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FeaturedProfessional Development

Developing Professional Skills for the Workplace: A Student-Staff Partnership to Create University-Wide Learning

Students often find themselves learning and using digital technologies in the course of their studies; however, they may not be similarly prepared for a professional workplace environment. These professional skills, which may range from understanding appropriate communication and digital etiquette to creation and collaboration in the online workplace, form part of digital literacy, though the importance of learning these skills can be overlooked. University College Dublin’s strategic plan includes digital literacy for education and the workplace as a core goal for both staff and students. However, we identified a gap in the university curriculum, that is, the development of professional digital skills.

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FeaturedProfessional Development

Volunteering with International Professional Associations: Pathway to Professional Development

How do you build your professional career by volunteering with international professional associations? Can volunteering play a role in expanding your professional growth? It is known that joining an international professional association increases the possibilities of interacting with a global community and expanding domain knowledge. There are two aspects to making this work. First, by becoming a member of an international association, and second, by actively volunteering with the association.

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FeaturedInfoFire

Trends in Health Informatics: Fireside Chat with Dean Javed Mostafa, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto

In this episode of InfoFire, I am in conversation with Professor Javed Mostafa, Dean of the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, Canada, on the topic “Trends in Health Informatics.” Our conversation covered various issues such as Electronic Health Records (EHR); interoperability; EHR and precision medicine; the personalization-privacy paradox; wearable devices and remote health; unstructured health data and machine learning; data analytics; telemedicine; AI and health informatics; and interdisciplinarity in HI.

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FeaturedINFideos

Information Science Workout: Use Your Body to Learn Information Science!

A new video series at INFIDEOS, Information Science Workout, invites people to learn major concepts of Information Science through their bodies. This approach resonates with embodied cognition and multimodal pedagogy, two movements that recognize the important role the body plays in making sense of the world. As the Introduction to the Series declares, “Your body can be your teacher.”

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FeaturedTranslation

Much of Librarians’ Work Is Invisible, But Do They Want to Conceal What They Do from Us?

Being an expert in information should surely facilitate professional information practices. Librarians are often thought of as experts in searching for information for others, but what about their own ways of finding things out? Given their extensive education in information-related fields, such as information searching and assessment, one might question whether librarians consistently adhere to systematic and planned approaches in their information-seeking, as taught in library schools. Accordingly, we asked 800 Swedish public librarians questions revolving around the kind of information seeking and use they do in their daily work for their own or their work team’s sake.

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FeaturedTranslation

The Emotional and Informational Lives of More-than-Humans

Living with other species isn’t just about companionship; it involves deep informational connections. Love plays a central role, helping humans and non-human animals understand and care for each other. It helps create meaningful information through daily interactions. Misunderstanding these connections can lead to problems, especially for the animals who have less power in this relationship.

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FeaturedTranslation

Can Anti-Rumor Campaigns Foster Positive Behavioral Change?

In an age where social media is pervasive and misinformation is rampant, maintaining a healthy online environment is crucial for curbing the spread of unverified rumors. Social media platforms often employ anti-rumor campaigns to foster a positive public atmosphere. However, a fundamental question remains: can these initiatives truly resonate with the public and prompt positive behavioral change? Do such campaigns have the power to influence people’s thoughts and actions in their daily lives?

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Take Care of Yourself

Studies show an increase in pandemic and post-pandemic burnout caused by transition to new teaching or research modes, increased emotional labor required to support students, colleagues and families, uncertain work conditions, unbalanced research, teaching and service expectations, and other factors (Dali et al., 2023; Douglas et al., 2022; Harris, et al., 2024; McClure & Fryar, 2022). During the recent iConference’24, we organized a panel to share faculty’s post-pandemic experiences and identify strategies for improving faculty mental health and well-being.

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Fail Club: Reflections on What Happens When Research Does Not Go To Plan

Failure in research remains a taboo topic for many academics and students. The pressure to be the perfect researcher can make discussing failure with peers and mentors extremely difficult, if not impossible. Academic publishing – not unreasonably – tends to favor the publication of “successful” research. The resulting culture of silence around failure often extends beyond complete failures, leading to the avoidance of discussing what did not go well or what could have gone better in any meaningful way. What opportunities are being missed by not having conversations about failure? 

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