libraries and Information Institutions in the Digital Age (LIDA), Dubrovnik, Croatia, Inter University Center, May 19 - 21, 2025This paper presents findings from a research project at the School of Information and Communication Studies, University College Dublin (UCD), which surveyed students in UCD’s College of Social Sciences and Law in Autumn 2023 with the aim of exploring their perceptions and uses of GenAI, and their training needs in relation to it. Although the study was not focused on libraries per se, the findings point to areas where academic librarians can contribute strongly to training in GenAI use, and AI literacy development in general. Thus, we contend that academic library professionals are in a unique position to support students, faculty, and other educators as GenAI continues to proliferate. To this end, we ask the question of how we, as faculty in a professional Master’s in Library and Information Studies (LIS), can educate and support current and future LIS students in relation to GenAI literacy and AI literacy? This paper strongly argues that, as AI/GenAI tools and technologies become more embedded in higher education and student learning, AI and GenAI literacy education must also become an integral part of professional LIS education

Field Notes on Pandemic Teaching: 5

This is the fifth installment in a narrative survey of educators around the globe on the challenges of the massive move to online teaching. Some challenges are practical and logistical; others are more conceptual, political, and even philosophical, involving the importance of campus community, the role of schools in providing for the wellbeing of students, and passionate convictions about the nature of learning and the transmission of knowledge. How will the current adaptations inflect our understandings of studio and seminar instruction, in which the tools might be digital but the teaching is individualized and immersive, grounded in time and place, and rooted in embodied encounters that allow for serendipitous discovery

The social anatomy of Pain: Friendship loss, sociotemporal disparities, and persistent physical pain

While research demonstrates that social network characteristics influence the experience of persistent physical pain, existing studies primarily focus on psychological aspects and are often confined to laboratory settings. This leaves critical gaps in understanding how these dynamics unfold in real-world contexts. One such gap involves the role of discretionary time availability, a key determinant of wellbeing. This is particularly important because friendship loss has temporal dimensions, as individuals must reallocate the time once shared with friends. Using data from the Canadian Time for Health Survey, this study adopts a three-stage analytical approach. First, bivariate analyses explore the distribution of self-reported pain by socioeconomic status (SES) and friendship loss. Next, binary logistic regressions examine the relationship between friendship loss and self-reported pain, accounting for time availability and relevant sociodemographic control variables. Finally, propensity score weighting and robustness tests evaluate whether otherwise similar individuals — differing only in their experience of friendship loss — report distinct levels of persistent physical pain. This research illustrates that: (i) friendship loss is a significant predictor of persistent physical pain; (ii) respondent sociodemographic characteristics shape the experience; (iii) both time excess and time poverty increase the expected risk of pain, suggesting the presence of Temporal Goldilocks Zones. In short, physical pain is concurrently a sociotemporal phenomenon, transcending individual characteristics.Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)National Science Foundation of the United States (NSF GRFP

Stärkung von GAV: Rumänien macht es vor

Rumänien zeigt, wie die Länder in Europa die Gesamtarbeitsverträge (GAV) stärken können. Das jüngste rumänische GAV-Gesetz ist ein Wegweiser für ganz Europa. Das ist die Einschätzung von UNI-Europa, der europäischen Gewerkschaft für den privaten Dienstleistungssektor, der auch die Unia angehört.Unia Trade Unio

Europaparlament: EU-Wahltag ist Zahltag

Esther Lynch, Generalsekretärin des Europäischen Gewerkschaftsbundes, atmet auf: Nach den EU-Wahlen gibt es weiterhin eine demokratische Mehrheit im EU-Parlament, um die soziale Unsicherheit zu bekämpfen, die den Rechtsextremismus anheizt. Es gibt keine Entschuldigung für Absprachen mit Italiens Ministerpräsidentin Giorgia Meloni und anderen radikalen Rechten, wie dies Kommissionspräsidentin Ursula von der Leyen noch vor den Wahlen nicht ausschloss. Dennoch: Der stetige Aufstieg der Rechtsradikalen muss zu denken geben.Unia Trade Unio

Europäisch Fliegen – Im Flugzeug mit Nicolas Schmit und über RyanAir

Sonntagmorgen. 7. April. Nicolas Schmit, EU-Kommissar für Beschäftigung und soziale Rechte und Spitzenkandidat der Europäischen Sozialdemokraten (SPE) für die gerade beendete EU-Wahl, und ich treffen an Bord eines Morgenfluges nach Charleroi zufällig aufeinander. Schmit kommt gerade von einer Wahlkampfveranstaltung in Rumänien zurück. Ich bin auf dem Weg zu einer europäischen Demonstration in Brüssel gegen die drohenden Kürzungen im Gesundheitswesen (vgl. EPSU 2024), da die Staats- und Regierungschefs der EU planen, die Haushaltsregeln der EU, die sie während der Covid 19-Notlage ausgesetzt hatten, wieder einzuführen (Erne et al. 2024).University College Dubli

Parallelised Regridding Algorithm for a Domain Decomposed Numerical Wave Tank

National High-Performance Computing & Data Ecosystem Symposium (HiCoDES) 2022, Dublin, Ireland, 29 November-2 December 2022We present here a regridding method based on a segment spring approach suitable for a parallelised numerical wave tank (NWT). The algorithm builds upon the domain decomposition strategy, already implemented in a MPI-based code that simulates surface water waves generated in a tank. However, every now and then the free surface in the numerical simulation needs to be regridded to avoid numerical instabilities. This regridding method addresses this problem without serialising the computation. The regridding method can generate a uniformly regridded mesh but can also be tuned to allow denser mesh in region of interest while being coarse elsewher

Horizontal and Vertical Integration and Transnational Labour Activism: A Power Resource Approach

Power resource approaches (PRA) remain heavily focused on the national level and have failed to keep apace with contemporary, yet significant, political and economic developments. Whereas the European integration project has put unions on the back foot, it has also resulted in transnational labour activism (TLA), which remains under-theorised by PRA scholars. By drawing on different literatures and two complementary comparative studies, this chapter assesses TLA and ‘scale’ through a PRA lens. We analyse power resources in different sectors by comparing two European Citizens’ Initiatives, one successful and one unsuccessful, and union recognition struggles within Ryanair. Whereas national power resources failed, supranational power resources proved critical in explaining the airline’s decision to recognise unions. We find that TLA is also shaped by structural conditions, i.e. the prevailing mode of European integration. Here, we differentiate between ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ integration and place an emphasis on the interplay of power resources that exist at different scales in explaining successful outcomes

Proceedings of the 2nd Geogames Symposium: Connecting Communities Through Games and Play

Proceedings of the 2nd Geogames Symposium, Dublin, Ireland, 9-10 June 2025We are pleased to present the Proceedings of the 2nd Geogames Symposium, comprising 43 peer-reviewed short papers, 7 geogame demonstrations, and 3 workshops. The symposium reflects the growing scholarly interest in geogames as a multidisciplinary field, integrating research, implementation, and innovation. Geogames are games that concentrate on the well-being and regeneration of planet Earth. They are designed with a purpose in mind that is more than just fun and entertainment. They provide opportunities for learning, co-creation and communication. Geogames can be analogue, digital or hybrid mixing analogue and digital principles. We are particularly proud of the international diversity represented this year, with contributions from researchers and practitioners in Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Nepal, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Scotland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States.University College Dublin (UCD

EU-Wahlen: Hektische Zeiten in Europa

Die laufende Legislaturperiode des EU-­Parlamentes geht bald zu Ende. Eine in­ternationale Allianz von Wirtschaftsverbänden und neoliberalen Politikerinnen und Politikern versucht deshalb, zwei fortschritt­liche Gesetze im EU-Ministerrat in letzter Minute zu blockieren: die EU-Richtlinie zur Plattformarbeit und das EU-Lieferketten­gesetz, das Konzerne weltweit verpflichten soll, nur noch mit Lieferanten zusammenzuarbeiten, die minimale Arbeits-, Menschenrechts- und Umweltstandards einhalten.Unia Trade Unio