The iSchool at Illinois is pleased to announce the publication of Library Trends 74 (3) "Data Literacy: Navigating the Shift from Hype to Reality." Guest editor and Library Trends editorial board member Ben B. Chiewphasa (MSLIS '19) uses this issue to examine the intersection of technological hype and practical reality in librarianship through the lens of data literacy.
Among other themes, authors explore the need to build a data-literate society; the evolution of data literacy in higher education settings; and the skills users need to develop to investigate and interact with data.
This issue is published with open access.
On March 25, 2026, Library Trends will host a free webinar on data literacy featuring Chiewphasa and select authors.
The table of contents includes:
- "Introduction to Data Literacy: Navigating the Shift from Hype to Reality" by Ben B. Chiewphasa
- "Teaching Data Literacy in a Distrustful Environment: The Role of Critical Data Studies" by Julia Bauder
- "Empowering Immigrant Library Users Through Personal Data Literacy Programming in Public Libraries" by Hayley Park and Negeen Aghassibake
- "A Concept Analysis of Community Data Literacy" by Amanda S. Hovious
- "The Value of Data Literacy: Insights from Community College Students" by Jeonghyun Kim, Brady Lund, and Lingzi Hong
- "Fostering Data Literacy by Bridging Interdisciplinary Divides: Three Perspectives on Data Literacy Support at the University Level" by Charlotte Kiger Price, Emma Slayton, and Di Yoong
- "Not Another Boot Camp: Toward an Inclusive Computational Pedagogy" by Dolsy Smith, Daphna Atias, Emily Blumenthal, Alex Boyd, Madeline Doering, Katelyn Morgan, Marcus Peerman, Robin Pokorski, and Max Turer
- "Data Curation as Data Literacy Education: Grad’s Declassified Data Survival Guide" by Summer Mengarelli and Mikala Narlock
- "Fostering Civic Data Literacy in Libraries: The Civic Switchboard Project" by Eleanor Mattern, Marcia Rapchak, Chelsea Gunn, Aaron Brenner, Liz Monk, and Robert Gradeck
- "Navigating Food Insecurity, Many Data Points at a Time: A Case Study of Georgia State University Library's Public Interest Data Literacy Learning Lab Course" by Halley E. M. Riley, Ashley Rockwell, and Mandy Swygart-Hobaugh
- "Evolving Landscape of Data Education in Library and Information Science Programs: A Content Analysis of American Library Association–Accredited Curricula" by Kaypounyers "Kay P" Maye, Amy C. Schuler, Chelsea H. Barrett, and Ryan T. Hedrick
Library Trends is an essential tool for professional librarians and educators alike. Each issue explores critical trends in professional librarianship and includes practical applications, thorough analyses, and literature reviews. The journal is published quarterly for the School of Information Sciences by the Johns Hopkins University Press. Subscriptions to current issues are available both online and in print.
Back issues (1952 through two years prior to the current issue) are available online through IDEALS, the digital repository for scholarly works produced at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Please send ideas, inquiries, or issue proposals via email to Melissa Wong, editor in chief, at librarytrends@illinois.edu.