Research Seminar Series Archive

This talk examines the dynamics around engagement and ways of knowing of specific communities (often marginalized or under-studied), whether it be migrants or refugees, indigenous communities in remote and isolated regions, or young Muslims negotiating their identities in a post 9/11 world. In conducting research with these communities, my consideration is one that adheres to a methodology of refusing the silencing of certain voices in society. Taken together, these strands of research expand on the meanings and values of inclusion, ask whether a diversity mindset can foster sustainable change, and probe and unsettle the rigidity of the scholarly and pedagogical systems in which we operate.

Today’s young people, more than any previous generation, have a personal stake in their ability to function with data. Future job prospects might hinge on their ability to participate in the new data economy. But equally, young people are themselves the subjects of data science, being the most thoroughly measured, tracked and analyzed generation. To be active citizens and good stewards of their own data, they need to be data literate.

This project, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, looks at the capacity of rural school libraries to support mental health and build partnerships with school counselors and teachers, with the intention of creating a list of best practices and discussion points for a national action agenda for mental health literacy.

This presentation features Inuvialuit Voices, a research project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The key objective of this project is to investigate and develop a seamless, interactive, and real-time digital storytelling system for the Inuvialuit Digital Library, which provides access to cultural heritage and language resources by and for the six Inuvialuit communities in the Northwest Territories in Canada’s western arctic.

In this talk, Rachel M. Magee introduces Young Researchers, an Institute of Museum and Library Services Early Career Development funded project, which collaborates with teens to design, conduct, analyze and present original research on youth technology and information practices. In the project’s current stage, we are connecting findings from research with various stakeholders to inform the design of these original research experiences.

Throughout history, humans have been creating, managing, disseminating, seeking or searching, and using information or content in one form or another to meet various needs. Increased adoption and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the last few decades contributed to the emergence of a strong “information society” and, according to some, even a “knowledge society.” In an information and/or knowledge society, individuals and countries with the necessary means can acquire or gain access to ICTs and information/knowledge, benefit from their use and thrive/prosper while others remain poor, creating inequities or disparities such as the “digital divide.”

Many User Experience (UX) practitioners face organizational barriers that limit their ability to influence product or service decisions, but there is little concrete knowledge about how to overcome these challenges and make organizations more UX-friendly. In this talk, I will introduce a novel concept called User Experience Capacity-Building (UXCB) to describe the process of building, strengthening and sustaining effective UX practices throughout an organization.