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Sarah A. Sutherland
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July 17, 2022
Sarah spoke on a panel titled “Law Librarian as Algorithmic Skeptic” at the American Association of Law Libraries Conference in Denver, Colorado on July 17, 2022 with Sarah Lamdan from CUNY Law School, and Kim Nayyer from Cornell Law Library. Susan Nevelow Mart who was also scheduled to speak couldn’t attend, though her comments were read.
Here’s the session description:
As law librarians, our work has always been impacted by technological advancement. Much of our research takes place on platforms that use algorithms to provide search results. Yet there is substantial research showing that algorithms are not neutral providers of information but reflect the assumptions and biases of programmers and past users. Small variations in programming can lead to big variations in the results delivered for any particular search, and the same search can yield very different results across platforms. This session will help law librarians think skeptically about algorithmic technologies by providing an overview of algorithms and algorithmic bias, presenting ways to convey these concepts to patrons and sharing strategies for ameliorating the problematic tendencies these systems create.