Year: 2023

InfoFireMultimedia

AI for Science: A Fireside Chat with Tony Hey, eScience Pioneer

In this InfoFire episode, I am in conversation with eScience pioneer Tony Hey on the topic of “AI for Science.” Our fireside chat commences with the profound words of Richard Feynman, who had a significant influence on Tony Hey, and centers around the two books— Feynman Lectures on Computation: Anniversary Edition and Artificial Intelligence for Science: A Deep Learning Revolution, edited/coedited by Tony Heyand, published in 2023.

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FeaturedTranslation

Are Female Early-Career Scientists Less Likely to Conduct Interdisciplinary Research?

In recent decades, numerous countries have actively promoted and encouraged interdisciplinary research (hereafter IDR), as it is believed to promote scientific development and innovation. Recent studies have shown that interdisciplinary publications tend to attract more citations and gain higher societal visibility, thus potentially contributing to long-term career development. However, pursuing IDR requires significant time and effort to integrate knowledge from diverse disciplines, and such research may face difficulties in terms of publication and recognition compared to more traditional research. The high risk and uncertainty associated with IDR discouraged many ECSs that are facing “up or out” pressure.

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EditorialFeatured

Trust, But Verify: Can We Make LLMs Trustworthy?

Large language models (LLMs) are starting to get integrated in many of our daily information access activities. But they often hallucinate and provide information that can be harmful. We can’t and shouldn’t trust them blindly, but what choice we have if they become our primary method of accessing information? We want to leverage the enormous potential LLMs have, but we also want them to be trustworthy. How do we do this? I offer three specific suggestions.

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FeaturedINFideosMultimedia

INFIDEOS’ 2023 Holiday Gift to Information Science

For 2023, a new video series, An Archipelago of Information Science. The 7-episode playlist is on YouTube at INFIDEOS. The series explores ideas on the frontier of Information Science. Altogether, the collection enacts the metaphor of an island chain—an archipelago—of incipient concepts existing still somewhat offshore, but within sight, of the Information Science mainland. (The mainland is our literature where many well-established tenets reside.) Viewers are taken on an archipelago adventure, following a tour guide who is my own seagull avatar. There are several destinations, namely the islands of: Embodied Information, Contemplation, a Multispecies Perspective, Love, and Psychedelic Information Theory. The video thumbnail for these “islands” are shown below. Each stop on the journey is a expeditious primer, and the featured concept is defined and situated within the history and literature of Information Science. The series is ideal for anyone curious about emergent concepts and new directions in Information Science.

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FeaturedOriginal

ChatGPT: A Year Later – Examining Experts’ Opinions, Studies, and Public Perception

Since its release over a year ago, ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, has sparked significant interest and debate surrounding the capabilities and implications of AI-powered conversational systems. As time has passed, experts, researchers, and ordinary users have had the opportunity to assess and analyze the impact of ChatGPT in various domains. This article delves into the developments, opinions, studies, and public perception surrounding ChatGPT since its launch, offering a comprehensive overview of the progress made and the challenges that remain. From expert opinions to research studies and the thoughts of ordinary individuals, this article explores the multifaceted perspectives that have emerged over the course of the past year.

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Education

From Dewey to Digital: Unpacking the Roles of Blended and Traditional Librarians

With the evolving landscape of technology and education, the role of librarians has undergone significant transformations. Two prominent models have emerged in recent years—the traditional librarian and the blended librarian. This article aims to provide a detailed comparison between these two approaches, highlighting their characteristics, responsibilities, and the impact they have on the library profession.

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