Thursday, October 3, 2024 — 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM EDT
When: Thursday October 3, 2024
Time: 6 – 7:00 p.m. EST
Where: Online via Teams
A panel discussion hosted by the University Librarian, Beth Sandore Namachchivaya, featuring librarians Brie McConnell and Kate Mercer, and associate professor and director of Waterloo's U&AI Lab, Lai-Tze Fan.
Misinformation. Disinformation. Malinformation. Navigating the vast amounts of information we encounter daily has never been more challenging. From social media to AI, information is spreading faster than many of us can keep up, let alone determine its authenticity and quality.
In this discussion, the panelists will cover confirmation bias, information and data literacy, and developing AI confidence. Learn how to navigate social media with more confidence and understand the basics of large language models so you can discern the limits of your trust.
If you require assistance getting connected to the event, email Graham Yeates.
Beth Namachchivaya
As university librarian, Beth Namachchivaya leads a talented group of over 130 staff who provide library information services in several library facilities that support the University of Waterloo. Before joining Waterloo, Beth led library research and technology initiatives at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she helped establish the scholarly communication, digitization, digital preservation and research data curation programs. In both her research and practice, she focuses on developing enduring access to scholarship through organizations such as the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and collaboratives including the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) and the HathiTrust Digital Library.
Kate Mercer
Dr. Kate Mercer graduated with a Master of Information (MI) from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Pharmacy from the University of Waterloo, focusing on communicating health information. Mercer is the liaison librarian for Systems Design Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Waterloo where her job includes collaboration, teaching, and research. Kate is passionate about understanding how people are accessing, understanding and disseminating information, and researches misinformation, scientific communication, artificial intelligence and empathy in engineering teaching and learning.
Lai-Tze Fan
With roots in media studies, English literature, cultural studies and design, Dr. Lai-Tze Fan is a Canada Research Chair in technology and social change and Director of the U&AI Lab at Waterloo. With a focus on artificial intelligence, Fan’s research seeks to intervene in biased technological design and to heighten technological literacy. Fan was a postdoctoral fellow at Concordia, assistant professor at Lingnan University and a visiting scholar at the University of Mainz.
Brie McConnell
Brie McConnell specializes in literacy and evidence-based research strategies for science and medicine. Brie graduated with a Master of Information Science (MLIS) degree from Western University in 2009, then spent the next 11 years in clinical research at Western and London Health Sciences Centre. In 2020, Brie joined the University of Waterloo Library where she is active in research collaborations and consultations. As a practicing librarian, she is a biomedical database expert and research strategist.
