Recent Grant Funded Research
$2.1 Million
Research grants secured by SIS faculty in the 2025-2026 academic year
50+
Students funded by SIS research grants in the past 5 years.
PROTECCT-GLAM: Providing Risk of The Environment’s Changing Climate Threats for Galleries, Libraries, Archives & Museums | Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, $458,963
Edward Benoit III, PhD - Interim Director | Associate Professor
The PROTECCT-GLAM project is a three-year research project conducted by Dr. Edward Benoit, III, Associate Director, School of Information Studies, Louisiana State University, Dr. Jill Trepanier, Associate Professor, Department of Geography & Anthropology, Louisiana State University, and Dr. Jennifer Vanos, Associate Professor, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University. This applied research project was awarded $473,243 from the National Leadership Grants for Libraries under Program Goal 4 and Objective 4.1. The research will develop a national categorical climate change risk assessment scale for galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs) through a geographic information system (GIS) analysis of existing climate change threats and models. The project will also develop a prioritized research agenda to address the associated challenges through hosting a working institute of academic faculty, doctoral students, and GLAM practitioners.
Occurring over three years, the project will incorporate two main phases with three years of graduate student support. The research will address the following questions: What are the climate change-related risks most likely to provide threats to GLAMs? How can climate change risk for GLAMs be understood as a categorical scale when combining those threats most likely to need significant consideration? What are the GLAM-specific climate change challenges? How can a collaborative research agenda best address these challenges with input from practitioners and academics?
Benoit, Edward, III, Jill Trepanier, and Jennifer Vanos. “PROTECCT-GLAM: Risk of The Environment’s Changing Climate Threats for Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums.” Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2022. $458,963. Funded.
Virtual Footlocker Project 2.0: Supporting Vietnam-Era Veterans' Documentation of Their Military Record | Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, $91,430
Edward Benoit III, PhD - Director | Associate Professor
The Virtual Footlocker Project (VFP) is a three-year research project that will investigate best practices and protocols for archivists assisting veterans and active duty personnel with preservation of their personal digital archives. Grounded in the results of this previously funded study, the Virtual Footlocker Project 2.0 will do the following:
- • Survey and analyze rich ethnographic data from Vietnam-era veterans about their service records and existing records-related needs.
- • Develop and enhance collaborations around access and support across the spectrum of veterans records, such as personal, service, and medical records, between libraries, archives, veterans, and veteran service organizations.
- • Identify new opportunities to connect VeVs with support, including community, library, and veteran specific services.
The Louisiana State University School of Information Studies was awarded $91,430 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grants for Libraries as a planning grant under Goal 2 (Objective 2.2: Develop or enhance collaborations between libraries and stakeholders to address community needs) and NLGL Objective 1.2 (Improve community well-being through libraries and archives). For Virtual Footlocker Project 2 (VFP 2), Dr. Edward Benoit, III (Louisiana State University) and Dr. Heather Soyka (Kent State University) will serve as PIs. The VFP 2 project is a two-year planning project (August 2025- July 2027) that will develop an implementable program for LIS practitioners and Veteran Service Organizations to support Vietnam-era veterans (VeV) by creating, locating, and collecting records that document their time in service. While contemporary servicemembers have been encouraged to keep their own service records, previous generations did not have this same guidance.
Benoit, Edward, III, Soyka, Heather. “Virtual Footlocker Project 2: Supporting Vietnam-Era Veterans' Documentation of Their Military Record.” Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2025. $91,430 Funded.
Tinker-Telling Project: Using Libraries and Museums to Foster Computational Tinker-Telling for Young Children and Their Caregivers | Funded by the National Science Foundation, $837,170
Kathleen Campana, PhD - Associate Professor | Patsy H. Perritt Chair in Youth Services
The Tinker-Telling Project invites children ages four to eight to explore computational thinking through what they know best - stories, play, and hands-on tinkering. Using a creative “tinker-telling” approach, children engage with story-based challenges in libraries and museums, where they discover how to break down problems, test ideas, and build solutions using everyday materials. By blending imagination with exploration, the project makes early STEM learning joyful, accessible, and meaningful.
Working alongside informal educators and caregivers, the project team will co-design, test, and refine a practical, easy-to-use guidebook that shows how computational thinking can be taught through playful storytelling and tinkering across libraries, museums, and homes. Professional learning opportunities will support educators in these spaces, while caregivers will gain confidence and tools to continue these learning experiences at home. Research will examine how these experiences strengthen children’s computational thinking skills and dispositions, as well as how they build caregiver and educator capacity to support early STEM learning.
This National Science Foundation-funded project will:
- Support the development of computational thinking skills and positive STEM dispositions in young children
- Equip library and museum educators with engaging, research-based learning strategies
- Empower caregivers to nurture computational thinking at home using everyday materials
- Share an empirically tested guidebook nationally, with special attention to rural communities
By reaching families through trusted community spaces like libraries and museums, this project expands early access to computational thinking and helps lay the groundwork for future success in STEM education and careers.
National Science Foundation Award Description
The Impact of Rural Libraries in Louisiana: Driving Systemic Change and Building Collaborative Networks | Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, $389,974
Kristina Shiroma, PhD - Assistant Professor | Russell B. Long Professor
This project examines how rural librarians perceive the value of their services, how rurality shapes their professional experiences, and how they sustain library impact. Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with rural librarians across Louisiana, the study will employ a qualitative approach to center data within the lived experiences, expertise, and innovations of rural library professionals. The findings will directly inform the design and development of a collaborative support network aimed at strengthening professional connections, resource sharing, and statewide advocacy among rural libraries in Louisiana. Additionally, this research will advance academic discourse by applying an asset-based framework to rural librarianship, generating empirical data to inform best practices.
By aligning with the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program with the broader scope of the library and information science field, this study will make strides to push the national conversation to position rural libraries as essential drivers of systemic change within the field.
The project team’s work will be guided by these key research questions:
- How do librarians in rural Louisiana perceive and assess the value of their libraries’ services within their communities?
- In what ways does rurality impact the challenges and opportunities faced by librarians in rural Louisiana?
- How do librarians rural Louisiana sustain the impact of their libraries?
Shiroma, Kristina. “The Impact of Rural Libraries in Louisiana: Driving Systemic Change and Building Collaborative Networks.” Institute of Museum and Library Services, Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, Early Career Research Development Grant, 2025 – 2028. $389,974 Funded.
Smart Tech, Wise Elders: An Educational Partnership in Understanding AI Literacy with/for Rural Older Adults | Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, $393,233
Kristina Shiroma, PhD - Assistant Professor | Russell B. Long Professor
Smart Tech, Wise Elders: An Educational Partnership in Understanding AI Literacy with/for Rural Older Adults is a three-year Early Career Research Development project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (Goal 2, Objective 2.2). The project is supported by a grant of $393,233 to investigate factors influencing artificial intelligence (AI) literacy, perceptions, and adoption among rural older adults in Louisiana and to develop a sustainable, community-informed framework for AI literacy workshops tailored to this population.
As AI-driven technologies become increasingly embedded in healthcare delivery, older adults, particularly those living in rural communities, face compounded challenges related to digital access, health disparities, ageism, and limited representation in AI research and design. Little is known about how rural older adults understand, experience, and evaluate AI technologies. This knowledge gap limits the ability of healthcare providers, libraries, and community organizations to support informed and equitable engagement with AI-powered tools.
Using a community-based participatory research approach, the project will conduct in-depth, semi-structured interviews with approximately 100 rural older adults across selected Louisiana parishes. Interviews will explore participants’ experiences with AI, perceived benefits and risks, information needs, and preferred strategies for AI learning. Data will be analyzed using modified reflexive thematic analysis to ensure findings remain grounded in participants’ lived experiences and community contexts.
Project outcomes include peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations across aging, health, and information science disciplines, and the development of a replicable framework for AI literacy workshops delivered through rural libraries. By centering the voices and expertise of rural older adults, Smart Tech, Wise Elders aims to advance understanding of AI literacy as a critical component of health information literacy, strengthen the role of libraries as trusted learning spaces, and support equitable engagement with emerging AI technologies in rural communities.
Shiroma, Kristina. “Smart Tech, Wise Elders: An Educational Partnership in Understanding AI Literacy with/for Rural Older Adults.” Institute of Museum and Library Services, Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, Early Career Research Development Grant, 2025 – 2028. $393,233 Funded.