1600 Woodland Road
Abington, PA 19001
Biography
Kevin has been the Head Librarian at Penn State Abington since March of 2023. He previously worked at the University of Colorado Denver, serving as the Education and Outreach Services Department Head for Auraria Library from 2018 to 2023, as well as being Auraria's First-Year Teaching and Learning Librarian from 2015 to 2018. Before that he was Library Instruction Coordinator at Colorado State University-Pueblo from 2011 to 2015 and a Library Operations Supervisor at Florida State University's Strozier Library from 2006 to 2011.
Research Interests
My research is focused on information literacy pedagogy and and algorithmic bias. I'm currently working on a project to apply the concept of hermeneutics (theory of interpretation) to automated systems of information evaluation. I'm researching this because libraries rely on a lot of "black box" algorithms, whose underlying logic is proprietary/hidden, to "interpret," evaluate, and rank search results. I'm interested in making that underlying logic more visible so that it can be contextualized and critiqued.
I'm also curious about how we can use the curriculum to raise awareness of this technology with undergraduate students, in the hopes of better equipping them to navigate an increasingly-automated world.
Publications
Seeber, Kevin and Rachel Stott. (2019). “‘Cannabis’ is a Blue State Word: Marijuana Decriminalization, Keyword Development, and Considering Political Contexts in Search Results.” ACRL 2019 Proceedings, 639-646.
Richter-Weikum, Erin and Kevin Seeber. (2018). “Library Experiences of Transfer Students at an Urban Campus.” Student Success, 9(2), 63-71. doi: 10.5204/ssj.v9i2.411.
Fisher, Zoe and Kevin Seeber. (2017). “Finding Foundations: A Model for Information Literacy Assessment of First-Year Students.” In the Library with the Lead Pipe. http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2017/finding-foundations-a-model-for-information-literacy-assessment-of-first-year-students/
Seeber, Kevin P. (2016). “The Failed Pedagogy of Punishment: Moving Discussions of Plagiarism Beyond Detection and Discipline.” In Nicole Pagowsky and Kelly McElroy (eds.), Critical Library Pedagogy Handbook, Volume 1, 131-138. Chicago: ACRL Press.
Pashia, Angela, Kevin Seeber, and Nancy Noe. (2015). “Just Say No: Empowering Ourselves and Our Expertise.” Proceedings of the 43rd Annual LOEX Conference. Ypsilanti, MI: Eastern Michigan University Library/LOEX Press.
Seeber, Kevin P. (2015). “This is Really Happening: Criticality and Discussions of Context in the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy.” Communications in Information Literacy, 9(2), 157-63.
Seeber, Kevin P. (2015). “Teaching ‘Format as a Process’ in an Era of Web-Scale Discovery.” Reference Services Review, 43(1), 19-30. doi: 10.1108/RSR-07-2014-0023.
Seeber, Kevin P. (2013). “Using Assessment Results to Reinforce Campus Partnerships.” College and Undergraduate Libraries, 30(3-4), 352-365. doi: 10.1080/10691316.2013.829366.
Education
MLIS, Information Studies, Florida State University
B.A., History, Florida State University
Papers and Presentations
Seeber, Kevin. “When was the Truth Era?: Post-Truth, Toxic Nostalgia, and the Library Fixation with Fake News.” Presentation at the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians, Vancouver, BC, June 2-4, 2019.
Fiedler, Brittany Paloma, Chelsea Heinbach, Kevin Seeber, Allison Carr, and Megan Welsh. “Transfer Student Success: Dismantling Deficit-Oriented Approaches.” Panel Presentation at the Association of College and Research Libraries Conference, Cleveland, OH, April 10-13, 2019.
Seeber, Kevin. “Teaching CRAAP to Robots: Artificial Intelligence, False Binaries, and Implications for Information Literacy.” Presentation at the Critical Librarianship and Pedagogy Symposium, Tucson, AZ, November 15-16, 2018.
Seeber, Kevin and Erin Richter-Weikum. “Library Experiences of Transfer Students at an Urban Commuter Campus.” Presentation at the 24th National Conference on Students in Transition, Costa Mesa, CA, October 21-23, 2017.
Pagowsky, Nicole, Kevin Seeber, Dave Ellenwood, James Elmborg, Yasmin Sokkar Harker, and Greg Carr. “Authority is Constructed and Contextual: A Critical View.” Panel Presentation at the American Library Association Annual Conference, Orlando, FL, June 23-28, 2016.
Seeber, Kevin, Jessica Critten, Nicole Pagowsky, and Dani Rowland. “Critical Foundations: Intersections Between Critical Librarianship and First-Year Experience.” Panel Presentation at Library Instruction West, Salt Lake City, UT, June 8-10, 2016.
Critten, Jessica and Kevin Seeber. “My Lens, Myself: A Hermeneutics of Information Literacy.” Keynote Presentation at the California Conference on Library Instruction, San Francisco, CA, April 29, 2016.
Seeber, Kevin. “It’s Not a Competition: Questioning the Rhetoric of ‘Scholarly Versus Popular’ in Library Instruction.” Presentation at the Critical Librarianship and Pedagogy Symposium, Tucson, AZ, Feburary 25-26, 2016.
Critten, Jessica and Kevin Seeber. “Process, Not Product: Teaching and Assessing the Critical Process of Information Literacy.” Panel Presentation at the Association of College and Research Libraries Conference, Portland, OR, March 25-28, 2015.
Seeber, Kevin. “How It Got Here: Teaching ‘Format as Process’ in an Era of Web-Scale Discovery.” Presentation at Library Instruction West, Portland, OR, July 23-25, 2014.
Seeber, Kevin and Jessica Critten. “Building an Instruction Arsenal: Using Standardized Elements to Streamline Class Planning and Ease Student Learning Assessment Across the Curriculum.” Panel Presentation at the Association of College and Research Libraries Conference, Indianapolis, IN, April 10-13, 2013.
Seeber, Kevin. “They Should Probably Hear About This: Using Instruction Assessment Results to Build Partnerships on Campus.” Presentation at the Colorado Association of Libraries Annual Conference, Keystone, CO, October 18-20, 2012.