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As social media becomes more present in the lives of people worldwide, it pervades their deaths as well. Before the Civil War, death and mourning rituals in the United States were largely considered the province of the deceased's loved ones. Following shifts in funerary customs, 21st century Americans are more removed from death care than ever before. Despite this, social media usage patterns have prompted increasingly public digital expressions of grief and mourning. The medium has transformed into a cathartic space for bereaved individuals, with memorialization functions of social media platforms also recasting platforms as sites of preservation. This paper examines account memorialization features of Facebook and Instagram, exploring social media memorialization as archival practice, with a particular focus on the concept of continued use as preservation. By delving into social media phenomena such as context collapse, the paper considers ways public perceptions of death may be shifting in the digital age. In merging the fields of information science and death studies, this paper intends to raise new questions about the potential impact of social media archival practices on the development of more public reckonings with death in mainstream U.S. culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper is the first to present a study of information behavior of Latinos in the Midwestern U.S. It begins addressing gaps in knowledge about Latinos, particularly immigrants, and their information seeking and use of the mobile, social web in rural areas of the U.S. Midwest. Interviews were conducted in 2016 and 2017 with 20 Midwestern Latinos - 15 immigrants to the United States and five native-born. We find that interviewees use many well-known social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube as well as online resources to meet their information needs. Many prefer to consult trusted sources, making social media access desirable. Midwestern Latinos have adopted a number of the same information seeking practices as other immigrants and marginalized peoples, which may be different from practices of dominant populations in rural areas. Given their preferences, Latinos we interviewed will be best served by access to trusted information in the languages they speak, often presented orally such as in video format. For this, a reliable internet connection and internet-enabled device are key. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the library profession has long defended readers' privacy, a public library patron's personal information is no longer solely in the hands of intrepid librarians determined to defend intellectual freedom. Libraries use vendors to provide a large portion of their digital content. These vendors gain access to extensive personal information about patrons. Libraries often must negotiate with content providers to ensure privacy protections for their patrons that are in accordance with the American Library Association's Code of Ethics. This paper presents the results of a content analysis of the privacy policies of five of the top digital content vendors of American public libraries. We examined whether these privacy policies (1) meet the privacy standards of the library community, (2) meet other industry standards, and (3) are accessible and understandable to public library patrons. Our results demonstrate that while vendors are largely meeting the Fair Information Practices standards of American industry, the policies fail to meet the heightened standards of the library community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the information architecture (IA) of American and Arab academic websites in light of Hofestede's theory of culture and Marcus's elements of design reflecting culture. Using 60 academic websites from American and Arab cultures, the results show that IA is influenced by the cultural dimension of Power Distance and suggest that web designers and developers should strongly consider cultural factors when making design decisions, particularly those related to IA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a multi‐phased investigation into Open Government Data (OGD) sites in the United States. Upon searching and examining OGD sites by state and state capital, we outlined current OGD practice in the US. An inventory of data processing capabilities of 50 OGD sites uncovered the most frequently occurring data categories, search and filter options, raw datasets, data visualization displays, data extraction formats, interactive and map tools, and help functions provided through the OGD sites. Heuristic evaluation of 15 sites containing "Transportation" datasets revealed that main usability problems were violations to the principles of "Flexibility and Efficiency of Use," "Help and Documentation," and "Help users to recognize, diagnose and recover from errors." Findings suggest that in order to sustain and achieve a good usage of OGD sites, a significantly better understanding of user populations, their data needs, and their data literacy levels is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the value of dates in the life cycle of the digital resource, capturing and storing dates metadata in a structured way can have a significant impact on information retrieval. There are a number of format conventions in common use for encoding the date and time values; the Extended Date/Time Format (EDTF) is one of the most expressive. This paper presents results of an exploratory analysis of representation of dates in over 8 million metadata records from one of the largest digital aggregators, Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), and compares it to EDTF specifications. This benchmark study provides empirical data - at both the individual provider level and the group level (content hubs or service hubs) - about the overall level and patterns of application of date metadata in DPLA metadata records in relation to EDTF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the use of mobile technology- specifically, smartphones and tablet computers-in outdoor public markets in Australia and the United States, based on a survey and interview (n=44) conducted with attendees in public markets. After noting that past research in a variety of disciplines is deficient in regards to its assessment of technology use in such public spaces, we explore the different reasons and situations in which mobile technology is used in them, identifying the most prevalent problems and deficiencies encountered. We provide a foundation on which future work that examines communal public spaces and the use of technology can be based, and promote a broader view of how technology is used for information seeking and communication in such spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

User Experience (UX) is gaining momentum as a critical success factor across all industries and sectors, including libraries. While usability studies of library websites and related digital interfaces are commonplace, UX is becoming an increasingly popular topic of discussion in the community and is emerging as a new specialization for library professionals. To better understand this phenomenon, this paper reports the results of a qualitative study involving interviews with 16 librarians who have "User Experience" in their official job titles. The results show that UX Librarians share a user-centered mindset and many common responsibilities, including user research, usability testing, and space/service assessments, but each individual UX Librarian is also somewhat unique in how they approach and describe their work. As a whole, the research sheds light on an emerging library specialization and provides a valuable snapshot of the current state of UX Librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Chinese migrants have become one primary source of computing professional labor in the United States. Within the Chinese migrant community, the computing profession was depicted as a new framework of success and a harbor to ease the stress caused by precarious immigration status. To successfully obtain a job in the IT industry, many Chinese migrants turned to the Chinese programming boot camp (PBC) for professional training in programming, which made Chinese PBC the intermediary between Chinese migrant professionals and the American companies demanding skilled programmers. In this research based on qualitative interviews with the founders, employees, and clients, I illustrated how Chinese PBC constructed computing knowledge into a set of techniques and skills to solve and present algorism problems. I interpreted this knowledge construction in the context of racialized and mystified computing profession in the Chinese migrant community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID‐19 pandemic of 2020–2021, public library leaders across the United States were forced to make decisions quickly that affected the services and resources they were able to provide. However, the health information they had to make decisions on was imperfect and constantly changing. Interviews with 23 public library managers and directors revealed that more authoritative local data was needed for decision‐making and to share with their service populations. Overwhelmed public health system and/or suspicious or skeptical political environments hindered access to locally‐specific health information. Several respondents were uncomfortable creating information or making decisions without the guidance of health officials. Additionally, the library managers and directors described working as crisis managers, making decisions that impacted the health of their staff and their communities. In capturing and analyzing these "pandemic decision‐making stories," this research informs future library information responses to community needs during times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People around the world have developed many strategies to thrive with diabetes by harnessing health information about themselves and the health condition in general. This study examines the information management strategies (i.e., what people do with the information they gathered) employed by diabetes patients and how these strategies help them reach their health outcome goals. We conducted semi-structured one-on-one interviews and photo-documentation with 52 people living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in the US and in China. These participants introduced us to a wide variety of information management strategies that take advantage of space, people and technology. Many of these strategies involve intricate data mining, information visualization, space and technology connectivity management, artwork, and other skills and techniques that are not well supported by existing tools, services and the social contexts. Our findings suggest that the personal information management activities observed in previous studies are not independent of one another. Strategies, or a personalized collection of information management activities and information items, can be just as important as their individual parts. Also, US participants reported performing different strategies at different frequencies compared to their Chinese counterparts, supporting that social contexts can influence how people manage their information. These findings can point to important directions of future developments in technology and health care services, as well as their application in various social contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the extent that international research collaboration indicators vary according to two factors: countries' global economic levels and type of disciplines. The study examines the case of asymmetric co‐authorship relationships between the United States and its collaborative research countries, measured by the affinity index. The study finds that there is no significant interaction between the two factors surveyed. The discipline factor has a main effect on the asymmetric co‐authorship relationships. No main effect of the country factor categorised by economic level is found, after allowing for the discipline factor. This study contributes to the social science research on the impact of factors on co‐authorship in international research collaboration measurement indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obtaining funding is an important part of becoming a successful scientist. Junior faculty spend a great deal of time finding the right agencies and programs that best match their research profile. But what are the factors that influence the best publication–grant matching? Some universities might employ pre‐award personnel to understand these factors, but not all institutions can afford to hire them. Historical records of publications funded by grants can help us understand the matching process and also help us develop recommendation systems to automate it. In this work, we present GotFunding (Grant recOmmendaTion based on past FUNDING), a recommendation system trained on National Institutes of Healthʼs (NIH) grant–publication records. Our system achieves a high performance (NDCG@1 = 0.945) by casting the problem as learning to rank. By analyzing the features that make predictions effective, our results show that the ranking considers most important (a) the year difference between publication and grant, (b) the amount of information provided in the publication, and (c) the relevance of the publication to the grant. We further discuss the implications and future improvements to this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public libraries increasingly offer opportunities to engage in health promotion activities inaccessible elsewhere in the community. Strategies to support physical activity for older adults can be implemented in a variety of different settings, including public libraries. Nonetheless, despite increasing recognition of this role, this trend has received limited scholarly attention. This study reports on a proof of concept study that took place across 12 weeks in 49 small and rural public libraries across the US. During that time, 535 older adults participated in a video‐based exercise program at the library. Participants reported increased levels of physical activity and increased mental health as a result of the availability of this program. These preliminary results demonstrate that public libraries have great potential as partners in efforts to increase healthy lifestyles among Americans, particular older adults, who represent a growing demographic in the U.S. and around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public library systems intersect with both public and private spheres of social life, but how they do so remains a mystery. Many believe private influences distort the public sphere in public libraries, and if so, then library legitimacy suffers, raising normative and material concerns for library systems. To better understand how libraries negotiate public legitimacy and private influence, we approached the problem using a communications system framework. We used qualitative content analysis to examine data from three US public library systems: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, New York Public Library, and Cary Memorial Library in Lexington, Massachusetts. We recorded the many ways private actors communicate with and through public library systems. Then, we analyzed the signals in terms of their components: transmitter, receiver, medium, and message. We found two dimensions: in the Public Sphere dimension, private actors govern, legitimate, and use the library, and in the Private Sphere dimension, private actors exchange personal services and exert economic power. We describe the communication channels shared by private actors and public library systems, identify signals associated with governance, influence, and legitimacy, and consider how these signals relate. This study explores the signal architectures of social life in public libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States' battle against sexual human trafficking, the nascent integration of criminal justice and social service agency work is severely hampered by an array of information problems, which are amenable to mitigation from Information Studies scholars. Naïve information organization and infrastructure design undermine many of these integrated projects. More critical however, is their general focus on process with little reference to supporting victims' personal agency through their required mastery of information resources. Using a systematic analysis of current scholarly research articles on sexual human trafficking, this study identified 31 research and application projects developed in reference to concrete support for government and social service agencies. For each study, analysis examines the nature of the victims' personal information agency, as well as the primary actors in each information situation. Disciplinary distinctions regarding the human rights approach to prostitution, underpin many of Information Studies' missed opportunities for contributing to agency effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It seems that every passing week reveals new developments in the ways in which information policies are being implemented throughout society. Tragedies like the Boston Marathon bombings of March 2013, along with the VIA Rail train plots in the Toronto-Montreal corridor remind and compel us to examine the decade that has passed since the events of 9/11 and the subsequent legislative and policy impacts on information. The aim is to provide information professionals and scholars with an open forum to critically reflect on post-9/11 legislation, policies, and practices and how they impact access to information and informational activities more generally, including the production, management, and diffusion of public information. With an eye toward the future, we examine the extent to which the discourses and practices of the past decade have contributed to shaping and reshaping our information environment, how the information field has responded in the ten years since this defining event, and why and how information professionals ought to remain engaged in these matters in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This poster showcases recent research on scholarly use of the social networking site ResearchGate (RG). It aims to depict how researchers from U.S. research universities utilize the site and how their use demonstrates institutional differences and forms social networks that mirror their scholarly reputation and status in reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]