Portrait of Saguna Shankar.

Saguna Shankar, Ph.D.

About Me

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Science at the University at Buffalo.

I study care for communities and their data, focusing on immigration and newcomer experiences, as well as climate and environmental action. I draw on traditions of information practice, information policy, intersectional care ethics, and critical sociotechnical research. My publication record is available from my Google Scholar profile or my ORCID record.

I currently teach courses on information policy and research methods.

I previously studied at the University of British Columbia (PhD in Library, Archival and Information Studies and Master of Library and Information Studies) and the University of London (Bachelor of Arts in English).

Research

My research explores data and information practices, with a focus on how these practices affect distinct communities. I approach this work through a critical lens, emphasizing the need for responsibility in how data and information are used, especially in contexts where the consequences of (in)action and (in)justice are significant and there is a need to reduce inequities. My scholarship centers two areas: climate and environmental action and immigration. In both areas, I use interpretive qualitative methods to examine how groups engage with data, information, and technology to understand their circumstances, negotiate conflicts and tensions, and express their visions of care. Across these research strands, I draw on feminist intersectional care ethics. I aim to strengthen connections between these ethical and theoretical frameworks, particularly within library and information science and science and technology studies.

Publications

Refereed Journal Articles

Shankar, S. & Nathan, L. P. (in press). Interdependence in information practices: Differences matter when caring for immigration data in Canada. Journal of Documentation.

Hands, A., & Shankar, S. (2025). Back from crisis mode: Exploring care-centered approaches to teaching in LIS. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 66 (1), 85–93. https://doi.org/10.3138/jelis-2024-0052

Tulloch, B. J., Kaczmarek, M., Shankar, S., & Nathan, L. P. (2024). When words are key: Negotiating meaning in information research. Journal of Documentation, 80(7), 187–205. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-05-2023-0103

Greyson, D., O’Brien, H., & Shankar, S. (2020). Visual analysis of Information World Maps: An exploration of four methods. Journal of Information Science, 46(3), 361–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551519837174

Shankar, S., O’Brien, H., & Absar, R. (2018). Rhythms of everyday life in mobile information seeking: Reflections on a photo-diary study. Library Trends, 66(4), 535–567. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2018.0016

Refereed Conference Papers

Mortada, H., Shankar, S., Pagan, S., & Dodson, S. (2025). An exploratory data analysis of keyword associations in LIS immigration scholarship. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 62(1), 1603–1605. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.1481

Shankar, S., & Nathan, L. P. (2022). Data care as conversation: A resource to support dialogue, decision making, and design activities that respect newcomer communities and their data. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 59(1), 791–793. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.728

See Sangam Cards in the Creative Works section.

Shankar, S. (2021). Coordinating migration: Caring for communities & their data. Proceedings of the Companion Publication of the Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, 295–298. https://doi.org/10.1145/3462204.3481798

dos Santos, R., Kaczmarek, M., Shankar, S., & Nathan, L. P. (2021). Who are we listening to? The inclusion of other-than-human participants in design. Proceedings of the Workshop on Computing within Limits, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.21428/bf6fb269.09f36751

Kaczmarek, M., Shankar, S., dos Santos, R., Meyers, E. M., & Nathan, L. P. (2020). Pushing LIMITS: Envisioning beyond the artifact. Proceedings of the International Conference on ICT for Sustainability, 255–266. https://doi.org/10.1145/3401335.3401367

Given, L., Julien, H., Oh, S., & Shankar, S. (2018). What does the future hold for the information associations? A panel with the presidents of ASIS&T, ALISE, and the Chair of iSchools Consortium. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 55(1), 677-679. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2018.14505501079

Greyson, D., O’Brien, H., & Shankar, S. (2018). (How) should Information World Maps be visually analyzed? Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 55(1), 817–818. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2018.14505501130

Kaczmarek, M., Shankar, S., & Nathan, L. (2018). Information practice, responsibility, and the ability to respond. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 55(1), 837–838. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2018.14505501138

Tulloch, B., Shankar, S., Kaczmarek, M., Hoff, A., & Nathan, L. (2018). iWords: Exploring the interdisciplinary vocabularies of information research. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 55(1), 913–914. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2018.14505501173

Shankar, S., O’Brien, H., How, E., Lu, Y., Mabi, M., & Rose, C. (2016). The Role of Information in the Settlement Experiences of Refugee Students. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 53(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2016.14505301141

Non-Refereed Publications

Harris, T. & Shankar, S. (2025). American drone surveillance & information policy implications. Proceedings of the Association for Library and Information Science Education Annual Conference. https://doi.org/10.21900/j.alise.2025.2024

Shankar, S. & Krull, H. (2024). Learning from community-based efforts toward interdependence and shared responsibility for climate and environmental justice. Proceedings of the Association for Library and Information Science Education Annual Conference. https://doi.org/10.21900/j.alise.2024.1725

Shankar, S. (2023). Caring for newcomer communities and their data: An inquiry into interdependence in information practices [Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia]. cIRcle. https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0429366

ALISE/The Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Award

ASIS&T Doctoral Dissertation Award

CAIS Doctoral Dissertation Award

Community-University Partnerships Working Group, University of British Columbia. (2019). Using memoranda of understanding for community-university partnerships [White paper].

Shankar, S., O’Brien, H., & Fields, E. (2018). The role of information in WUSC Scholar settlement experiences [White paper]. https://doi.org/10.14288/1.0378692

Refereed Conference Presentations

Julien, H., Abramovich, S., Burns, S., & Shankar, S. (2025). Artificial intelligence: Implications for the MLS curriculum and pedagogy. Proceedings of the Association for Library and Information Science Education Annual Conference. https://doi.org/10.21900/j.alise.2025.1938

Shankar, S. (2025, September 3–6). “Forgotten families in the Love Canal story”: Calling attention to disappearances, suppressions, and voids in environmental justice crises as data care work. [Paper presentation]. Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science, Seattle, Washington, United States.

Shankar, S. (2024, October 14–17). Caring for newcomer communities and their data: An inquiry into interdependence in information practices [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of the Association for Library and Information Science Education Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon, United States.

Shankar, S. (2023, November 8–11). “Useless housewife data”: Claims of usefulness and uselessness in community-grounded environmental justice initiatives [Paper presentation]. Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States.

Shankar, S. (2023, November 8–11). What’s the use of data? Epistemic authority and environmental injustice at Love Canal [Poster presentation]. Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States.

Sinnamon, L., Nathan, L. P., Shankar, S., Hansen, M., & Marshall, D. (2023, June 6–9). Deliberating climate action @ the library: Supporting sense making & meaning making in the midst of uncertainty and difference [Panel presentation]. Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Information Science. https://youtu.be/OKRIKNYUSXs

Kaczmarek, M., Tulloch, B., Shankar, S., Hoff, A., & Nathan, L. (2019, March 31–April 3). iStories: Reimagining the narratives of information research [Workshop]. iConference, Washington, DC, United States.

Shankar, S. (2017, September 14–15). Opportunities for knowledge translation in migration-related research in library and information studies [Paper presentation]. Diversity by Design Symposium, Toronto, Canada.

Creative Works

A draft of the Sangam Cards is freely available here (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Teaching

I aim to support students to better understand and influence sociotechnical change. In my teaching, I encourage students to consider the broader social contexts in which they want to live and work. In class we explore how power operates through students’ individual and disciplinary positions, as well as through the legacies and transformative potential of library and information science. I invite learners to reflect on what matters most to them and how their values shape their professional identities and practices. Assignments and discussions draw on theoretical and conceptual tools to make these accessible and relevant in emerging professionals’ work and in the communities they serve.

Current Courses

Course Typically Offered Syllabus

LIS 575 Introduction to Research Methods

 Fall and Spring Syllabus

LIS 580 Information Policy

 Fall Syllabus