Quantitative Study

Spatial Dynamics of Local News: Mapping City Co-Mentions in Alabama

This study investigates how the relationships between cities are represented in local news by analyzing co-mentions of cities in 31,004 news articles from Alabama. Using a large language model, we extract geographic references and construct co-mention networks that reflect both spatial proximity and symbolic connections. To interpret these links, we develop a classification framework of relationships between cities, including common impacts and sequential dynamics. Our preliminary analysis reveals that different news categories produce distinct patterns of spatial association.

Quantifying Urban Change across U.S. Cities using the 1930s Redlining Maps: A Preliminary Study

A wide range of studies has explored historical events and their long-term impacts, with urban redevelopment, particularly in the contexts of urban renewal, gentrification, and redlining, emerging as a rich area of research. However, despite extensive attention to its causes and consequences, quantifying how urban structures have changed over time remains methodologically challenging, as scanned historical maps contain visual noise and annotation.

From Open‑Ended Text to Taxonomy: An LLM‑based Framework for Information Sources for Disability Services

People with disabilities (PWD) and their family members often find it difficult to find information about available services. One of the approaches to address this information access problem is by understanding the ecology of available information sources. However, identifying the landscape of information sources is challenging due to the variety of sources and their varying visibility. This study proposes a computational approach to processing open-ended survey answers by constructing a hierarchical taxonomy of information sources.

News Deserts as Information Problems: A Case Study of Local News Coverage in Alabama

This paper explores the phenomenon of news deserts as information problems to navigate research opportunities and theorize its dynamics. Drawing on the theory of local information landscapes, news deserts are conceptualized as more than merely an absence of news organizations or content; rather, emphasizing the structural and material dimensions of local news ecosystems, such as fragmentation, transience, and inconsistent distribution. We argue that news deserts should be understood as material pre-conditions of people’s access, interpretation, and engagement with information.

SAFETI: Strategic Analysis for Fine-granular Injury and Fatality PrEvenTion Insight

SAFETI is the first Mason–DOLI Innovation Lab initiative that turns more than 15 years of detailed Virginia workplace-accident records into forward-looking, preventive insights. Using predictive models, the computational approach developed for SAFETI estimates the likelihood of a fatality occurring within a specific time frame and sector, along with its associated probability. This shift from reactive to preventive measures is enabled by advanced spatio-temporal and predictive analytics.

Bridging Traditional Digital Humanities and Archives through Computational Archival Science

As libraries and archives across the world are planning an increasingly digital records future, there is a critical need to strengthen digital and computational literacy and training for future librarians and archivists. Acute “skills and management gaps in libraries” have been recognised which highlight the need for greater automation in library work, the facilitation of computational research, and the need for library managers to understand and value the benefits of in-house data science skills.

2024 Assessment of Virginia’s Information Ecology of the Disability Services System

Access to disability services information depends on many factors, from an individual’s digital literacy, social connections and physical mobility to the interface design of websites. However, it is also true that the availability of disability services information (e.g., how to apply for a Medicaid Waiver) and how such information is managed and provided to end users in Virginia are also critical factors that shape people’s information access. This assessment focuses on understanding the latter, namely, the “information ecology” of disability services in Virginia.

Understanding Information Managers: A Thematic Analysis of Information Challenges of Disability Service Providers

This paper details an investigation into the information management challenges encountered by disability service providers. Prior research has mainly focused on understanding the information management challenges related to user records or internal organizational systems. However, this study posits that the information access patterns of disability services users are significantly influenced by their interactions with service providers’ information management practices in localized settings.

Examining the Shift in Political Inclination of Korean Middle School Language Textbooks between the Independence and the Korean War (1945–1953): A Network Modeling Approach

This study leverages network modeling methodologies to examine the distribution of political inclinations in Korean middle school language textbooks from 1945 to 1953. The textbooks included in this study are 82 textbooks, where 37 of which from the U.S. military government period (1945-1948), 30 of which from the South Korean government establishment period (1948-1950), and 15 of which from the wartime period (1950-1953).

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