Individuality and the collective in AI agents: Explorations of shared consciousness and digital homunculi in the metaverse for cultural heritage

The confluence of extended reality (XR) technologies, including augmented and virtual reality, with large language models (LLM) marks a significant advancement in the field of digital humanities, opening uncharted avenues for the representation of cultural heritage within the burgeoning metaverse. This paper undertakes an examination of the potentialities and intricacies of such a convergence, focusing particularly on the creation of digital homunculi or changelings. These virtual beings, remarkable for their sentience and individuality, are also part of a collective consciousness, a notion explored through a thematic comparison in science fiction with the Borg and the Changelings in the Star Trek universe. Such a comparison offers a metaphorical framework for discussing complex phenomena such as shared consciousness and individuality, illuminating their bearing on perceptions of self and awareness. Further, the paper considers the ethical implications of these concepts, including potential loss of individuality and the challenges inherent to accurate representation of historical figures and cultures. The latter necessitates collaboration with cultural experts, underscoring the intersectionality of technological innovation and cultural sensitivity. Ultimately, this chapter contributes to a deeper understanding of the technical aspects of integrating large language models with immersive technologies and situates these developments within a nuanced cultural and ethical discourse. By offering a comprehensive overview and proposing clear recommendations, the paper lays the groundwork for future research and development in the application of these technologies within the unique context of cultural heritage representation in the metaverse

Everyday imagery: Users' reflections on smartphone cameras and communication

User-based research into the lived experiences associated with smartphone camera practices – in particular, the taking, storing, curating and sharing of personal imagery in the digital media sphere – remains scarce, especially in contrast to its increasing ubiquity. Accordingly, this article’s detailed analysis of open-ended questionnaires from ‘millennial’ smartphone users elucidates the varied experiential, compositional and technological aspects associated with smartphone imagery in everyday life. It argues that the associated changes do more than just update previous technologies but rather open space up for emergent forms of visual communication. Specifically, our close interpretive reading indicates four key factors underlying the moments privileged when using smartphone cameras, namely: they deviate from the mundane, are related to ‘positive’ emotions, evince strong social bonds and encompass a future-oriented perspective. Relatedly, in terms of photographic composition, visual content tends to circulate around: the social presence of others, boundedness of event, perceived aesthetic value and intended shareability. Our findings question certain formulations about the gradual disappearance of media from personal consciousness in a digital age. If ceaselessness is a defining characteristic of the current era, our analysis reveals that the use of smartphone cameras is indicative of people affectively and self-consciously deploying the technology to try to arrest the ephemerality of daily life, however fleetingly. This article thus pinpoints the theoretical and methodological value of research approaches moving beyond a narrow focus on the usage patterns to uncover the spatio-temporal specificities shaping (and being shaped by) smartphone imagery and its communicative resonances

Harnessing the digital records of everyday things

We address how, framed by the Internet of Things, digitally-enabled physical objects may acquire rich digital records throughout their lifetimes, and how these might enhance their value, meaning and utility. We reflect on emerging findings from two case studies, one focusing on wargaming miniatures and the other on an augmented guitar, that engage communities of practice in capturing and utilising rich digital records of things. We articulate an agenda for future research in terms of four key themes: How can the digital records of everyday things be captured using both manual and automated approaches? How can these records enhance the embodied use of things in suitably discrete ways? How can people generate diverse stories and accounts from these records? How can we revisit current notions of ownership to reflect a more fluid sense of custodianship? The findings of the studies reveal common emergent themes and preferences of the practicing communities that surround these objects and the above questions, while ongoing participatory and probe studies continue to reveal nuances and evaluate possible approaches

Using new assessment tools during and post-COVID-19

This work tackles the need to evaluate and identify fresh assessment techniques utilized in LIS education during and after the COVID-19 epidemic. It investigates the impact of digital media, feedback, formative assessments, and concerns such as cheating and authenticity, providing critical insights for future assessment practises in the post-pandemic period. Accordingly, there is a pressing need to employ new assessment tools post-pandemic to adapt to online and hybrid learning challenges. This qualitative study investigates complex social phenomena in higher education assessments by exploring behaviours, preferences, beliefs, customs, attitudes, viewpoints, and experiences. Twelve LIS instructors, 6 teaching and learning administrators, and 20 LIS students from South Africa and Nigeria were chosen using convenience sampling. Key informant interviews were conducted, with constructivist learning orientation-driven questions examining new assessment technologies, the role of digital media in student assessment, authenticity concerns in e-assessment, feedback and formative assessments. The research concludes that incorporating Computer-Based Learning (CLT) in e-assessments for LIS education enhances students’ knowledge construction and accessibility. Digital examinations offer benefits like instant feedback and personalized learning experiences, leading to improved problem-solving skills and decision-making. Future research should focus on larger, diverse samples and longitudinal approaches to evaluate intervention effectiveness and sustainability

Data Reuse and Users’ Trust Judgments: Toward Trusted Data Curation

Data reuse refers to the secondary use of data—not for its original purpose but for studying new problems. Although reusing data might not yet be the norm in every discipline, the benefits of reusing shared data have been asserted by a number of researchers, and data reuse has been a major concern in many disciplines. Assessing data for its trustworthiness becomes important in data reuse with the growth in data creation because of the lack of standards for ensuring data quality and potential harm from using poor-quality data. This dissertation aims to explore many facets of data reusers’ trust in data generated by other researchers, focusing on user-defined trust attributes and the judgment process with influential factors that determine these attributes. Because trust is a complex concept that is explored in multiple disciplines, this study developed a theoretical framework from an extensive literature review in the areas of sociology, social psychology, information, and information systems. This study takes an interpretive qualitative approach by using in-depth semi-structured interviews as the primary research method. The study population comprises reusers of quantitative social science data from public health and social work—the primary disciplines with data reuse cultures. By employing purposive sampling, a total of 38 participants were recruited. The study results suggest different stages of trust development associated with the process of data reuse. Data reusers’ trust may remain the same throughout their experiences, but it can also be formed, lost, declined, and recovered during their data reuse experiences. These various stages reflect the dynamic nature of trust. The user-defined trust attributes that influenced the formation of trust also suggested various implications for data curation. The outcomes of this study will contribute to the current research on data reuse and data curation. Integrating theories and concepts of trust can provide a new theoretical lens to understand reusers’ behaviors and perceptions. Understanding how data reusers trust data will also provide insights on how to improve current data curation activities in a user-trusted way, such as methods that ensure users’ trustworthiness during data curation and develop user evaluation criteria for the trustworthiness of data.Doctor of Philosoph

Research Data Management Practices And Impacts on Long-term Data Sustainability: An Institutional Exploration

With the \u27data deluge\u27 leading to an institutionalized research environment for data management, U.S. academic faculty have increasingly faced pressure to deposit research data into open online data repositories, which, in turn, is engendering a new set of practices to adapt formal mandates to local circumstances. When these practices involve reorganizing workflows to align the goals of local and institutional stakeholders, we might call them \u27data articulations.\u27 This dissertation uses interviews to establish a grounded understanding of the data articulations behind deposit in 3 studies: (1) a phenomenological study of genomics faculty data management practices; (2) a grounded theory study developing a theory of data deposit as articulation work in genomics; and (3) a comparative case study of genomics and social science researchers to identify factors associated with the institutionalization of research data management (RDM). The findings of this research offer an in-depth understanding of the data management and deposit practices of academic research faculty, and surfaced institutional factors associated with data deposit. Additionally, the studies led to a theoretical framework of data deposit to open research data repositories. The empirical insights into the impacts of institutionalization of RDM and data deposit on long-term data sustainability update our knowledge of the impacts of increasing guidelines for RDM. The work also contributes to the body of data management literature through the development of the data articulation framework which can be applied and further validated by future work. In terms of practice, the studies offer recommendations for data policymakers, data repositories, and researchers on defining strategies and initiatives to leverage data reuse and employ computational approaches to support data management and deposit

Understanding The Use and Impact of Social Media Features on The Educational Experiences of Higher-Education Students in Blended and Distance-Learning Environments

Students are increasingly expecting social media to be a component of their educational experiences both outside and inside of the classroom. The phenomenon of interest in this dissertation is understanding how the educational experiences of students are affected when social media are incorporated into online and blended course activities. Qualitative case studies are undertaken toward this end from a Human-Computer Interaction perspective by proposing 4 research questions: (1) How does the use of social media in blended-learning courses impact students\u27 educational experience? (2) How does the use of social media in online courses impact students\u27 educational experience? (3) How do specific features of social media impact student experiences inside the physical classroom? (4) How do specific features of social media impact student experiences outside of the physical classroom? This work is rooted in the theoretical foundations of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework to conceptualize educational experience as defined by the intersection of social, cognitive, and teaching presences. Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST) is also integrated here to conceptualize social media features as technical objects defined through the relationship of functional affordances and symbolic expressions between students and social media. The findings are based on a total of 9 case studies (5 within a blended context and 4 within an online context) bound by students in Masters-level library science classes at Syracuse University. The results suggest that social presence is clearly the most salient type of presence in social media within blended course contexts, while cognitive and social presences are relatively salient in social media within online course contexts. Two main categories of affordances, timeliness and information curation, emerged as pertinent to students\u27 educational experiences in blended courses; while both of these, plus multimedia engagement, were identified as relevant to online courses. Technical objects (general features of social media) were identified which facilitate these affordances, and implications based on these are provided in respect to practice (for educators and information technology designers) and theory