Young people often come to libraries with partial answers already in hand. Search results, social feeds, and conversational AI systems may have shaped the answers they bring. Private discovery asks how much a young person must reveal before reaching help. Amanda Gray Perry of the University of Notre Dame moderated Core’s Top Tech Trends panel. Speakers working in public libraries, academic libraries, and library technology examined AI, metadata infrastructure, discovery tools, and media access. In my presentation, “Private Discovery by Design: AI Infrastructure in Teen Services,” I posed the question directly: When does a teen’s inquiry become data? Values Before Tools Nicole Steeves, Director of Library Technology at Chicago Public Library, set out a values-based approach to AI. She argued for AI investment when a proposed use improves patron service, protects privacy, preserves staff expertise, and includes human review. She drew clear limits around reference search, readers’ advisory, and traditional…
Tag: privacy
Tween/Teen Privacy: Inside and Outside the Library
Privacy and intellectual freedom go hand in hand, once you think about it. The ability to explore new ideas and information -without fear of judgement or repercussions- directly supports the growth of intellectual freedom. As tweens and teens seek knowledge to understand themselves and their place in the world, they benefit from protections inside, and knowledge outside, the library. Here are some resources that may be useful in thinking about working with teens and tweens in your library!
The IFLA Intellectual Freedom Statement
On August 25, 2019, at the World Library and Information Conference (WLIC) in Athens, Greece, the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) celebrated 20 years of the IFLA Intellectual Freedom Statement.
Children’s Librarians are Experts on Privacy and Confidentiality
Once while I was working the reference desk, a young woman around 12 years old or so approached me and asked if the library had any books on sperm.