Research Grants

The Institute funded two-year research projects that examine complex information challenges within particular contexts. The aim behind the funding of the two research cohorts (2022-2024 and 2024-2026) was to aid in developing information literacy models that enable people to successfully navigate the challenges within today’s information environment.

2024 Grant Awardees

Context & Connections: Applying the Critical Cultural Literacy Model to Community-Based Learning

Project team: Alexandra Howard, Assistant Professor, Business Librarian, University of Louisville; Amber Willenborg, Associate Professor, Instruction Coordinator, University of Louisville; Dr. Nicole A. Cooke, Augusta Baker Endowed Chair, Professor, School of Information Science, University of South Carolina

Project description: This study applied the Critical Cultural Literacy model to community-based learning courses to equip undergraduate students with a more holistic critical cultural literacy. The research team developed an online toolkit that librarians and faculty can use to facilitate classroom conversations around critical cultural literacy and help students develop skills that are imperative for inclusive and equitable civic engagement.

Access and Strengthen Health Information Literacy: A Toolkit to Alleviate Information Poverty in Pregnant Rural Women in Iran

Project team: Leili Seifi, Associate Professor, Department of Knowledge and Information Science, University of Birjand, Iran and Neda Zeraatkar, Middle East and Islamic Studies Librarian, Emory University

Project description: This study will explore ways to alleviate the health information poverty of rural pregnant women in Iran, while identifying avenues for strengthening and increasing health information awareness of rural pregnant women who lack access to health centers and libraries.

AI and Health Information Literacy: A study exploring the perceived usefulness, and readiness among women in South Asia

Project team: Md. Anwarul Islam, Professor, Department of Information Science and Library Management, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh; Bhakti Gala, Assistant Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Central University of Gujarat, India; Aminath Riyaz, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, The Maldives National University, Maldives; Raj Kumar Bhardwaj, Librarian, University of Delhi, India; Tabassum Aslam, Academic Librarian, Lahore School of Economics, Punjab, Pakistan

Gamified Finance Simulator for Older Adults: A Financial Literacy and Vulnerability Intervention

Project team: Abhinav Choudhry, doctoral student, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois; Kyrie Zhixuan Zhou, doctoral student, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois; Rachel Adler, Associate Professor, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois

Project description: This interventional study sought to improve the financial literacy, reduce the financial vulnerability, and improve the self-efficacy of older adults through the use of a finance simulator that teaches older adults to accomplish digital banking and e-commerce tasks and learn ways to guard against online security threats.

Understanding Ph.D. Students’ Perceptions and Information Literacy Skills Interacting with ChatGPT-Generated Content

Project team: Ehsan Mohammadi, Associate Professor, School of Information Science, University of South Carolina; Samaneh Borji, doctoral student, School of Information Science, University of South Carolina; Jiaxuan Zhang, doctoral student, School of Information Science, University of South Carolina

Project description: This study investigates Ph.D. students’ perceptions of ChatGPT-generated content quality and utility within academic coursework and explores their utilization of critical information literacy skills when interacting with such content. The findings of this study may inform the work of educators, policymakers, and AI technology developers seeking to enhance student learning experiences in higher education

2022 Grant Awardees

Information Literacy in the Age of Online Mis/Dis/Malinformation

Project team: Matthew N. Hannah, Assistant Professor, Libraries, Purdue University; Jennifer Hoewe, Associate Professor, Brian Lamb School of Communications, Purdue University; Dan Goldwasser, Associate Professor, Computer Science, Purdue University; Hanna Sistek, PhD student, Political Science, Purdue University; Taeik Kim, PhD student, Psychological Sciences, Purdue University

Project description: Information scholars, librarians, and teachers require more sensitive models and frameworks for tackling the significant social challenges we face today, such as the spread of fake news, the exponential growth of conspiracy theories, and the weaponization of information for personal and political gain. This project brought together a multidisciplinary team of experts from information studies, computer science, communications, political science, and psychology to assess current frameworks, identify public audience needs, and propose a new framework to respond to 21st-century informational dynamics. Read more about the team’s mindfulness-based IL framework published in the Journal of Information Literacy.

Librarians on the Front Lines: Countering Conspiracy Theories Together

Project team: Stephanie Beene, Associate Professor, University of New Mexico Libraries; Katie Greer, Associate Professor, Oakland University Libraries

Project description: Librarians across the majority of states and across urban and rural divides are frequently encountering patrons exhibiting conspiracy ideation. This project defined gaps in information literacy praxis and expanded on existing information and metaliteracy frameworks to help combat and prevent conspiracism.

Preventing Information Anarchy in Health Sciences by Promoting Critical Information Literacy Education: A proposed framework

Project team: Syeda Hina Shahid, Postdoc Research Fellow, ISchool, UBC/Assistant Professor, Institute of Information Management, University of the Punjab, Pakistan; Luanne Sinnamon, Associate Professor in the School of Information, The University of British Columbia, Canada; Ghulam Fareed, President, Pakistan Medical Library Association

Project description: This project investigated the phenomenon of critical information literacy in the context of health sciences. It concluded with a proposed framework to support more effective evaluation and interpretation of scientific information by researchers and students in Pakistan.

The Truth is in the Stacks: Searching for Information Literacy in Conspiracy Theory Research Institutions

Project team: Dr. Yvonne M. Eadon, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Stacy Wood, Director of Research and Programs for the Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2i2), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Project description: This project aimed to understand the tenacity of conspiracy theories by investigating where (which institutions) conspiracy theorists conduct their research, and what (if any) information literacy related policies and practices are currently in place at those institutions. Results of the research provides a basis for designing new information literacy models and interventions specific to the realm of conspiracy theory, rooted in institutions considered trustworthy by researchers of conspiracy theories.