Putting Algorithmic Literacy into Conversation with the ACRL Framework: Insights, Ideas, and Innovations

Abstract

It is increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to unpack and examine our information
environments without considering the role that algorithms play. Algorithms are a set
of instructions to accomplish a task.1 But algorithms are not neutral. Rather they are
influenced by the humans who design them and the data used to train them.2 And these
algorithms, which are shaped by human biases and decisions, are central to the way that
our information environments function, from social media sites to search engines to
generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) chatbots. For good or ill, algorithms