TY - GEN
T1 - Librarians as information intermediaries
T2 - 13th International Conference on Transforming Digital Worlds, iConference 2018
AU - Vitak, Jessica
AU - Liao, Yuting
AU - Kumar, Priya
AU - Subramaniam, Mega
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Librarians face numerous challenges when helping patrons—particularly those with low socioeconomic status (SES)—meet information needs. They are often expected to have knowledge about many different technologies, web services, and online forms. They must also navigate how to best help patrons while ensuring that personally identifying information (PII) is kept private and that their help will not hold them or their library system liable. In this paper, we explore data collected in eleven focus groups with 36 public librarians from across the U.S. to understand the information challenges librarians encounter when working with patrons who have low digital literacy skills but must increasingly use the internet to request government assistance, apply for jobs, and pay their bills. Findings highlight the thin line librarians must walk to balance issues around privacy, trust, and liability. We conclude the paper with recommendations for libraries to provide additional training to librarians and patrons on privacy and information technology, and we suggest ways for librarians to fulfill their roles as information intermediaries while minimizing legal, ethical, and privacy concerns.
AB - Librarians face numerous challenges when helping patrons—particularly those with low socioeconomic status (SES)—meet information needs. They are often expected to have knowledge about many different technologies, web services, and online forms. They must also navigate how to best help patrons while ensuring that personally identifying information (PII) is kept private and that their help will not hold them or their library system liable. In this paper, we explore data collected in eleven focus groups with 36 public librarians from across the U.S. to understand the information challenges librarians encounter when working with patrons who have low digital literacy skills but must increasingly use the internet to request government assistance, apply for jobs, and pay their bills. Findings highlight the thin line librarians must walk to balance issues around privacy, trust, and liability. We conclude the paper with recommendations for libraries to provide additional training to librarians and patrons on privacy and information technology, and we suggest ways for librarians to fulfill their roles as information intermediaries while minimizing legal, ethical, and privacy concerns.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044415079&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85044415079&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-78105-1_80
DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-78105-1_80
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85044415079
SN - 9783319781044
T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
SP - 693
EP - 702
BT - Transforming Digital Worlds - 13th International Conference, iConference 2018, Proceedings
A2 - Chowdhury, Gobinda
A2 - McLeod, Julie
A2 - Gillet, Val
A2 - Willett, Peter
PB - Springer Verlag
Y2 - 25 March 2018 through 28 March 2018
ER -