Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology最新文献

The production of research and faculty in the US higher education system is concentrated within a few institutions. Concentration of research and resources affects minoritized scholars and the topics with which they are disproportionately associated. This paper examines topical alignment between institutions and authors of varying intersectional identities, and the relationship between research topics and identities with institutional prestige and scientific impact. Our results show statistically significant differences between minoritized scholars and White men in citations and journal impact. The aggregate research profile of prestigious US universities is highly correlated with the research profile of White men, and negatively correlated with the research profile of minoritized women. Furthermore, authors affiliated with more prestigious institutions are associated with increasing inequalities in both citations and journal impact. These results suggest a relationship—which we coin as the Howard-Harvard effect—in which the topical profile of minoritized scholars is further marginalized in prestigious institutions as compared to mission-driven institutions. Academic institutions and funders should create policies to mitigate the systemic barriers that prevent the United States from achieving a fully robust scientific ecosystem.

This paper outlines a multidisciplinary framework (Digital Rhetorical Ecosystem or DRE3) for scaling up qualitative analyses of image memes. First, we make a case for applying rhetorical theory to examine image memes as quasi-arguments that promote claims on a variety of political and social issues. Next, we argue for integrating rhetorical analysis of image memes into an ecological framework to trace interaction and evolution of memetic claims as they coalesce into evidence ecosystems that inform public narratives. Finally, we apply a computational framework to address the particular problem of claim identification in memes at large scales. Our integrated framework answers the recent call in information studies to highlight the social, political, and cultural attributes of information phenomena, and bridges the divide between small-scale qualitative analyses and large-scale computational analyses of image memes. We present this theoretical framework to guide the development of research questions, processes, and computational architecture to study the widespread and powerful influence of image memes in shaping consequential public beliefs and sentiments.

Google has become an “increasing invisible information infrastructure” that “organizes the world's information,” simultaneously shaping and organizing users through “ubiquitous googling” with keywords as a daily habit of new media. However, there is limited knowledge about how Google ranks information, intervenes, and the veracity of its search results. How can they be captured, analyzed, and understood in regard to search ecosystems? This article addresses these questions through a digital ethnography with a group of students as an “experiment in living” that investigates whether individuals receive so-called “personalized” search results with the keyword “mink.” The method of screenshotting makes permanent the top results, which can then be compared, offering a “partial perspective” as “situated knowledge.” Building on previous empirical search studies using screenshotting, an analysis demonstrates that similar search results are obtained due to Google's recent tendency for “social relevance” and not individual “user relevance.” Students were sorted and grouped into categories of others “like them,” in this case dependent on a static university Internet Protocol address. This educational intervention contributes to screenshotting literature and feminist STS by introducing a method that empowers citizen agency, thereby contributing to developing strategies for generating more democratic, inclusive, and healthier information ecosystems.

Scholarly communication has long been a central topic in the field of information science. However, philosophical, and even perhaps some legal reflections, including the moral and ethical considerations of the health of information ecosystems, are fairly recent developments. In fact, recent topics are propelled by various contextual factors including economic, disciplinary, societal norms, and cultures. This article explores literature discussing the plight of scholars in low- and middle-income countries that struggle to engage in scholarly communications in their fields. This topic has been explored for years, however, has often been addressed in disciplines outside of information science and knowledge management. This study posits that critical investigations lift this issue to one of justice and suggest a new critical lens that would rely on several existing lenses, including those developed to expand epistemic injustice, as well as exploring areas and perspectives that have not yet found their way into the mainstream literature. The analysis provides alternative approaches and discourse around the democratization of scholarly communications, all toward achieving a just and healthier global information ecosystem.