2024 Annual Meeting Workshops
Workshops are offered as an add-on to the full meeting or as stand-alone events. Meeting registration is encouraged, but not required. In-person full-day fee includes lunch, and two breaks and in-person half-day includes one break.
FRIDAY, 4 OCTOBER (Presented virtually only)
9:00 AM-1:00 PM (Eastern Daylight Time)
Toward People-First Information Behavior Research and Practice (SIG-USE)
Bogeum Choi, University of North Carolina, USA; Sharon Wong, Meta Reality Labs, USA; Keynote Speaker: Devon Greyson, University of British Columbia, Canada
The 24th Annual SIG-USE Research Symposium focuses on how information behavior researchers and professionals can endeavor to center people and real-world outcomes in their work. As we continue to build and leverage advanced technologies, such as AI, to generate new insights and improve workflows, being mindful of how our work can impact individuals, particularly the ones that are often overlooked during the development and usage of information systems and technologies, is paramount. This symposium provides an opportunity for researchers, scholars, students, faculty, and information professionals to discuss ways in which the values of responsibility, reciprocity, and care can be incorporated into our work through effortful and informed design and practice. Participants will engage in panel discussions and breakout sessions to think of ways they can apply “people-first” approaches and mindsets into their everyday work. This symposium is open to all ASIS&T and non-ASIS&T members. Additional registration fee applies.
FRIDAY, 25 OCTOBER (Presented in-person only)
8:00 AM-12:00 PM (Mountain Daylight Time)
I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar, The Roar That Shatters Glass: Interpersonal Dynamics Challenging Women in a Male-Dominated Field
Danielle McGhee, Kate Blalack, Amanda Gray Perry, Beata Trozzolo, University of Notre Dame, USA
Women who work in library IT professions often struggle with being seen, heard, valued, and respected. Research has shown that early experiences of belonging or lack thereof determine how women confidently navigate the tech space or silently struggle with daily tasks, project management, collaboratively participate in groups, and/or lead in a male dominated space. Communication styles, bias, and work-life balance all contribute to differences in navigating and succeeding in this environment. This workshop aims to create space for open and direct discussion about this often uncomfortable topic of gender bias in teams. We will explore topics of identifying personal values and contributions, learning to use our “voices” effectively, the power of reciprocity, and identifying support systems. The workshop will include self-awareness and interactive activities, movement facilitation, reflection time, and strategic directions forward. Participants will learn the following: Data and statistics about women in information technology fields. The importance of belonging on teams. Gain self-awareness insights and how to use strengths in the workplace. How to strategize when working with male colleagues and how to look for allies. Additional registration fee applies.
8:00 AM-12:00 PM (Mountain Daylight Time)
Exploring Social Informatics in the Algorithmic Environment (SIG-SI)
Chelsea Collier, University of Texas at Austin, USA; Patrick Ngulube, University of South Africa, South Africa; Julaine Clunis, Kent State University, USA
ASIS&T Special Interest Group Social Informatics (SIG-SI) has hosted 19 annual Social Informatics Research Symposiums during the ASIS&T Annual Meeting for the purpose of disseminating and discussing current research and research in progress that investigates the social aspects of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The symposia have included ASIS&T members across many areas and served as an annual forum for SI researchers to present and discuss their work. We define “social” broadly to include critical and historical approaches as well as contemporary social analysis and define “technology” broadly to include traditional technologies, computer/ networking systems, mobile and pervasive devices, as well as data analytics and artificial intelligence. To emphasize the ASIS&T Annual Meeting theme this year, “Putting People First: Responsibility, Reciprocity, and Care in Information Research and Practice”, we aim to center around the interactions of SI, everyday life, and the algorithmic environment in the half-day workshop, which continues the SIG-SI’s scholarly tradition of focusing on the interactions of people, technology and society. We are especially interested in the theoretical and methodological discussions on how to theorize, study, understand, and serve people embedded in the algorithmic technologies and environments. Contributors but not presenting: Pu Yan, Peking University, People's Republic of China; Zaheer Ahmad, University of Management and Technology, Pakistan; Ruwan Gamage, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka; Alicia JW Takaoka; Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway. Additional registration fee applies.
1:00 PM-5:00 PM (Mountain Daylight Time)
Research Proposal Writing for IMLS
Jill Connors-Joyner, Ashley Sands, Institute of Museum and Library Services, USA; Joe Sánchez, Queens College, CUNY, USA; Devendra Potnis, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, USA; Shannon Oltmann, University of Kentucky, USA; Amelia Acker, University of Texas at Austin, USA
This interactive workshop will unpack the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) application and peer-review process. Following a brief introduction to its grant programs and initiatives, IMLS staff will hold a discussion with four recent peer reviewers who have also been awarded IMLS grants themselves. They will speak about their experience reviewing IMLS grant proposals as well as applying for and conducting their funded projects. Workshop attendees and presenters will join the discussion and then break out into small group activities. These personalized informal small group discussions will provide space for individuals to consider or revise an IMLS grant application and to ask questions in the moment, with the aim of reducing barriers to application. Organizers are especially excited to welcome early career investigators, prospective, and first-time applicants. Attendees are encouraged to bring draft grant applications and proposal narratives for discussion. This workshop will cover these learning objectives: How to choose an appropriate IMLS grant opportunity; how to consider your career path when shaping your applied research proposal; understanding the peer-review process; putting together and submitting a competitive grant proposal; and implementing a successful grant. Additional registration fee applies. IMLS has generously agreed to cover the registration fee for the first 25 registrants who enter the code IMLSwkshp24.
1:00 PM-5:00 PM (Mountain Daylight Time)
Enhancing Library and Information Science with Large Language Models (LLMs): Research, Education, Practice (SIG-AI)
Yuan Li, The University of Alabama, USA; Shawon Sarkar, University of Washington, USA; Lala Hajibayova, Kent State University, USA
This half-day workshop aims to enhance the Library and Information Science (LIS) community's engagement with Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, LLaMA, BERT, and other advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. We seek to foster collaboration among researchers, practitioners, educators and students for the impactful integration of LLMs within LIS fields. The workshop will enable attendees to share their experiences evaluating and applying LLMs in various professional activities and highlight challenges and opportunities from the LIS perspectives. Through a mix of a keynote talk, four paper presentations, a series of lightning talks, and two rounds of collaborative discussions, this workshop aims to contribute to the development of evidence-based strategies for integrating LLMs into LIS research, practice, and education. This workshop is sponsored by SIG AI. Additional registration fee applies.
SATURDAY, 26 OCTOBER (Presented in-person only)
8:00 AM-12:00 PM (Mountain Daylight Time)
4th Annual Workshop on Social Media Research, Challenges, and Opportunities (SIG-SM)
Lingzi Hong, University of North Texas, USA; Souvick Ghosh, San Jose State University, USA; Catherine Dumas, University at Albany, SUNY, USA
This half-day workshop aims to promote discussion and disciplinary convergence on the topic of social media research, focusing on issues related to mis/disinformation, online communities, user behavior and engagement, digital activism, and emerging social media technologies and platforms. Social media has become a mainstream channel where users create, consume, and exchange information. It has also emerged as a burgeoning field of research interest, attracting researchers from various disciplines. The ASIS&T community is positioned at the heart of this domain, including researchers with diverse backgrounds and expertise who share similar interests in theories, techniques, and technologies to improve information access and communication. This workshop aims to: 1) highlight current social media research opportunities and challenges, 2) discuss the threats and opportunities with emerging AI technologies like ChatGPT, 3) identify the trending and important social media research, and 4) guide new researchers in their study and research development. The workshop would be beneficial for the ASIS&T community by bringing scholars and practitioners from diverse disciplines, facilitating interdisciplinary collaborations, and fostering new research agendas. Additional registration fee applies.
9:00 AM-5:00 PM (Mountain Daylight Time)
Generative AI and the Future of Information Science Education
Bryce Newell, University of Oregon, USA; Nicholas Proferes, Arizona State University, USA
The goal of this workshop is to bring together scholars who are confronting the question of what it means to be an information scientist and educator in the zeitgeist of generative AI and to explore and examine the (potential) futures of information science education. It will be highly interactive, involving all the participants in active forms of brainstorming and collaboration to imagine and conceptualize possible futures and to grapple with how faculty instructors ought to respond to, or even build, these futures to improve information science education in the years to come. The workshop format will be based on an interactive Futures Workshop model (Kensing and Madsen, 1991; Lauttamäki, 2014). This workshop model is specifically useful “when seeking answers to practical questions (e.g. future of an industry) and devising action plans for achieving desired future at a one-day workshop” (Lauttamäki, 2014, p. 2). Through this interactive format, the workshop seeks to build a network of information science scholars confronting issues around AI and education at their own institutions, and to provide a space for researchers who have early projects on understanding AI’s impact on teaching and research to share their work and findings. We invite participants to join us to bring together researchers who are seeking to understand the role of AI, broadly construed, in the context of information science education, the threats and opportunities it poses, and how effective policies, approaches, and responses might be crafted to address them. Read more about the Call for Participants. Additional registration fee applies.