Information Research into Practice, Policy, and Action @asist_org #ASIST23

One session from the ASIS&T conference being held in London focused on participative research. It was entitled Making a Difference: Translating Information Research into Practice, Policy, and Action. The first presentation Towards a Critical Approach to Community-engaged Information Research and Shared Knowledge (by Jia Tina Du and Clara M. Chu) talked about the Community-Engaged Information Behavior (CEIB) methodological framework (Du & Chu, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2022.101189) and also presented two projects Project APRCH: Agency in the Preservation of Refugee Cultural Heritage and Cultural use of ICT4D to promote Indigenous knowledge continuity of Ngarrindjeri stories and communal practices which utilised the Ngarrindjeri ICT4D Pondi (Murray Cod) visual design framework. 
The second presentation was From Research to Strategic Planning to Collective Action: A Logic Model Using Theory of Change to Further Civic Engagement for Racial Justice in Public Libraries (Bharat Mehra, Kimberly Black, and Baheya S. Jaber): This project is using Theory of Change, in a project funded by the US Institute of Museum and Library Services (2022 - 2025). The proposal for the project is here: https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/project-proposals/LG-252354-OLS-22-Full-Proposal.pdf
The third presentation was Building a Smart City Portal for a Sustainable Future Through a Collective Impact Approach (by Kendra S. Albright, Bill Edgar, Christina Turner; presented by Chu): The overall goal of this project is to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Cleveland. After finding barriers were not just gaps in device ownership, internet connection and digital/literacy, but also accessing specialist knowledge, they are developing a portal connecting people to subject matter experts. It should include e.g. a directory, applications (like Zoom) that residents can use. Methods include stakeholder interviews and user experience research.
Following the presentations we broke into groups to discuss issues around collective impact, including engagement and collaboration with stakeholders who might have different foci from each other, and the difficulties of matching desired goals for a project with funding agencies' priorities.