Transcending Binaries of Agency through Librarians’ Discursive Constructions of AI
Document Type
Journal Issue
Date
5-2025
Keywords
AI, discourse, agency, librarians
Disciplines
Library and Information Science | Science and Technology Studies
Description/Abstract
The release of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022 launched a reckoning with the potential consequences of this new technology for librarianship. In this discourse, there is a clear desire among librarians to take agency over the predicted destiny of the library and information science field, which has a long history of adapting to new technologies, yet may be seen as reactive when these technologies are introduced. The question of agency has become more urgent as the harmful impacts of algorithms and AI become increasingly visible. This community-centered study focuses on the perceptions and concerns of practitioners and scholars in library and information science regarding AI, technological innovation, and the ways in which they position their own and others’ agency when discussing their consequences. We utilize a critical narrative and discourse-based analytic framework to consider how they may reflect both the deterministic discourses perpetuated by “technological elites” and the socially constructivist discourses common in library and information science. We highlight librarian perceptions of AI’s impact through the lens of agency to consider how these two seemingly opposing viewpoints may be reconstructed through their discursive constructions of technology and what we can learn from them about the directions of agency among librarians, their communities, and technology.
Recommended Citation
Appedu, S., & Tacheva, J. (2025). Transcending Binaries of Agency through Librarians’ Discursive Constructions of AI. Library Trends 73(3), 116-140. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/lib.2025.a961342.
Creative Commons License
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