People
Karen Kaufmann
Assistant Professor of Instruction
CONTACT
Office: CIS 2027
Email
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BIO
Dr. Karen F. Kaufmann joined the USF iSchool in August 2023 as an Assistant Professor of Instruction with a focus on information literacy, user relevance, user information experience, and the intersection of theory and practice in information science.
Dr. Kaufmann brings over twelve years of academic librarianship and teaching experience to inform her research interests. Her research interests include information literacy, user relevance, user information experience, and the role of the academic library in supporting transfer students. The intersection of research informing practice, and practice informing research is a space that is especially poignant for information literacy and related information studies. This extends to the complex nature of information literacy as transdisciplinary and evidenced across disciplines. Her doctoral work investigated the "The Socio-Cognitive Relevance of Information Literacy: The Impact on Student Academic Work". The thesis was awarded one of the 2017 Beta Phi Mu Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships. Current research and writing projects include a cross-institutional study of the impact of information literacy instruction, a book chapter about my experiences as a self-directed doctoral student, and the co-editor of a book project about information literacy as a discipline (Facet Publishing) and co-leader of the international Information Literacy is a Discipline (ILIAD) group. Kaufmann is co-author of the book "Supporting Transfer Student Success: The Essential Role of College and University Libraries", published in 2021 by Libraries Unlimited, ABC-CLIO. Her research, publications and presentations reflect her interest in information ecologies and the international scope of information science and information literacy.
ORCID
EDUCATION
- Ph.D., Queensland University of Technology
- MLIS, University of South Florida
- B.S., West Virginia Wesleyan
- B.A., West Virginia Wesleyan
Recent Publications & Research
- Kaufmann, K. F. (2026, June 8). Information, happiness & the science of happiness: The impact of recognizing information literacy as a discipline. Information Matters https://informationmatters.org/2026/06/information-happiness-the-science-of-happiness-the-impact-of-recognizing-information-literacy-as-a-discipline/
- Kaufmann, K. F. & Maybee, C. (2026). The Information Literacy Handbook: Charting the Discipline. London: Facet Publishing.
- Kaufmann, K.F. & Maybee, C. (2025). Decolonizing the discipline of information literacy. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science. 2025 ALISE conference proceedings. https://doi.org/10.21900/j.alise.2025.2025
- Kaufmann, K. F. (2025). A strong chord. In A.S. Hands & S. Buchanan (Eds). The self-determined doctorate: Perspectives on leading the doctoral journey (pp. 30-47). Brill Publishing. doi:10.1163/9789004744431_003
- Kaufmann, K.F. & Maybee, C. (2024). Information Literacy: Celebrating 50 years! Florida Libraries (66)3, p. 24-28. https://journals.flvc.org/flalib/article/view/139216
- Trnka, R.E., Kaufmann, K.F. & Miller, K. (2024). Two Academic Libraries, One Study: Using Project Outcome for Assessment and Advocacy across Partner Institutions (Chapter 5). Gena Parsons-Diamond (Ed.)Assessment and Advocacy: Using Project Outcome for Academic Libraries Association of College and Research Libraries, ALA. p. 59-72.
- Maybee, C., Kaufmann, K., Tucker, V., & Budd, J. (2023). Recognizing information literacy as a discipline: Reflections on an ACRL panel discussion. College and Research Libraries News, 84(10), 364-368. Available at https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/26111.
- Miller, K., Kaufmann, K.F., & Trnka, R.E. (2023). Measuring outcomes: Information literacy instruction assessment in a cross-institutional study. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 49(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2023.102796.
- Reed, K.N., Kester, B., Kaufmann, K.F., Homol, L., Crampsie, C. (2022). Crisis Librarianship: An Examination of Online Librarianship Roles in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, (48)4, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0099133322000465.
- Kaufmann, K.F. (2022). The “Real World” Relevance of Information Literacy: Part 2 – The Factors that Make Information Literacy Relevant in a Post-truth Era. In: Kurbanoğlu, S., Špiranec, S., Ünal, Y., Boustany, J., Kos, D. (eds) Information Literacy in a Post-Truth Era. ECIL 2021. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1533. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99885-1_38.
- Nuhn, P. & Kaufmann K.F. (2021). Supporting Transfer Student Success: The essential role of college and university libraries. Libraries Unlimited
- Kaufmann, K., & Miller, C. (2020). Seamless Virtual Service: An Academic Library Response to COVID-19. Qualitative And Quantitative Methods In Libraries, 67-93.