Rate My Professor Karen Kaufmann

Dr. Karen F. Kaufmann serves as Assistant Professor of Instruction in the School of Information at the University of South Florida, a position she assumed in August 2023. She holds a Ph.D. in Information Science from the Queensland University of Technology/San Jose State University Gateway Ph.D. program (2019), with a dissertation entitled "Sociocognitive relevance of information literacy: The impact on student academic work," which was awarded the 2017 Beta Phi Mu Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. Her other degrees include an M.A. in Library and Information Science from the University of South Florida (2010), and a B.S. in Business Management and B.A. in Fashion Merchandising from West Virginia Wesleyan College (1982). Bringing more than twelve years of academic librarianship and teaching experience, Kaufmann previously served as Faculty Librarian for Research & Instruction and Adjunct Professor at Seminole State College of Florida since 2013 and 2010, respectively. In these roles, she provided information literacy instruction across disciplines, offered research consultations, liaised with faculty in business, social sciences, and health sciences, managed library services, and contributed to collection development and student success initiatives, particularly for transfer students.

Kaufmann's research specializations encompass information literacy, user relevance, user information experience, the intersection of theory and practice in information science, and the role of academic libraries in supporting transfer students. Key publications include the co-authored book "Supporting Transfer Student Success: The Essential Role of College and University Libraries" (2021, Libraries Unlimited, with P. Nuhn) and co-editorship of the forthcoming "The Information Literacy Handbook: Charting the Discipline" (Facet Publishing, with C. Maybee). Recent articles feature "Measuring outcomes: Information literacy instruction assessment in a cross-institutional study" (2023, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, with K. Miller and R.E. Trnka), "Recognizing information literacy as a discipline: Reflections on an ACRL panel discussion" (2023, College & Research Libraries News, with C. Maybee, V. Tucker, and J. Budd), and "Information Literacy: Celebrating 50 years!" (2024, Florida Libraries, with C. Maybee). As co-leader of the international Information Literacy is a Discipline (ILIAD) group, she advances the recognition of information literacy as a transdisciplinary field through editorial contributions, presentations, and collaborative research projects.