Conceptualizing Relevance of Information as a Social Justice Issue: An Interactive Panel Discussion

Abstract

Relevance is a notion whose meaning and purpose have been widely discussed in information retrieval research. The ultimate aim of relevance-what Tefko Saracevic has called the "you know" principle-is to ensure that users have the information necessary to meet their goals. What is often missing from this discussion is a critical assessment of who gets to decide what information is relevant, under what circumstances, and for what purposes-especially in relation to marginalized populations. The limited discussion of social justice in information relevance research is a gap this interactive panel discussion seeks to address. Five emerging, junior, and senior researchers will each identify and outline social justice themes of information relevance (e.g., intersectionality, Black feminist lens, geography, immigration status, and holistic critical relevance) that have been evident in their own scholarship. Audience members will have an opportunity to expand on one of the five themes in concert with a panelist before participants consider together future directions for relevance of information in a social justice context. While each participant may have different definitions of social justice, a broad interpretation of the term will frame the conversation by indicating how information relevance can move society towards a fairer and more equitable future.

FemiLISm now!: Identifying and exploring feminist theories and methods in CAIS/ACSI and ASIS&T conference proceedings, 1993-2021

“…Specifically, the theory of intersectionality offers a robust framework to examine interlocking racialized, colonial, ableist, and heteropatriarchal systems of power and oppression (Combahee River Collective 1978). While intersectional theory was explicitly applied by CAIS/ACSI and ASIS&T scholars (for example, Winberry et al 2021;Lieu, Allard, and Oliphant 2019), we also observed that feminist theories were often used in conjunction with other complementary critical theories, such as decolonization, critical race, and queer theory. Applying an intersectional lens can make visible and facilitate exploration of specific frameworks of social power and their consequences for information and research contexts.…”

Diversidad, Equidad, Inclusión Y Accessibilidad en Podcasts De Bibliotecología Y Ciencias De La Información

“…Essa foi uma oportunidade para discutir, entre outras, temáticas sobre racismo durante a pandemia de COVID-19 (Chong & Chen, 2021), antirracismo na profissão bibliotecária (Tang et al, 2021), discriminação e informação LGBTQ+ (Brown et al, 2021). Além disso, a relevância da informação como uma questão de justiça social foi debatida em um painel de discussão com especialistas (Winberry et al, 2021).…”