scholarly journals Feedback Loops: Algorithmic Authority, Emergent Biases, and Implications for Information Literacy

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-15
Author(s):  
Ian O'Hara
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
User Experience ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Feedback Loops ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Retrieval Process ◽  
The World ◽  
Algorithmic Search

Algorithms have become increasingly ubiquitous in our modern, technologically driven society. Algorithmic tools that are embedded to “enhance” the user experience when information-seeking carry problematic epistemological concerns. These algorithms are developed and interjected into search tools by human beings who, consciously or not, tend to impart biases into the functionality of the information retrieval process. These search tools have become our primary arbiters of knowledge and have been granted relatively unmitigated sovereignty over our perceptions of reality and truth. This article provides broader awareness of how the bias embedded within these algorithmic systems structures users’ perception and knowledge of the world, preserving traditional power hierarchies and the marginalization of specific groups of people, and examines the implications of algorithmic search systems on information literacy instruction from a critical pedagogical perspective. 

To be Lost and to be a Loser Through the Web

2011 ◽  
pp. 249-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Limberg ◽  
Mikael Alexandersson ◽  
Annika Lantz-Andersson
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
School System ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Knowledge Formation ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
Democratic Knowledge ◽  
The Web

The purpose of this chapter is to present and discuss findings from a study of students’ information seeking and use for a learning assignment. The overall interest is to describe the coherence between differences in the quality of students’ information seeking and the quality of their learning outcomes and to relate this to issues of information literacy in the Knowledge Society. The study was framed within a sociocultural perspective of learning and adopted an ethnographic approach. Analysis of data resulted in the identification of two major categories of competences related to information seeking and knowledge formation, one of which involves serious shortcomings in meaningful learning through information seeking. There is little evidence that ICT conclusively supports the development of new knowledge in terms of seeing the world differently. Conclusions are that the school system tends to produce ‘information illiterates’ which may entail unwanted consequences for both individuals and for maintaining a democratic Knowledge Society.

Validating a Model for Information Literacy Instruction for Elementary School Students: A Study

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Nesset
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Elementary School Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Seeking Behavior ◽  
School Students ◽  
Information Literacy Instruction ◽  
Third Grade Students ◽  
Seeking Behavior

A qualitative study was conducted with third-grade students to validate and ascertain the efficacy of an empirically-based model integrating features from research into information-seeking behavior and information literacy and specifically developed for information literacy instruction of younger elementary school students.Une étude qualitative a été menée auprès des élèves de troisième année dans le but de valider et de vérifier l'efficacité d'un modèle empirique intégrant des aspects de la recherche sur le comportement de recherche d'information et sur la compétence  informationnelle, modèle développé spécifiquement pour l'enseignement des compétences informationnelles aux élèves les plus jeunes à l'école primaire.

scholarly journals Posing the million dollar question: What happens after graduation?

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison J. Head
Keyword(s):  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
And Training ◽  
Literacy Research

This paper reflects on the increase of information literacy research about the workplace and lifelong learning during the past 10 years. Librarians have long held that lifelong learning is the goal of information literacy instruction and training, but until the last decade, there has been a paucity of research about the information-seeking behaviour of students after they graduate. The origins and drivers of this shift in the research agenda are examined, drawing on US research studies by Project Information Literacy (PIL), and related research from around the world. Key takeaways from this body of work are discussed in addition to the implications findings have for academic librarians teaching and working with university students. Directions for future research are identified and discussed.

Methods for Revealing the Metacognitive Knowledge of Adolescent Information Seekers During the Information Search Process

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leanne Bowler
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Search ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Metacognitive Knowledge ◽  
Search Process ◽  
Information Literacy Instruction ◽  
School Based

This paper describes the methods used to investigate the metacognitive knowledge of adolescents, aged 16 to 19, as they searched for, selected and used information for a school-based inquiry project. The study has implications for information literacy instruction and contributes to the understanding of adolescent information-seeking behavior.Cette communication décrit les méthodes utilisées pour explorer les connaissances métacognitives d’adolescents, âgés de 16 à 19 ans, lors de la recherche, la sélection et l’utilisation d’information pour un projet de recherche scolaire. Cette étude a des répercussions sur l’enseignement de la culture informationnelle et contribue à la compréhension du comportement de recherche d’information des adolescents. 

Organisation of Information and the Information Retrieval System

2012 ◽  
pp. 275-292
Author(s):  
Edeama O. Onwuchekwa
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Retrieval System ◽  
Information Retrieval System ◽  
Retrieval Process ◽  
The World ◽  
Information Products ◽  
Efficient Processing ◽  
Processing And Storage ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
And Storage

Since the 19th century, the world has witnessed an exponential growth in the number and variety of information products, sources, and services. This development has resulted in technological innovations for faster and more efficient processing and storage of information, as individuals and organisations strive to keep up with increasing demands. The value of information organisation cannot be overemphasized. The volume of information generated, transmitted and stored is of such immense proportion that without adequate organisation, the retrieval process would be cumbersome and frustrating. This chapter will highlight and describe the roles of an information retrieval system and the context of information organisation in several institutions. It will also discuss the various information retrieval tools and the different models used in information retrieval process. The ultimate goal of this chapter is to enable students, practicing librarians, and others interested in information services to understand the concepts, principles, and tools behind information organisation and retrieval. The conclusion of the chapter will emphasize the need for continuous evaluation of these principles and tools for sustained improvement.

Communication and epidemic processes

1967 ◽  
Vol 298 (1454) ◽  
pp. 316-334 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Control ◽  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Maximum Principle ◽  
Stability Theorem ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Retrieval Process ◽  
Fundamental Notion ◽  
Epidemic Process ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
Micro Organisms

It is pointed out that communication processes can be represented as epidemic processes. Consequently, epidemic theory can be applied to the study of any process in which information is transmitted within a population. The members of such populations need not be human beings but could be micro-organisms or even machines. The fundamental notion of stability of an epidemic process is introduced and a stability theorem is derived. A mechanism, called an information retrieval process, which instigates an epidemic process is defined, certain general properties of the mechanism are established and the means of controlling it are discussed. Pontryagin’s maximum principle is applied to the problem of achieving optimal control of an epidemic process and it is shown that stability of the process is equivalent to stability in the sense of Lyapunov. This result makes it possible to determine the conditions for stability without knowledge of the solution of the differential equations which represent the process.

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