Feedback Loops: Algorithmic Authority, Emergent Biases, and Implications for Information Literacy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/palrap.2021.231Abstract
Algorithms have become increasingly ubiquitous in our modern, technologically driven society. Algorithmic tools that are embedded to “enhance” the user experience when information-seeking carry problematic epistemological concerns. These algorithms are developed and interjected into search tools by human beings who, consciously or not, tend to impart biases into the functionality of the information retrieval process. These search tools have become our primary arbiters of knowledge and have been granted relatively unmitigated sovereignty over our perceptions of reality and truth. This article provides broader awareness of how the bias embedded within these algorithmic systems structures users’ perception and knowledge of the world, preserving traditional power hierarchies and the marginalization of specific groups of people, and examines the implications of algorithmic search systems on information literacy instruction from a critical pedagogical perspective.
References
Association of College & Research Libraries. (2016). Framework for information literacy for higher education. American Library Association. www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework
Benjamin, R. (2019). Race after technology. Polity.
Caliskin, A., Bryson, J. J., & Narayanan, A. (2017). Semantics derived automatically from language corpora contain human-like biases. Science 356(6334), 183-186.
Bucher, T. (2018). If .... then: Algorithmic power and politics. Oxford University Press.
Dormehl, L. (2014). The formula: How algorithms solve all our problems - and create more. Penguin.
Drabinski, E. (2017). A kairos of the critical: Teaching critically in a time of compliance. Communications in Information Literacy, 11(1), 76-94. files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1148823.pdf
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Herder and Herder.
Funk, C., & Parker, K. (2018). Women and men at odds over STEM workplace equity. Pew Research Center. Retrieved December 22, 2020 from pewrsr.ch/34BQDil
Kearns, M., & Roth, A. (2019) The ethical algorithm. Oxford University Press.
Knuth, D. E. (1998). The art of computer programming: Sorting and searching (2nd ed., Vol. 3). Addison-Wesley Professional.
Martin, R. C. (2008). Clean code: A handbook of agile software craftsmanship. Pearson.
Noble, S. U. (2018). Algorithms of oppression: How search engines reinforce racism. New York University Press.
Olhede, S. C., & Wolfe, P. J. (2018). The growing ubiquity of algorithms in society: Implications, impacts and innovations. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 376(2128). doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2017.0364
O’Neil, C. (2016) Weapons of math destruction. Crown.
Pasquale, F. (2015). The black box society: The secret algorithms that control money and information. Harvard University Press.
Reidsma, M. (2019). Masked by trust: Bias in library discovery systems. Library Juice Press.
Seaver, N. (2019). Knowing algorithms. In J. Vertesi, & D. Ribes (Eds.), DigitalSTS (pp. 412-422). Princeton University Press. bit.ly/37Hd73d
Swanson, T. A. (2004). A radical step: Implementing a critical information literacy model. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 4(2), 259-273. doi.org/10.1353/pla.2004.0038
Sweeney, L. (2013). Discrimination in online ad delivery. Communications of the ACM. 56(5), 44-54. bit.ly/38IcJ3Z
Tewell, E. C. (2018). The practice and promise of critical information literacy: Academic librarians’ involvement in critical library instruction. College & Research Libraries, 79(1), 10-35. doi.org/10.5860/crl.79.1.10
Warren, S., & Duckett, K. (2010). “Why does Google Scholar sometimes ask for money?”: Engaging science students in scholarly communications and the economics of information. Journal of Library Administration, 50(4), 349-372. doi.org/10.1080/01930821003667021
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
- Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
- The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
- Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
- The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
- Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
- The Author represents and warrants that:
- the Work is the Author’s original work;
- the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
- the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
- the Work has not previously been published;
- the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
- the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
- The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
Revised 7/21/2020. Revision Description: Updated to APA 7th style.