Undergraduate programs in Information Science are not new: the first ones predate the iSchool movement. Currently, about one third of the iSchools in North America offer undergraduate degrees, the most common being Information Science (10) and Informatics (6), and more are coming.

Recently, there has been an increase in interest from students: many iSchools are feeling the pressures to increase enrollment. This increasing pressure on enrollment is creating both opportunities and challenges for these iSchools. It is also adding a new chapter to the iSchool movement as some iSchools adjust to the increasing relative importance (in both mission and budget) of undergraduate over graduate programs.

This panel will explore the opportunities, challenges, and impacts of growing undergraduate programs on the missions of iSchools. We invite others to join in the discussion as we explore the changing dynamics.

Scholarly communication has been a common research thread in the iSchool community. However, studies about communicating science outside of academic circles within the “Science of Science” research have not been as mainstream. Information about science is quickly becoming easier for the non-expert public to obtain, circulate, and co-produce. On one hand, prevalent online communication platforms, such as social media, offer resources for citizens seeking concise explanations of complex scientific issues. On the other hand, the widespread misinformation online became a major issue for the non-expert public to gain relevant scientific knowledge. These online platforms have created both opportunities and challenges for scientists and the public when interacting with each other. The aim of this panel is not only to share novel research about the Science of Science conducted by iSchool faculty, but also to provide an opportunity to discuss the creation of a new research community.

“The contemporary multidisciplinary iSchool is both the greatest strength and the greatest risk for LIS and librarianship.” This proclamation is at the heart of the position paper released by LIS Forward, a growing coalition of information schools working to mobilize dialogue and collective efforts to ensure a vibrant future for LIS in iSchools. This session will bring the conversation ignited by LIS Forward directly to the iSchool community to broaden and enrich the debate and guide collective action. The session will present position paper responses from iSchool faculty and leaders, representing significant new contributions to the national conversation. Against this backdrop the interactive event will engage participants in generating new input and perspectives from the broader iSchool community to advance a shared understanding of how LIS is evolving across our diverse schools and to develop strategies for working together to ensure a strong future for the field.

Momentum is growing to re-center Indigenous nations and communities in information practice, teaching, and research. Various international statements and protocols, such as the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Sovereignty and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), highlight this shift across information work. However, these changes are not yet widely reflected in iSchool curricula, programs, or research. This new iConference workshop addresses the repatriation of Indigenous cultural heritage, both physical and digital, relevant to the iSchool community. It aims to provide insights into the intersection of information science and cultural heritage management. Through interactive discussions and activities, participants will explore innovative approaches to Indigenous repatriation, fostering partnerships, and contributing to discussions on cultural repatriation, justice, and reconciliation. The workshop will cover strategies for respectful repatriation, Indigenous research methodologies, and integrating Indigenous knowledge systems, outlining a research agenda and strategic plan for future collaboration.

The goal of this workshop is to foster a community-wide discussion on the impact of the shifting relationship between academic and industry AI research on iSchool AI researchers. Traditionally, academic and industry research serves different purposes, with academia focusing on theoretical and foundational research, and industry emphasizes on practical applications. In recent years, the growing role of industry is changing the relationship between academic and industry research on AI. Compared to the industry, academic AI research faces significant challenges, especially limited computing resource, access to large data sets, and a shortage of talent. These challenges undermine academia’s role as checks and balance toward responsible and trustworthy AI. This workshop invites iSchool AI researchers and research administrators to join the discussion, sharing our concerns and brainstorming new ideas for navigating and influencing this shift. We’ve set up a webpage calling for participation and soliciting abstracts for lightning talks: https://atlantis.ischool.syr.edu/2025-AIR-Workshop/

The advance of information technology has brought the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI technology has become a transformative force in scientific research, which brings both benefits and potential challenges. This panel is organized by the Asia-Pacific iSchools Next Generation Committee. It aims to raise constructive discussion between senior and junior information scholars about the scientific research methods in the era of AI from four aspects: What are the changes brought by AI technology to research methods? What are the newly appeared research methods in the era of AI? How can we apply existing research methods to studies about AI technology? And what are the risks and challenges of applying AI technology to scientific research? Presentations, open discussions, and a collaborative virtual whiteboard will be included. It will benefit the iSchools community by applying AI-driven research methods to their studies or designing new research about AI technology.

As AI-generated images become increasingly realistic, the distinction between them and human creations has been blurred. This workshop explores what defines an authentic photograph when AI-generated photographs are indistinguishable from those captured by humans. We aim to provoke meditations on the evolving relationship between human-created photography and AI-generated imagery, encouraging participants to reconsider what makes a photograph "authentic" in the digital age. In the workshop, participants will select authentic images from a mix of human-created and AI-generated photographs without knowing which are AI-generated. Based on the results, participants will refine their definitions of the authenticity of images and examine whether authenticity is an inherent attribute exclusive to human creations. These insights will be collected as short statements and serve as a blueprint for further open-ended discussion into the implications of AI-generated imagery for trust, perception, and critical engagement with visual information.

Data storytelling holds significant potential for information organizations, particularly as libraries face threats to their role in supporting democracy worldwide. Effective data storytelling requires a logical alignment of motivations, goals, data visualization, and narrative structures. The Data Storytelling Toolkit for Libraries (DSTL), funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, is a DIY guide designed to assist libraries in using data storytelling effectively. Drawing on two years of research, the DSTL provides a framework that connects motivations and goals with informative narratives to advocate for libraries as information institutions. This workshop will explore the DSTL’s motivations and goals matrix (M&GMatrix) and its 12 options (3 motivations, 4 goals), recommending best practices for data visualization. Participants will engage with the M&GMatrix to align visualizations with specific narrative goals, discussing how effective visualizations can enhance the impact of data storytelling in support of libraries and related institutions.

As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT, SciTE AI and others. become progressively integrated into academic settings, the necessity for comprehensive AI policies to direct the ethical use of these tools has become paramount. While these tools offer significant potential to improve learning and research, they also present challenges. iSchools, as leaders in information science education, are uniquely positioned to explore these challenges, playing a crucial role in balancing the benefits of AI with ethical responsibilities. This panel will examine current AI policies across various selected iSchools, identifying best practices and addressing gaps, particularly in the Global South, where representation remains inadequate. By evaluating existing policies and recommending practical commendations, this panel aims to support iSchools in developing comprehensive AI policies, fostering responsible AI use, and preparing students and researchers for the evolving educational landscape, i.e., by considering theories of zones of learning and intervention and proximal development.

This workshop will explore the future of personal AI assistants (PAIAs) and their potential interactions with both humans and other AI assistants. Using design fiction and speculative design activities, participants will critically discuss the roles PAIAs might play in interpersonal relationships. Through scenarios, storyboards, and group discussions, we will examine the ethical, social, and technical challenges posed by PAIAs. The goal is to inspire new lines of research and generate collaborative discussions on how to design and govern these technologies. We encourage conference attendees who plan on attending our workshop to submit potential discussion topics or short speculative scenarios in advance to Austin Toombs via email (altoombs@iu.edu), with the subject line “iConference PAIA Workshop Suggestions.” These will help set the stage for in-depth discussions during the workshop, but they are not required.

This panel explores the theoretical, practical, and policy aspects of the role and impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in science and technology innovation, as its rapid growth is starting to reshape the science and innovation ecosystem, including the workforce and its training. It offers insights into both the potential and challenges AI poses for the existing practices and norms. What are AI’s strengths and weaknesses? As it gets adopted in solving major societal problems we are also faced with questions regarding its impact on vulnerable communities and exacerbating inequalities. The goal of the panel is to start an interactive discussion based on several important themes related to AI use and different stakeholders that would be of interest to information professionals, scholarly communication researchers, science studies scholars, and ethics researchers.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy is a burgeoning topic in iSchools and information literacy studies. Information literacy scholars have been particularly concerned with the increasing role that AI plays in shaping practice in libraries. Despite the need to rapidly develop AI literacy guidelines in libraries, the ALA and ACRL have just begun to set forth programming guidelines for developing AI literacy for the public through libraries. iSchool scholars are uniquely positioned to inform AI literacy programs. This panel brings together an international and intentionally diverse group of librarians and academic researchers with expertise in emerging technology. With the panelists, we identify the skills that qualify as “AI literacy” to align with extant literacy models and use this to inform the development of a toolkit outlining workshop curriculum in AL literacy skills to be deployed by public libraries in their communities.

This workshop critically explores the relationship between archives and computational methods. Emerging practices for computation in archives often focus on large-scale computational analyses, which may not align with localized, community-centered archives or fully consider the creators and people represented in these records. Past work in archival scholarship reveals how using historic datasets based on archival materials has justified harmful views and decisions in fields like healthcare, environmental and economic development, and policing, surveillance and incarceration. We aim to further problematize, critique, and facilitate a dialogue on this transformation of archives into data, and understand where resistance to the overwhelming wave of datafication is vital and necessary. Bringing together scholars from critical archival studies, data science, special collections, and digital humanities, we seek to develop shared concerns and commitments for research, teaching, and practice while building a cohort focused on the intersection of digital preservation, computational archives, and community-based memory work.

The iSchool Research Data Management Education Panel brings together leading educators to share and gather perspectives on the state of Research Data Management (RDM) curricula. Research Data Management is a fundamental skill for today’s researchers with data central to new discoveries in an AI-gorithmic world. Mandatory requirements such as data management plans (DMPs) and journals requiring supporting data to be deposited raise the demand for information professionals with this skillset. The iSchools have a role as many offer a variety of data education on the curation, preservation, security, access, and reuse of research data. This panel will invite feedback and provide an overview of the upcoming full-day NSF-funded Research Data Management Education Summit (RDMES) in November of 2025. The expert panelists will review and share existing RDM course content and programs with the goal of developing a curricular roadmap focused on the most vital knowledge, skills, and abilities for RDM.

This panel is designed to stimulate an open and dynamic discussion on how the emergence of AI impacts library science education (LSE) and how LSE might adapt and change. This panel invites professors and LSE program leaders from North America, the European Union/Africa, and Asia-Pacific iSchools to share their views and to engage in debate on controversial issues, such as will LSE is needed in the AI-algorithmic world. This panel is directly relevant to the iConference theme and should attract the attention of participants from all over the world.

Information access in libraries across the U.S. has been stifled by the rise of book challenges since 2020. While this change is well-known, the outcome of challenges is understudied. In this grant-funded project, we examine libraries' responses to these book challenges and offer strategies for engaging with and advocating for libraries, both personally and professionally. We will pose provocations to engage the audience and jointly develop strategies for working with libraries on these and other issues.

This two-session, 3-hour workshop aims to foster an understanding of how Large Language Models (LLMs) can be applied to help libraries organize and manage information and to promote discussion about their potential applicability and how they might be effectively integrated into library workflows. This workshop will: 1) highlight trending research efforts in developing LLMs for information organization tasks; and 2) discuss LLM adoption in library workflows, the potential impact, and applicability. This workshop serves as a platform to gather researchers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds, who share similar interests and have done pioneering work in this field, to communicate research findings, build collaborations, discuss implications, and foster new research agendas.

This panel explores the role of researchers working in contexts of information marginalization, where communities face structural inequalities and violence. Researchers in these settings often confront challenges related to their position as knowledge producers, their relationships with communities, and the real-world impact of their work. These critical issues, though central to the research process, are frequently left unexamined in research outputs. The panel seeks to foreground the labor involved in addressing tensions, power dynamics, vulnerabilities, and ethical responsibilities during research in marginalized settings. Panelists will share how they navigate these complexities and reflect on how concepts like reflexivity, positionality, and ethics are reshaped through their engagement in real-world research.

Today’s age of AI algorithms might also be described as a time characterised by information scandals with devastating consequences for humans. Prioritising the use of AI algorithms lacking human oversight as well as some transparency on decision making, over the implementation of authoritative information management systems and policies, has resulted in high-profile and catastrophic disasters in different parts of the world. Through a discussion of prominent case studies involving the mismanagement of information, participants in the workshop will reflect on possible ways to mitigate such information scandals, the role of AI as a tool in information management, and any other themes that may emerge. Recordkeeping informatics will be introduced as an interdisciplinary framework that may help address the issues identified. The purpose of the workshop is to break down possible barriers between different stakeholder groups, and collaboratively start developing a paradigm shift towards a human-centred information governance model.

Indeed, algorithms are becoming ubiquitous and seamlessly integrated into our work and social lives. However, when algorithms aim to enhance efficiency, generate content based on past/existing data, or provide recommendations based on past practices, the output is deterministic of harvested datasets. When algorithms support life in the fast lane, how do we disrupt them to support the slow information movement (SIM) and advance slow information behavior and practice (SIBP) research? The slow movement, which emerged from the slow food movement, advocates for slowing the pace of modern life, encouraging individuals to adopt a more thoughtful and deliberate approach to their daily activities. Drawing from slow living, slow media, slow reading, slow scholarship and other slow movements, this workshop will consider Clara M. Chu’s proposed definition of SIM and explore implications for SIBP research in order to develop a new research strand to understand information facets that disrupt the algorithm.

With the rapid proliferation of misinformation in the digital age, debunking as a combative tool is becoming increasingly impractical. The most effective misinformation takes advantage of both computer algorithms and humans' cognitive heuristics, and so too must the tools to combat it. Prebunking is a preventative tool that seeks to combat misinformation strategies rather than content. In this workshop we will exploit the affordances of algorithms and AI to create prebunking counternarratives that acknowledge, with empathy, the underlying truths that drive exploited mental heuristics. Audience members will be called upon to exercise their creativity in a collaborative environment to develop and perform (or present) short sketches intended to prebunk a particular misinformation strategy.

Interested participants please sign up to receive updates and a pre-survey the week before the workshop, at: http://bit.ly/4fMQ6vp