Dr. Michele A. L. Villagran will be presenting her paper at the 11th Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference (QQML 2019). The conference is hosted at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy, at 28 – 31 May, 2019.

Her research examines the cultural intelligence in special librarians around the world, in order to understand the perspective of these information professionals. Cultural intelligence is defined as the capability of an individual to function effectively across various cultural settings. The population used for this study is information professionals who currently work in a specialized setting, such as business, government, and academic library or information centers around the world. This research creates an opportunity for information professionals, specifically special librarians, to deepen their understanding of cultural intelligence and to apply it within their own departments and communities. Cultural intelligence goes beyond only one cultural context (i.e., race or gender); as it predicts one’s effectiveness working across many different cultural situations. It is a set of transferable skills that we can improve upon and is a way to assess our own ability to engage across cultural boundaries. Cultural intelligence changes how we think about issues of diversity, racism, stereotypes, culture and identity.

Presenter: Dr. Michelle A. L. Villagran
Date: Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Time: 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. (Central European Standard Time)
Location: European University Institute Via della Badia dei Roccettini, 9, 50014 Fiesole FI, Italy