Teaching Search When Search is Biased

Workshops engaging Critical Information Literacy (CIL)

We are Gigi Swinnerton (G’21) and Hanna
Seraji (C’20, G’22). We are information
literacy scholars at SUL. The IL Scholar
program is dedicated to helping MLIS
students prepare to be academic instruction
librarians while encouraging individual
development in IL skills and interests.
COVID-19 led to the unique opportunity for
us to gain insight into teaching IL workshops
remotely.
PURPOSE OF THE SERIES: Attendee
We invited all members of the Syracuse takeaways: Bias
community to these workshops.Our goal in can exist in non-
overt ways in
providing these workshops was to provide a Example: What do you see when you look at a
“using a resource’s Google Image search of “teachers?”
background for the nature of bias in “search” popularity” as a
and then use that framework to apply CIL to primary
search in specific subject areas. qualification of
relevance.”
Learning Outcome Samples:
General Session:
1. How to get into a detailed record. Attendee
2. How to engage the detailed record with takeaways: “Bias
the session terms. is EVERYWHERE
3. How to learn more. and it’s our
Women and Gender Studies Session: responsibility to
1. Enhance searching strategies for locating recognize it, call it
out, and work Our Takeaway: A future workshop
WGS resources.
towards equity in could focus on how scholars can label
2. Determine foundational WGS sources our searching their search process to identify bias as
3. How to center BIPOC scholars in search. process” they create research.