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Education
Nicole A. Cooke

Nourishing Communities with Knowledge: A Culinary Analogy Revisited

When teaching brand new doctoral students in library and information science (LIS), much discussion is dedicated to theories, paradigms, and the distinctions, and divides, between library science and information science. After reading Marcia Bates’ iconic article, The invisible substrate of information science (1999), a student asked: How do I explain what I do to others? How do I describe the relationship between data, information, and knowledge? 

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Jasmine Wemigwans

Looping the Red Thread of Information: Painting a Path of Indigenous Knowledge

As a mixed Ojibwe woman from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, I carry both pride and a sense of responsibility in how I represent my identity through academic and artistic spaces. I recently graduated from the Master of Information in Library Science Program at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information. My goal is to become a full-time librarian who integrates Indigenous knowledge into library and information systems. I am excited to share my painting with the Information Matters community as one way to contribute an Indigenous perspective in our shared field. This acrylic self-portrait, funded by an Ontario Arts Council bursary, reflects the concept of the “Red Thread of Information” (Bates,1999) and visually embeds my Anishnaabe worldview. The piece invites viewers to reflect on how identity and information phenomenon can be fused together into creative expressions.

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EducationFeatured
Azeez Adeoye

The Soul of the Library, From Chaos to Clarity: What Makes a Vibrant Library in a University System?

A library is a people-oriented institution that evolves with civilisation. To avert chaos and ensure smooth functioning, libraries rely on a set of guiding principles known as library policies. These policies are not static—they must be regularly updated to address emerging needs and challenges. Yet, in many parts of the Global South, library policies are seen as an unachievable task—a mountain too steep to climb, not something easily conquered or routinely adopted. This perception is misleading. In reality, library policies are not complex. They are usually simple rules, often expressed in a few words, that help govern the day-to-day operations of a library.

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Zehra Taşkın

The Race to Publish, Publication Pressures, and Questionable Practices: Rethinking the System

In today’s academia, the lines between the identity of a researcher devoted to following the trail of knowledge and the identity of a performance-driven academic focused solely on producing publications are increasingly blurred. For many scholars, publishing is no longer just a contribution to science but a mandatory step for climbing the academic career ladder. This is not a matter of individual choice, it is deeply structural. Evaluation systems that reward where research is published rather than the quality of the process itself are a major driver of this shift.

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Azeez Adeoye

Fear, Concern, and Collapse of Artificial Intelligence Tools: Perspectives of an Academia

Technology is not a bad invention, but the inability to be human after its adoption and use is what is challenging human existence. Young adults see technology as demi-gods and adore AI without employing critical thinking. Despite their digital nativeness, there is a lack of skills to critically interrogate AI tools and decipher their output or results. Many young adults do not know that AI is prone to error, stemming from the large language models (LLM) upon which it operates. Therefore, there is a greater need for critical digital literacy skills — now more than ever.

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EducationOriginal
A. Miller

Ensuring Human-Centered AI EdTech: Inclusive Design and Evolving Information, Digital, Media, and Algorithmic Literacies

Emerging technologies increasingly impact the design of and access to education. Current research in higher education and educational technology argues the benefits (e.g., time-saving, personalization, scalability) and concerns (e.g., academic integrity, accessibility, data reliability, ethics, privacy) of students using artificial intelligence in education. Though these pro and con lists may be valid and growing, a perspective is often missing from conversations about AI in education: accessibility and people with disabilities. This article first reviews the importance of understanding relevant literacies—information, digital, media, and algorithmic—and describes examples of educational technologies (EdTech) that highlight learning objectives of using and creating knowledge and content with those tools. Then, inclusive and human-centered design principles are discussed as a foundational construct to design human-centered AI and use cases for integrating AI in learning design.

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Joan Bartlett

Information and You: McGill’s Perspectives on Human-Information Interaction Research

From cybersecurity to archives, and everything in between, research at the McGill University School of Information Studies centers around human-information interaction (HII) – putting people, their experiences, their needs, and their priorities at the heart of the research. These vignettes highlight some of the research from SIS faculty, and how it connects people with the information that matters to them.

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EducationFeatured
Cameron Pierson

Colonial Tensions: Reconciling Intellectual Freedom and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in One Canadian iSchool

How do we further the enormous task of truth and reconciliation between the fundamental principle of intellectual freedom with the collective sovereignty due to our First Nations siblings? This is a recurring question and theme of the course Foundations of Intellectual Freedom in Librarianship at the iSchool of the University of British Columbia. In the winter of 2023, I was tasked with the development of a dedicated course on intellectual freedom. It is currently one of only three such courses in Canada, alongside the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto.

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