In the past decade, cataloguing and classification and information literacy have experienced a critical turn, acknowledging the political, economic, and social forces that shape complex information environments. Library user experience (UX) has yet to undergo such a transformation, however; instead, it continues to be seen as a toolkit of…

Paul Zurkowski is often considered the "father" of the term, "information literacy" (IL). There were, however, other authors who, at a similar time, were writing about concepts we now consider fundamental to the nature of IL. A work of particular significance is Alvin Toffler's "Future Shock." In this classic text --…

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss the concept of "literacy" within the new literacy, new literacies and library and information science (LIS) discourses. It proposes widening the prevailing LIS conceptualization of adolescent literacy, which focuses largely on information literacy in academic settings, to a broader, information…

This paper argues that medium for information access becomes central to library and information science. The author discusses the notion of medium, medium neutrality, and personalization and suggests that the dominating paradigm of providing fast, efficient, and neutral systems and services for retrieving information has sidetracked opportunities…

The death of George Floyd, at the hands of the Minnesota police on May 25, 2020, sparked a global uproar that many have argued has not occurred since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. It is unclear why this particular incident elicited such a visceral and widespread response, especially in light of the fact that police brutality towards…

This article surveys the library and information science (LIS) response to the problems of fake news and misinformation from the 2016 U.S. presidential election to the end of 2018, focusing on how librarians and other information professionals in the United States have articulated the problems and the paths forward for combating them.…

Dr. Elfreda Chatman was a professor of library and information science at the University of North Carolina and Florida State University in the 1990s and early 2000s until her passing in 2002. Her research incorporated the disciplines of education, sociology, and LIS, covering topics at the nexus of these fields, from which she worked to develop a…

This essay analyzes the debate about neutrality in the library literature and identifies a fundamental moral dilemma that generates debate. It then advances an argument in favor of library neutrality based on Wayne Bivens-Tatum's intellectual history of library values in "Libraries and the Enlightenment" and the ideal of liberal…

This paper presents a case study of two types of multimedia resources that were integrated as supplementary learning materials into the design and delivery of two different graduate courses on the historical foundations of library and information science (LIS): video and audio lectures from an online course on the history of information…

The author reflects on advances in academic professional education for archivists over the past 35 years, makes the case for autonomous master's degree programs in archival studies, and identifies some of the challenges archival education faces now and into the future.

Educators often ask how to motivate PhD students. Before addressing how to motivate students, we should know what motivates prospective doctoral students. Motivational support has been shown to lead to overall satisfaction with the educational process, better engagement, and persistence. Using the interdisciplinary field of library and information…

Introduction: Along with leading to growth in the numbers of people doing information work, the increasing role of information in our contemporary society has led to an explosion of new information professions as well. The labels for these fields can be confusing and overlapping, and what does and does not constitute an information profession has…

Recently there have been calls to study and apply critical theory and tools around social justice, and intersectional approaches of race, anti-racism, gender, sexuality, disability and accessibility, and class in Library and Information Studies (LIS). But applying lasting techniques in the LIS classroom require pedagogies that are intersectional,…

What might motivate someone with a natural science degree to forgo the lab and pursue a non-traditional career in librarianship? Are there differences between LIS graduates with and without a science degree that might impact recruitment strategies? An analysis of data from a longitudinal career study, "Workforce Issues in Library and…

This article explores the questions to what extent educational research addresses library use in education and how the library can contribute to intercultural education. The focus is primarily on elementary education in Europe. Analysis of research publications was based on searches for peer-reviewed journals in international databases, literary…