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For the last twenty years, the field of library and information science (LIS) has been evolving within the context of iSchools. Now, organizationally melded with other information fields, LIS is better positioned than ever to synergize expertise across disciplines to benefit librarianship. However, the recent LIS Forward position paper asserts that dynamics are changing within iSchools in ways that can strengthen or diminish LIS, surfacing critical tensions and issuing recommendations for the iSchool community. This panel assembles thought leaders to share new perspectives on the provocations of the position paper and to further advance the conversation with the ASIS&T community. The group will consider themes of diversification, competition, and identity and explore two urgent professional concerns—Black librarianship and AI. A moderated discussion will be documented to inform future engagement on charting directions, investments, and grand challenges for the field of LIS and the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance provide essential guideposts for the stewardship of Indigenous data. To put CARE into practice in libraries and repositories, resources are needed to support implementation and integration into current research data services (RDS). Based on analysis of case studies with scholars of Indigenous language and culture, this paper articulates specific Indigenous research and data practices to guide metadata work and other areas of responsibility in RDS. The cases surface the richness of relationships and the significance of accountability in the research process—demonstrating the "relational accountability" inherent in Indigenous research methods. Robust representation of relationality is essential to retaining integrity of context in metadata for Indigenous research data. We consider the practical implications of documenting relational context with current descriptive metadata approaches and challenges in achieving CARE adherent metadata, which we argue is the backbone for broader application of CARE for Indigenous RDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a federation project providing integrated access to over 170 digital collections, we are studying how collections can best be represented to meet the needs of service providers and diverse user communities. This paper reports on recent results from that project on how digital resource developers conceive of and define their collections. Based on content analysis of collection registry records, survey and interview data, and focus groups, we identify collection definition trends including a broadening of target audiences, elaboration of subject representation, and a lack of clearly defined selection criteria. Our findings reveal high variability and ambiguity in the collection construct. We discuss how the concept of collection is being continuously defined through the processes of digital resource development and federation and how rapidly changing conceptualizations are likely to impact adoption, tailoring, and development of digital collections and their use.

Drawing on results from two studies of information use in interdisciplinary science, this paper develops the concept of weak information work (WIW). WIW is examined in relation to a model of how different levels of research work are coordinated and a second framework that delineates dimensions of research problems. Scenarios from neuroinformatics case studies are presented to show how WIW is impacting interdisciplinary projects in brain research. Based on the integration of our results with existing frameworks for understanding scientific research problems and processes, we assert that contemporary interdisciplinary research could benefit from information systems and services devoted to supporting some lines of WIW and by transforming others into strong information work.

While there is a substantial body of research which describes how the HIV-positive community seeks and uses information, much of that work fails to consider these activities in relationship to the experience of living with long-term chronic illnesses. In this paper, we present results from our survey study on the information preferences and practices of the HIV-positive community. We compare our results to previous findings on the HIV-positive community and people living with another chronic condition, multiple sclerosis (MS). Applying the chronic illness trajectory model developed by Juliet Corbin and Anselm Strauss, we examine what this body of research tells us about the management of “information work.” We identify the information sources that are most important, the attributes of information that influence its use, and the tensions inherent in managing information in the day-to-day lives of the chronically ill. By extending Corbin and Strauss’s model to the aspects of information emphasized across studies, we begin to articulate the fundamental nature of information work in living with chronic illnesses and how information services can be more responsive to the needs of the chronically ill.

The LIS Forward initiative is addressing the urgent question: As LIS evolves within the context of iSchools, how do we best position our research and education programs to lead the field and the future of libraries? The initiative stems from the recognition that the evolution of iSchools presents opportunities and challenges for LIS and that there is great value in iSchools working together on charting directions forward. The growing coalition of iSchools is working to support LIS in taking full advantage of the multidisciplinary knowledge and expertise within iSchools, foster future leaders who will champion LIS within iSchools, and confront the dynamic tensions in research intensive iSchools. This session aims to engage international, professional, and academic stakeholders to guide activities and coalition building that can continue to strengthen LIS in iSchools. A panel will present highlights from a recent position paper to catalyze interactive, facilitated dialogue within the ASIS&T community on critical issues in LIS research and education. Breakout sessions will generate responses and recommendations to advance collaborative planning and strategy of value to LIS academic programs and the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of technologies in big data and AI, data has become more and more central to users for various tasks in different contexts. Yet the concept of data behavior, an emerging concept that captures the actions and interactions of individuals with data in various contexts and situations is not explicitly defined and framed. Data behavior focuses on the observable actions and reactions of users when they encounter, discover, seek, use, or create data for individual or collaborative tasks, while data practice encompasses the entire spectrum of how people work with data, from creating and managing to sharing and reusing data, as well as the intentional and strategic decisions and actions involved in these processes. This panel proposes a conversation and discussion about the concepts of data practice and data behavior by drawing on literature in data practice, data curation, and information behavior. This panel aims to discuss, compare, and bridge data‐centric and user‐centric approaches to conceptualizing data behavior. It will also present some examples of data behavior research in different domains and scenarios. The panel will highlight the challenges and opportunities of data behavior research for information science and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]