Letters from Tokyo, 1950–1956
Michael Buckland
In 1950 the American Library Association sent our alumnus Robert Gitler ’31 to Japan on a vague mission to establish a library school. With a modest grant and great dedication he rather improbably succeeded and today his Japan Library School flourishes at Keio University, Tokyo. Last year two trunks bought at a yard sale were found to contain 900 letters to his mother candidly describing his daily adventures.
I will also report on problems and progress replacing the former ASIST “Pioneers” webpages with a Wikipedia-format historical biographical directory with international coverage.
Student Progress Reports
This session will conclude with two brief student progress reports:
Impact of Climate Change on Food Insecurity and Micronutrient Deficiencies in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Kui Cai
This report examines how climate change intensifies food insecurity and micronutrient deficiencies in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It discusses soil degradation, disrupted agricultural systems, and limited healthcare infrastructure, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable interventions to combat malnutrition and health challenges.
Error and Robustness of AI Text Detection Methods
Michael Wang
As the capabilities of state-of-the-art LLMs become more and more powerful, the challenge of detecting AI generated text also becomes increasingly difficult. Research in this field has yielded several promising methods, while also raising concerns about error and robustness. These concerns must be addressed and resolved to enable practical and reliable applications of AI text detection.
This seminar will be held both online & in person. You are welcome to join us either in South Hall or via Zoom.
For online participants
Online participants must have a Zoom account and be logged in. Sign up for your free account here. If this is your first time using Zoom, please allow a few extra minutes to download and install the browser plugin or mobile app.
Michael Buckland is emeritus professor in the School of Information and co-director of the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative. He grew up in England and studied history at Oxford and librarianship at Sheffield University. He trained at the Bodleian Library in Oxford and moved to the University of Lancaster Library in 1965. In 1972, Buckland moved to the United States to be Assistant Director of Libraries for Technical Services at Purdue University Libraries before becoming Dean of the School of Library and Information Studies at Berkeley from 1976 to 1984. He served from 1983 to 1987 as Assistant Vice President for Library Plans and Policies for the nine campuses of the University of California. Professor Buckland’s interests include bibliography, library services, search and discovery, cultural heritage, and the history and theory of documentation.
Contact
If you have questions about this event, please contact Michael Buckland.
