PLO 5. Reflecting Critically on Information Infrastructures, Representation, and Diverse Worldviews

Course: LIBR 575: Academic Libraries

Artifact: Exhibits for Asian Diaspora Communities in Academic Libraries of North America: An Environmental Scan (group project)

My role: Group member; contributed to environmental scanning, comparative analysis, synthesis of findings, and development of the final presentation.

This artifact reflects my achievement in PLO 5: reflecting in an informed and critical manner on information infrastructures and practices, acknowledging the role of power and privilege, the ongoing influence of colonization, and the value of diverse worldviews. Our project examined how academic libraries in North America engage Asian diaspora communities through exhibits, research guides, newsletters, social media, space design, and collaborations. The aim was not only to describe successful practices but to compare engagement models, use UBC Asian Library as a benchmark, and develop evidence-based recommendations for more inclusive programming. That made this artifact a strong fit for PLO 5, because it required critical attention to how libraries represent communities, whose histories are made visible, and how institutional choices shape belonging and access.

One of the most meaningful parts of this project was recognizing that library engagement practices are never neutral. In our demographic analysis, we asked whether Asian libraries and collections sufficiently represented the communities around them. We found, for example, that some cities had larger South Asian populations while their Asian library or collection remained more focused on East Asian materials. Our scan of language research guides showed a similar pattern: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean were the most common, while other languages and communities were much less visible, with only a few exceptions, such as UBC and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. These findings helped me think more critically about information infrastructures as systems that can both support and limit representation.

The project also showed me that exhibits are not simply decorative additions to library space. Across the scan, exhibits, workshops, QR audio guides, visitor diaries, redesigned gallery spaces, and collaborations with faculty, student groups, authors, and cultural organizations all worked as ways of producing cultural visibility and community connection. Our discussion emphasized that exhibit-based engagement can be a sustainable and mission-aligned strategy, while also noting challenges such as staff time, resource intensity, and limited evaluation tools. This balance between affirmation and critique was important to me. It taught me that inclusive information work requires both celebration and scrutiny: libraries can create meaningful spaces of belonging, but they must also question who is centered, who is missing, and how feedback is gathered.

This artifact is especially relevant to my professional development because it strengthened my ability to connect academic libraries with broader questions of representation, cultural memory, and community responsiveness. It showed me that critical reflection in librarianship is not abstract. It takes shape through choices about exhibits, outreach, language, partnerships, and space. I assess this artifact as strong evidence of my development in PLO 5 because it demonstrates an emerging ability to examine information practices through the lenses of inclusion and representation, rather than accepting them at face value. At the same time, I would like to deepen this work further by engaging more directly with community consultation and decolonial perspectives in future projects.

Self-assessment rubric score

Overall score: 4.5/5

Connection to PLO: 5/5Clarity of role: 4/5Depth of reflection: 4.5/5Relevance to career direction: 4.5/5Readiness for professional application: 4/5

Short rationale for score:This artifact strongly demonstrates critical reflection on representation, engagement, and information practices in academic library settings. My role is meaningful and identifiable, though it should still be framed carefully because this was a collaborative project. The reflection is strong conceptually, and it shows clear professional relevance, while also leaving room for deeper future engagement with community-based and decolonial approaches.

Copyright and permissions note

This artifact was developed collaboratively as a course project in LIBR 575 by Danielle Osakwe, Haidong Zhao, and Mingzhe Xue. It is included in the portfolio for educational and reflective purposes with attribution to all contributors. Copyright in the group-created project content is shared among the student creators unless otherwise specified. Any third-party photographs, screenshots, charts based on external data sources, or other referenced materials remain the property of their original rights holders and should be used only in ways consistent with citation, educational fair dealing, or permission requirements.