CIRI Blog
Center for Information Research and Innovation (CIRI) Blog
iSchool faculty are contributors to the CIRI Blog, sharing their thoughts, ideas, and experiences regarding a wide range of topics. This blog is updated monthly and managed by CIRI Coordinator Dr. Lili Luo. For more on iSchool’s faculty and student research, please visit the CIRI web page.
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#NorthVanStories – Living History: A Collaborative Rapid-response Collecting Project
Published: January 10, 2023 by Dr. Jessica Bushey
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020, many archives, libraries, and museums launched rapid-response collecting projects to preserve material culture and documentary by-products of individuals and communities living through this difficult time.[1] The projects varied in scope – from collecting physical records to engaging their communities in creating born-digital media – depending upon the institution’s existing technology infrastructure and staf
A Research Agenda Focusing on Academic Libraries, Organizational Culture and EDI
Published: November 9, 2022 by Dr. José Aguiñaga
As I developed my RSCA agenda during my 1st semester at the iSchool, I have focused on academic libraries, organizational culture, and EDI since March 2020. These findings may shed new insights into what is happening with academic libraries since the pandemic has caused societal and medical paradigm shifts across higher education. Another finding that I have discovered after breaking down my focus per each keyword
Research Methods Course Focusing on Historical Research
Published: October 18, 2022 by Dr. Donald Westbrook
I thoroughly enjoy teaching the Historical Research section for INFO 285: Applied Research Methods at SJSU. Students come into this class from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds and no prior academic training in history is required. As I like to say near the beginning of the course, the study of history involves much more than memorizing “facts and figures.” Historical research is interdisciplinary, multifaceted, and global in reach.
Information Visualization in Academic Libraries
Published: September 22, 2022 by Dr. Michelle Chen
In recent years, as data have become more voluminous, versatile, accessible and digitized, new technologies have emerged with the goal of providing advanced analytical capabilities to support knowledge discovery and decision making. Information visualization, the technique of creating “2- or 3-dimensional representations of data that enable discoveries of insights and knowledge” (Soukup and Davidson, 2002), is one of the primary technologies being adopted as an analytical tool to enhance and shape data interpretation. More specifically, information visualization’s unique pattern and
Library Research Scholars Program: Encouraging Undergraduate Research at SJSU
Published: August 26, 2022 by Andrew Chae
For many people, doing research can often seem like a daunting task. This is particularly true for undergraduate students who are in the early stages of learning the myriad skills necessary to carry out a research project. In addition to being unsure of how to conduct research, students at this stage of their academic journeys may not be given any opportunities to do research on topics that truly interest them. This can lead many students to view research solely as an obstacle that they must overcome.
Research Methods Course Focusing on Program Evaluation
Published: May 17, 2022 by Jennifer Sweeney
I’m excited to share a reflection on my section of INFO 285, Applied Research Methods: Evaluating Programs and Services with you all here. I developed and started teaching this course at SJSU in 2018. Teaching this course has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my work life so far.
Being a Research Assistant: A Personal Reflection
Published: April 19, 2022 by Ed Matlack
I graduated from the iSchool in the Fall of 2021 with a Master’s in Informatics, specializing in both CyberSecurity and Health Informatics. Before entering into the program, I had spent thirty years in the software industry as both an engineer an engineering director. I am currently doing independent research in the fields of communications and decision science at both the ICANN lab at SJSU and the DDML at Carnegie Mellon.
Award-winning Student Presentations at 2022 CPGE Online Student Conference
Published: March 22, 2022 by Dr. Lili Luo
The College of Professional and Global Education (CPGE) held its first Online Student Conference in February. The conference seeks to connect students across the college and promote student work. It aims to provide an opportunity for CPGE students to share their school or professional work, help students communicate and connect with each other, and ultimately foster a stronger sense of community among students.
Volunteering for CPGE Online Student Conference: A Personal Perspective
Published: February 22, 2022 by Rosa Rodriguez
[In this interview, iSchool alumna Rosa Rodriguez shares her experience and reflections as a lead volunteer working for the first Online Student Conference at the SJSU College of Professional and Global Education.]
Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m a first-generation Mexican college graduate who came back to school after almost 20 years. One of the proudest moments was when my daughter and I both earned our Master’s degrees last year. Having graduated with a Master’s in Library and Information Science, I am pursuing a career in outreach librarianship.
Curious about emotional intelligence and happiness in academic librarians? And how this research collaboration came to be?
Published: January 23, 2022 by Dr. Michele A. L. Villagran
Emotional intelligence (EI) is defined as, “the ability to understand the emotions of oneself and others and to regulate those emotions appropriately” (Martin, 2020)[1]. While happiness is defined as, “high psychological and social well-being” according to Diener (2019)[2]. Emotional intelligence and happiness in the workplace show some connection in three areas: increased competency in the areas of emotional intelligence, increased happiness or well-being, and increased ability
Research Methods Course Focusing on Action Research
Published: November 22, 2021 by Dr. Renée Jefferson
I love teaching the action research special topics section of INFO 285: Applied Research Methods because it is engaging, empowering, and motivating. It is engaging to work with students as they discover how action research empowers them to examine policies and practices using sound methodologies, and how it motivates them to make evidence based decisions. In this course, we cover the fundamental principles, processes, value
Search Engine Design Perspectives
Published: October 22, 2021 by Dr. Virginia Tucker
Two years ago, I had the privilege of participating in the IEEE Award Ceremony in Palo Alto, California, where the DIALOG search system was recognized with an IEEE Milestone Award (2019a), joining an elite group of inventions ranging from ARPANET in 1969 to Marconi’s telegraph machine in 1895 (2019b). The award citation describes how DIALOG, in 1966, was the first interactive, online search system to allow “iterative
Zooming into Problem Solving
Published: September 23, 2021 by Melissa Foote
When I began the MLIS program in the 2019 Fall semester, I was completely new to the online learning environment, including the web conferencing software Zoom. While I initially missed in-person classes and chatting with classmates in hallways about that week’s unit or commiserating about midterms, I soon found myself making connections on Zoom with peers across the country while we collaborated on group projects. At this point, web conferencing was novel to me, and I had yet to experience the phenomenon of Zoom fatigue. Midway into the following semester the COVID-19 pandemic emerged
Reading Nation Waterfall: An IMLS Grant Seeking to Increase Literacy and Library Access for Native American Children
Published: August 23, 2021 by Dr. Anthony Chow
As the new iSchool Director, I’m bringing a three year $1.4 million IMLS grant to San Jose State University. This project called Reading Nation Waterfall is focused on studying the unique barriers to literacy resources and libraries for Native American children and their families. One of our primary goals is to help jump start community wide book sharing and distribution by focusing on children 3-10 years old and working
Interview with iSchool Professor Dr. Pat Franks
Published: May 17, 2021 by Dr. Pat Franks
[iSchool Professor Dr. Pat Franks will be retiring after spring 2021. CIRI had the great pleasure to have interviewed Dr. Franks about her research experience and reflections during all these years working at iSchool.]
Please tell us a bit about your role at iSchool.
I was brought on board in 2008–even before becoming a full-time faculty member–to coordinate the Master of Archives and Records Administration (MARA) program. In 2009, I joined the faculty full-time and continued in the role of MARA program coordinator to this day. I have also taught a number of courses in both the MLIS and MARA programs, and I devoted a few years to coordinating the Internship program, where I promoted the concept of virtual internships for all iSchool students.
Interview with iSchool Director of Online Learning Debbie Faires
Published: April 15, 2021 by Debbie Faires
[iSchool Director of Online Learning Debbie Faires will be retiring after spring 2021. CIRI had the great pleasure to have interviewed Debbie about her research experience and reflections during all these years working at iSchool.]
Please tell us a bit about your role at iSchool.
As the director of online learning, I work with faculty and students to continually improve teaching and learning in the online environment. I help new faculty members learn principles of online course design and pedagogy.
Future of AI in Libraries
Published: March 15, 2021 by Dr. Souvick Ghosh
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been one of the most transformative technologies since electricity (Ng, 2018). Electricity transformed the world as we see it, making innovations possible in other industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation. Similarly, AI and Machine Learning (ML) solutions have found applications in finance, education, healthcare, and manufacturing. For simplicity, I will use AI to represent all developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep neural networks (also known as
Using Blockchain Technology for Private and Secure Health Data Management and Sharing: How Do Users Respond?
Published: February 17, 2021 by Dr. Darra Hofman
“Omics” sciences, including genomics, proteomics, exposomics, phenomics, microbomics, and metabolomics[1], could provide revolutionary insight into human health, unlocking the knowledge hidden in the molecules of our bodies. Indeed, it has been argued that “the new era of omics studies…may lead to a true clinical application of personalized medicine”[2], with each of us receiving recommendations and treatments tailor-made for our unique biology. This research, however, is not without risks. Privacy, in particular, looms large for participants in omics research.
Qualitative Research and Identity as a First Generation Student
Published: January 27, 2021 by Christina Advento
Brene Brown, a researcher noted for her work on shame and vulnerability, writes that she “fell in love with the richness and depth of qualitative research” and “couldn’t resist the idea of research as storycatching.” As a teacher of high school English and Psychology, and a current MLIS student, I also love research and the power of a story. I was fortunate enough to be chosen by Anthony Bernier to work on his research project, “Recasting First Generation Experience for LIS Success,” but I never expected to find research that spoke to me so wholeheartedly.
Digital Learning Leader
Published: November 12, 2020 by Dr. David Loertscher
The concept of a digital learning leader is a professional who brings to an organization a strong portfolio that demonstrates their contribution to teaching and learning. These leaders partner with a teacher, trainer, or instructor to fold in a wide variety of learning strategies in virtual and even face to face learning environments.