Category Archives: Public Libraries

New Paper Published in Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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My colleagues, Chris Ritzo, Georgia Bullen, the late James Werle, and SLIS doctoral student, Alyson Gamble, and I have a new paper published in Lecture Notes in Computer Science. The paper, titled “Participatory Development of an Open Source Broadband Measurement Platform for Public Libraries” was published as part of the iConference 2019 Conference Proceedings.

Here is the abstract for our paper:

“Public libraries need access to reliable, automated, and longitudinal data on the speed and quality of service of their broadband Internet connections. Having such data at a local, granular level is essential for libraries to understand how their broadband infrastructure can meet their communities’ digital demands, as well as inform local, state, and national broadband planning efforts in the U.S. This paper contributes a participatory research methodology and an information system design proposal to investigate how public libraries can utilize broadband measurement tools to achieve these goals. The purpose of the research is to assist public libraries in gaining a better understanding of the relationship between their network infrastructure and digital services. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the expected findings from our project, which builds upon existing research that examined how broadband measurement tools can be utilized in public schools.”

To learn more about our research, please visit our project site.

Social Informatics Spring 2019

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I’m looking forward to teaching Social Informatics again this semester at Simmons SLIS. I have added readings from Safiya Noble, Virginia Eubanks, and Sasha Constanza-Chock and other scholars to feature additional critical theoretical perspectives to the course.

Here is the link to the syllabus for this semester.

COURSE SUMMARY
“Social Informatics” refers to the body of research and study that examines social aspects of computerization – including the roles of information technology in social and organizational change and the ways that the social organization of information technologies are influenced by social forces and social practices. This graduate seminar is for students interested in the influence of information technology in the human context, including cultural heritage, professional concerns, and social inequities. The course introduces some of the key concepts of social informatics and situates them into the view of varied perspectives including readers, librarians, computer professionals, authors, educators, publishers, editors, and the institutions that support them.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Describe a variety of social, political, and economic contexts that shape information and communication technologies (ICTs) and their impact on society.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of social systems and how they interact with ICTs.
  • Discuss concepts that illuminate the intersections of race, class, gender, identity, ability, and ICTs.
  • Identify a range of ethical, legal, and policy issues that impact the design and use of ICTs.

The course syllabus is available under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

New Article in Public Library Quarterly

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I am excited to announce the publication of my new co-authored article with Simmons SLIS alum, Christiana Urbano Stanton, entitled “Developing Media Literacy in Public Libraries: Learning from Community Media Centers” out today in Public Library Quarterly.

Here is the abstract:

“The rise of digital media labs and spaces for content creation in public libraries has been documented in the scholarly literature. However, fewer studies have investigated the outcomes of media literacy initiatives in community media centers (CMCs) and how they might inform similar programs and services in public libraries. This article reports findings from a study that used qualitative research to investigate the current goals and activities of CMCs across the United States. The findings show that the educational, social, and community benefits of these programs could be useful for public libraries to consider in developing or augmenting their own media literacy initiatives.”

I want to thank my co-author, Christiana Urbano Stanton for her excellent work on this article. This article would also not be possible without the assistance of Mike Wassenaar, President and CEO of the Alliance for Community Media, along with representatives from the ten community media centers featured in the article, including: Arlington Independent Media; Bay Area Video Coalition; Cambridge Community Television; Davis Media Access; Grand Rapids Community Media Center; MetroEast Community Media; PhillyCam; Sun Prairie Media Center; St. Paul Neighborhood Network; and “Community Media Center 10” (name anonymized to protect privacy of participant).

Mourning the Loss of James Werle

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Last week, we lost a member of our research team and a close friend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to James Werle’s family and those closest to him. He will be missed. I hope that our work will help, at least in some small part, to continue his important contributions toward promoting broadband connectivity in public libraries and other community anchor institutions.

Here is the link to the announcement from Internet2.

Measuring Library Broadband Networks for the National Digital Platform

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I am incredibly honored and excited to announce that last week I received an IMLS National Leadership Grant (#LG-71-18-0110-18) to work with my amazing colleagues Georgia Bullen and Chris Ritzo at New America’s Open Technology Institute and James Werle at Internet2 for the next two years to examine how advanced broadband measurement capabilities can support the infrastructure and services needed to respond to the digital demands of public library users across the U.S.

Here’s the description of the project from the IMLS website:

“Simmons College, along with New America’s Open Technology Institute, and Internet2, will examine how advanced broadband measurement capabilities can support the infrastructure and services needed to respond to the digital demands of public library users across the U.S. The project will gather quantitative and qualitative data from public libraries across the country to 1) understand the broadband speeds and quality of service that public libraries receive; 2) assess how well broadband service and infrastructure are supporting their communities’ digital needs; 3) understand broadband network usage and capacity; and 4) increase their knowledge of networked services and connectivity needs. The project deliverables include an open source and replicable broadband measurement platform, training manual to help public librarians use that platform, and a final report on the project.”

Visit the IMLS website to download our program materials to learn more about the project.