denise_agosto

Denise
Agosto

Professor of Library and Information Science

Faculty

Office:
Alexander Library 408D
EMAIL:
dagosto@comminfo.rutgers.edu
OFFICE HOURS:
WEB LINKS:
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Denise Agosto studies young people’s use of information and information technologies, the role of social context in shaping youths’ information practices, and public library services. She uses qualitative research methods with young people in public libraries and other informal and formal educational settings to learn about their information behaviors and preferences.

ORCiD

Education

Rutgers University
Ph.D., Library and Information Science

The University of Texas at Austin
MLIS, Library and Information Science

Georgetown University
BS, Linguistics and Portuguese

Research

The goal of Agosto’s research is to develop a better understanding of young people’s information behaviors and practices. Core values of this work include:

  • A youth-centered approach that posits young people as the experts of their own behaviors and preferences.
  • The perspective of researcher as interpreter, learning from research participants about their information behaviors and preferences, and reframing what they learn for key stakeholder audiences (librarians, teachers, parents, and policy makers).
  • The belief that power and privilege underlie all human information practices and the information systems that humans design to support them. Thoughtful scholarship can bring greater recognition of information inequities and, in the longer term, lead to a more equitable global information society.

Research Groups

Funded Projects

2022 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award, 2022-23 academic year, from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Research conducted at the School of Information Science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Lin, X., Greenberg J., Agosto, D. E., Yan, E., & Poole, A. H. Integrating Community-Based Learning with LIS Education. Project sponsor: The Institute for Museum & Library Services (IMLS), $276,895. Funding period: July 2019 - June 2022.

Willett, R., Agosto, D. E., & Abbas, J. Navigating Screens: Libraries as Community Hubs for Teaching Positive Screen Media Practices. Project sponsor: The Institute for Museum & Library Services (IMLS), $524,874. Funding period: October 2017 - September 2021.

Agosto, D. E., & Abbas, J. A New Role for Libraries: Promoting Teens' Safety and Security in the Digital Age. Project sponsor: OCLC/ALISE, $15,000. Funding period: January 2014–December 2014.

Agosto, D. E., & Forte, A. Libraries and the Social Web: Developing the Next Generation of Youth Information Services. Project sponsor: The Institute for Museum & Library Services (IMLS), $378,014. Funding period: December 2011–November 2014. Project website: http://youthonline.ischool.drexel.edu/.

Abels, E., Agosto, D. E., Mon, L., & Holland, M. A Virtual Learning Laboratory for Digital Reference: Transforming the Internet Public Library. Project sponsor: The Institute for Museum & Library Services (IMLS), $613,478. Funding period: July 2007 - June 2010.

Abels, E., Agosto, D. E., & Mon, L. Remote Reference in Practice and in the Classroom. ALISE Research Grant Competition, 2007, $5,000. Funding period: January – December 2007.

Agosto, D. E., & Hughes-Hassell, S. Everyday Life Information Seeking Behavior of Urban Young Adults. Project sponsor: The Institute for Museum & Library Services (IMLS), $233,056. Funding period: October 2002- September 2005.

Research Assistant for Leading Young Women to the Sciences and Technology, Part II. PI: Ellen Mappen, Douglass Project, Rutgers. Project sponsor: Toyota Foundation, USA, $185,000. Funding period: 1999-2002.

Selected Publications

Pereira Domingues, R. B., & Agosto, D. E. (2024). Challenges and opportunities of the misinformation society: Youth librarianship as conscious social action. In A. Bernier & S. Lee (Eds.), Young Adult Library Services: Challenges and Opportunities. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Agosto, et al. (2024). “We were beaten down”: Parents’ concerns about children’s digital media use. Proceedings of the 87th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Oct 25 – 29, 2024. Calgary, AB, Canada.

Agosto, D. E., Magee, R. M., Dickard, M., & Forte, A. (2016). Teens, technology, and libraries: An uncertain relationship. Library Quarterly, 86, 248-269.

Agosto, D. E., & Oltmann, S. M. (2022). The complexity of teaching and learning about mis- and disinformation. Information and Learning Sciences, 122(1/2).

Agosto, D. E., Abbas, J., & Naughton, R. (2012). Relationships and social rules: Teens’ social network and other ICT selection practices. Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, 63(6), 1108-1124.

Awards & Recognitions

Association of Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) Distinguished Member, 2023-2028

ASIS&T SIG-USE Outstanding Contributions to Information Behavior Research Award from the Information Needs, Seeking, and Use Special Interest Group (SIG USE) of the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T), 2018

ASIS&T Thomson Reuters Outstanding Information Science Teacher of the Year Award, 2015

ALISE Award for Teaching Excellence in the Field of Library and Information Science Education, 2011

Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award, Drexel University, 2007

Research Keywords