Information Science Research Team

The Information Science Team operates within the Media Research Centre, drawing on the research capacity of the Department of Information Management at the Institute of Information Sciences, UKEN. Its activities address issues at the intersection of information science, media studies, press studies, information architecture, user experience design, and research into the social and institutional consequences of digital technology development.

Head: Władysław Marek Kolasa, PhD, DSc, Associate Professor at UKEN

CURRENT RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

The most important area of the Team’s current activity concerns transformations in media, journalism, and knowledge infrastructure resulting from the development of artificial intelligence. Research examines generative AI as a tool for creating, processing, selecting, and disseminating information, as well as its impact on journalistic practices, social communication, and the operation of institutions responsible for organising and providing access to knowledge.

An important research strand concerns disinformation and information credibility. The Team analyses AI-generated content, the ability of audiences to recognise false information, and the capabilities and limitations of automated fact-checking tools. Its research also addresses the use of artificial intelligence in editorial processes, the social consequences of communication automation, and the ethical conditions governing the application of new technologies in the media.

The Team also studies communication on social media platforms, particularly conflict-related mediaspheres, communication strategies, content distribution mechanisms, and the influence of algorithms on content visibility and reception. This work employs digital research methods, including data architecture, web scraping, application programming interfaces, and procedures for acquiring, standardising, and analysing large multilingual datasets.

These activities are presented on the website of the project “Media and Journalism in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”.

A second key area is the impact of artificial intelligence on scientific libraries and knowledge infrastructure. Research covers digital resource management models, institutional repositories, digital libraries, current research information systems (CRIS), digitisation, metadata standards, and the long-term preservation and accessibility of resources. Particular attention is devoted to the potential use of large language models in semantic search, full-text exploration, metadata enrichment and quality control, and the handling of natural-language queries.

This research considers the perspectives of users, creators of descriptions and data, and curators responsible for the quality, accessibility, and long-term preservation of resources. Its premises and results are documented on the website of the project “Scientific Libraries and Knowledge Infrastructure in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”.

OTHER AREAS OF ACTIVITY

The Team continues research on scientific information, scholarly communication, bibliometrics and scientometrics, the history of the press, and contemporary media studies. Topics include the Polish press, regional and local media, scholarly periodicals, media for children and young people, and intellectual property in digital communication.

The Team’s activities also encompass information architecture, information behaviour, user experience design, metaphors in information ecosystems, UX/UI design, digital learning environments, microlearning, digital accessibility, e-learning, and document processing technologies. Research is combined with university teaching, the development of early-career researchers, and cooperation with Polish and international research centres and knowledge-infrastructure institutions.

TEAM MEMBERS

dr Adam Bańdo, mgr Piotr Bukański, mgr Milena Gajewska, mgr Weronika Gorajczyk, dr Bożena Jaskowska, dr hab. Władysław Marek Kolasa, prof. UKEN (Head), dr Sabina Kwiecień, dr hab. Michał Rogoż, prof. UKEN, mgr inż. Emanuel Studnicki.