Sociocultural Perspectives
Our Specialties
Critical Librarianship
Critical librarianship asks the hows and whys of libraries, investigating the historical, cultural, social, economic, and political factors of policy and practice. It actively fights back against "business as usual" in our libraries when policy and practice perpetuates social oppression and advocates for positive social change.
Faculty Experts
Knowledge / Information for Development
Research on knowledge / information for development focuses on the provision, management, and use of knowledge with particular emphasis on the information needs and problems of developing countries.
Faculty Experts
Explore Our Faculty’s Work in Knowledge / Information for Development
- Albright, K. S. (2007). AIDS and culture: The case for an African information identity. International Review of Information Ethics, 7. http://www.i-r-i-e.net/inhalt/007/31-albright.pdf
- Albright, K. S. (2005). Global measures of development and the information society. New Library World, 106(7/8), 320-331. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074800510608639
- Joshi, H. R., Lenhart, S., Albright, K. & Gipson, K. (2008). Modeling the effect of information campaigns on the HIV Epidemic in Uganda. Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 5(4), 757-770. https://doi.org/10.3934/mbe.2008.5.757
Political economy of the information society
Research in this area explores the social, cultural, and political forces that shape global economic interactions.
Faculty Experts
Dr. Kendra Albright Dr. Marianne Martens
Social Justice
This area encompasses work that advocates for social justice as a guiding principle for information professionals and institutions.
Faculty Experts
Dr. Kendra Albright Dr. Katie Campana Dr. Marianne Martens
Explore Our Faculty's Work in Social Justice
- Mehra, B., Rioux, K. & Albright, K. (2010). Social Justice in the library and information science professions. In M. Bates & M. N. Maack (Eds.), Encyclopedia of library and information science, 3rd ed. (pp. 4820-4836). CRC Press.
- Mills, J. E., Campana, K. & Martin, M. H. (2019). Engage, cultivate, provide, and assess: An outreach model for serving all children and families [White Paper]. Association for Library Service to Children.. http://www.ala.org/alsc/sites/ala.org.alsc/files/content/compubs/ALSC_White%20Paper_Engage_Cultivate_Provide_Assess_SCREEN_FRIENDLY.pdf
- Peterson-Kemp, A., Fisher, K., Martens, M., & Meyers, E. (2017). "Ray of sunshine happiness gun” and other apps in pursuit of social justice: Teens’ designs from Philadelphia. iConference 2017, Wuhan, China. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/96765
Faculty Experts
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Goodyear Endowed Professor in Knowledge Management