Big Data's Impact on Privacy for Librarians and Information Professionals

Harper, Lindsey; Oltmann, Shannon M.

doi:10.1002/bul2.2017.1720430406

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(21 reference statements)

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“…This sense of apathy was furthered because they viewed library data as neither reflective of their whole selves, nor likely to be of help in an investigation or screening for behaviours that could affect public safety. Although there were exceptions, this contrasted significantly with many of the reasons that librarians emphasize the importance of deleting user search data (Estabrook, 1996;Harper & Oltmann, 2017;Zimmer, 2013), which is to protect users from third-party access to data, often referring to government entities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acceptable and Unacceptable Uses of Academic Library Search Data: An Interpretive Description of Undergraduate Student Perspectives

Gariepy

2021

EBLIP

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Objective – This article presents findings about undergraduate student attitudes regarding search data privacy in academic libraries. Although the library literature includes many articles about librarian perceptions on this matter, this paper adds rich, qualitative evidence to the limited research available about student preferences for how libraries should handle information about what they search for, borrow, and download. This paper covers acceptable and unacceptable uses of student search data based on American undergraduate student perspectives. This is an important area of study due to the increasingly data-driven nature of evaluation, accountability, and improvement in higher education, which relies on individual-level student data for learning analytics. These practices are sometimes at odds with libraries’ longstanding commitment to user privacy, which has historically limited the amount of data collected about student use of materials. However, libraries’ use of student search data is increasing. Methods – This qualitative study was approached through interpretive description, a rigorous qualitative framework for answering practical research questions in an applied setting or discipline. I employed the constant comparative method of data collection and analysis to conduct semi-structured interviews with 27 undergraduate students at a large, American, urban public research institution. Interviews included questions as well as vignettes: short scenarios designed to elicit response. Through inductive coding, I organized the data into interpretive themes and subthemes to describe student attitudes. Results – Participants viewed academic library search data as less personally revealing than internet search data. As a result, students were generally comfortable with libraries collecting search data so long as it is used for their benefit. They were comfortable with data being used to improve library collections and services, but were more ambivalent about use of search data for personalized search results and for learning analytics-based assessment. Students had mixed feelings about using search data in investigations related to criminal activity or national security. Most students expressed a desire for de-identification and user control of data. Students who were not comfortable with their search data being collected or used often held their convictions more strongly than those who found the practice acceptable, and their concerns were often related to how data might be used in ways that harm members of vulnerable groups. Conclusion – The results of this study suggested that librarians should further explore student perspectives about search data collection in academic libraries to consider how and if they might adjust their data collection practices to be respectful of student preferences for privacy, while still meeting evaluation and improvement objectives. This study also introduces the qualitative framework of interpretive description to the library and information science literature, promoting use of this applied qualitative approach, which is well-suited to the practical questions often asked in library research studies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acceptable and Unacceptable Uses of Academic Library Search Data: An Interpretive Description of Undergraduate Student Perspectives

Gariepy

2021

EBLIP

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“…El siguiente bloque de artículos se centran en la aplicación real de big data en un tipo específico de bibliotecas (REBIUN, 2016; Rani y Rao, 2017; Zhan y Widén, 2017a; Barashdi1 y Al-Karousi (2019) o un área concreta (Alonso y Vázquez, 2016;Harper y Oltmann, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Aproximación al grado de conocimiento y aplicación de Big Data en las bibliotecas universitarias españolas

Hilario

Sastre

2020

An. Documentación

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Se analiza el grado de conocimiento e implantación de la tecnología Big Data y sus características principales en las bibliotecas universitarias españolas inscritas en REBIUN con el objetivo de observar si estas instituciones se encuentran capacitadas para la utilización y aprovechamiento de las ventajas del tratamiento masivo de datos. Los datos son obtenidos mediante un cuestionario cuya respuesta proviene de fuentes internas de las bibliotecas, a partir de los cuales se establecen una serie de conclusiones junto a unas propuestas de mejora y líneas de trabajo futuras que permitan la correcta implantación, uso y aprovechamiento del Big Data en la oferta de servicios y funciones de las bibliotecas universitarias españolas. It is analyzed the degree of knowledge and implementation of Big Data technology and its main characteristics in the Spanish university libraries registered in REBIUN, with the objective of observing if these institutions are qualified for the use of the advantages of the massive data processing. The data is obtained by means of a questionnaire, whose response comes from internal sources of the libraries, from which a series of conclusions are established together with proposals for improvement and future lines of work that allow the correct implementation, use and exploitation of the Big Data in the offer of services and functions of the Spanish university libraries.

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“…If we take the view that privacy is a social construction, we can expect there to be a need for periodic reassessments of how long-standing professional values apply to present societal needs. In the wake of the 2001 Patriot Act, the ALA's more detailed 2002 interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights emphasizes the user's right to inquire without monitoring or surveillance from others, and the 2008 version of the Bill further detailed internet search behaviors as part of this principle, by including transmitted information under the privacy umbrella (Harper & Oltmann 2017;Noh 2017). Consequently, the Library and Information Science (LIS) literature increasingly focused on the degree to which a library should take responsibility for patron data and behaviors while online (Varnum 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Managing Data for Patron Privacy: Comprehensive Strategies for Libraries by Kristin Briney and Becky Yoose

Dolan¹

2022

Journal of eScience Librarianship

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This review critiques Managing Data for Patron Privacy: Comprehensive Strategies for Libraries by Kristin Briney and Becky Yoose. Briney and Yoose's book structures considerations for patron data privacy around the data lifecycle, utilizing data management concepts. It addresses a selection of areas where librarians can introduce protocols for minimizing data breach risks through improving data management skills. In the broader context of library data stakeholders, it situates library policy and training through practical guidance and scenario-based examples.

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Big Data's Impact on Privacy for Librarians and Information Professionals

Cited by 10 publications

References 8 publications

Acceptable and Unacceptable Uses of Academic Library Search Data: An Interpretive Description of Undergraduate Student Perspectives

Acceptable and Unacceptable Uses of Academic Library Search Data: An Interpretive Description of Undergraduate Student Perspectives

Aproximación al grado de conocimiento y aplicación de Big Data en las bibliotecas universitarias españolas

Review of Managing Data for Patron Privacy: Comprehensive Strategies for Libraries by Kristin Briney and Becky Yoose

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