Bashir receives grant to study privacy measures in public libraries

Masooda Bashir
Masooda Bashir, Associate Professor
Yang Wang
Yang Wang, Associate Professor

Associate Professor Masooda Bashir has received a $150,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS LG-246404-OLS-20) for her project, "Securing our Public Libraries: A Forum on Privacy and Security." The project seeks to identify the existence and absence of privacy protecting technologies (software and/or hardware) in public library systems.

In today's digital world, public libraries play a critical role in offering free public internet access. The American Library Association (ALA), with its well-established reputation of protecting the privacy of library users, has updated its interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights to include digital privacy. However, Bashir notes that with such a wide variety of library sizes, funding, staff training, equipment, vendors, and software, it is not clear if any widespread technological measures are currently in place that adhere to the ALA guidelines.

According to Bashir, there is "an important gap in the conversations we are having about privacy and security technologies implemented in our public libraries." This gap exists due to the lack of shared vocabulary among public libraries and differing levels of technical skillsets and resources across library systems. The IMLS grant will support a national forum on privacy and security, in which experts and public library representatives will collaborate on an exploratory study of what technological mechanisms are in place to protect patron privacy in our nation's libraries.

"I am delighted to be granted this opportunity to initiate and lead this vital discussion that is timely and necessary given our current dependency on internet technologies," Bashir said.

Bashir's research interests lie at the interface of information technology, human psychology, and society; especially how privacy, security, and trust intersect from a psychological point of view with information systems. She holds degrees in mathematics, computer science, and psychology and a PhD in psychology from Purdue University.

Associate Professor Yang Wang will serve as key project staff. He conducts research focusing on usable privacy and security technologies, social computing, human-computer interaction, and explainable artificial intelligence. Wang earned his PhD in information and computer science from the University of California, Irvine.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Join the iSchool at ALISE 2023

Join iSchool faculty, staff, and students for the annual conference of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE), which will take place from October 2-5 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The theme of ALISE 2023 is "Bridge the Gap: Teaching, Learning, Practice, and Competencies."

iSchool Building

iSchool faculty to present at AISLE 2023

iSchool faculty will present their research at the Association of Illinois School Library Educators (AISLE) Annual Conference, which will be held from October 1-3 in Champaign. The theme of AISLE 2023 is "Strength in Partnerships." On the opening night of the conference, the iSchool will sponsor Late Night at Lit!, a social event at The Literary, a book bar, from 7:30-9:00 p.m.

Final projects in Government Information course result in publications

Two students who were enrolled in the Government Information (IS 594) course this past spring are now published authors. Their papers began as their final project for the course, which acquaints students with government publications. With the students' permission, course instructor and Adjunct Lecturer Dominique Hallett submitted the papers to DttP: Documents to the People, and they were published in the journal's most recent edition (Vol. 51, No. 3).

Tilley shares comics research at European universities

Associate Professor Carol Tilley shared her expertise in comics research at several invited talks in Europe this month. Tilley served as the keynote speaker for the international conference, “Comics, the Children and Childishness,” at Ghent University in Belgium. In her keynote, “Re-Centering Children in Comics,” she encouraged researchers studying comics and children to give more focus to the lived experiences of young people, moving away from an over-reliance on studying specific texts or their uses. 

Carol Tilley

Knox testifies before U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on book bans

Associate Professor Emily Knox testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary on September 12. She was one of five witnesses offering testimony for the hearing "Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature." 

Emily Knox