Advancing Women's Health Information Literacy: Global Researcher Spotlights
When: November 17th 10 am Eastern
Register for the online event: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/MR_9BbuxQmWEdwKvmCqErQ. Click or tap if you trust this link.">https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/MR_9BbuxQmWEdwKvmCqErQ
The Institute for Information Literacy at Purdue is thrilled to feature two research teams in our upcoming ID:EALS 2025-26 online speaker series whose respective projects examine women's health information literacy needs and future solutions.
Leili Seifi and Neda Zeraatkar will present their research project, "Access and Strengthen Health Information Literacy: A Toolkit to Alleviate Information
Poverty in Pregnant Rural Women in Iran." Seifi and Zeraatkar aim to understand the health information awareness of pregnant women in rural Iran in order to develop tools for strengthening health information literacy in regions that lack health centers and libraries. Seifi and Zeraatkar will share findings from their expansive literature review, which will inform future data collection efforts.
Professor Anwarul Islam will share his team's ambitious project, "AI and Health Information Literacy: A Study Exploring the Perceived Usefulness, and Readiness Among Women in South Asia." Across five countries, the team seeks to identify South Asian women's perceptions of AI's usefulness and their readiness to utilize AI technology to support health information needs. Professor Islam will share early research findings from focus groups conducted in India, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The research team is comprised of the following researchers:
Md. Anwarul Islam, Professor in the Department of Information Science and Library Management, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Bhakti Gala, Assistant Professor in the Department of Library and Information Science, Central University of Gujarat, India
Aminath Riyaz, Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences, The Maldives National University, Maldives
Raj Kumar Bhardwaj, Librarian, University of Delhi, India
Tabassum Aslam, Academic Librarian for the Lahore School of Economics, Punjab, Pakistan
Zeraatkar, Seifi, and Islam are recipients of the https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://lib.purdue.edu/iilp/research-grants/__;!!DZ3fjg!4j-Y8xiO-0MVHhKRGfIXuGnvqfB-tVminxCfcr5y2SkRiu67HPJyCxVA1P6UDA2tZVoc-08HxrMT6p6W8RM7_sXWMMi6$. Click or tap if you trust this link.">Institute for Information Literacy at Purdue's 2024-2026 seed grants. The Institute's seed grant program funds two-year research projects that examine complex, contextual information challenges with the aim of developing new information literacy models that enable people to successfully navigate and contribute to today's information environment.
Attendees will learn more about current research happening around the globe to advance women's health information literacy. Attendees are encouraged to pose questions and reflect on how insights from this ongoing research may inform information literacy education in a range of library contexts.
About our speakers:
Dr. Md. Anwarul Islam is a Professor of Information Science and Library Management at the University of Dhaka. His research interest revolves around Knowledge management, Service innovation, and information literacy. He has led and contributed to a number of impactful international and national projects that have received funding from ASIS&T, the Centenary research grant, and the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh. He also received several awards from ASIS&T, including the James M. Crestos Leadership Award 2021 and the Lois Lunin Award 2023
Dr. Leili Seifi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Knowledge and Information Science at the University of Birjand. Focused on cultural heritage, community informatics, and information literacy research, Seifi has led nationally and internationally funded research grants and been recognized by several ASIS&T awards, including the 2021 Infoshare Award.
Neda Zeraatkar is the Middle East and Islamic Studies Librarian at Emory University. Her scholarship spans multiple research areas, including examining scholarly publishing and co-authorship patterns, as well as the evaluation of public and children's digital libraries in Iran.
Clarence Maybee, PhD
Associate Dean of Learning
Professor and W. Wayne Booker Endowed Chair in Information Literacy
Director, Institute for Information Literacy at Purdue
Libraries and School of Information Studies
Purdue University
cmaybee@purdue.edu
Pronouns: He/His/Him