Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies News

Rachel Fundator named a 2025 Project Information Literacy Research Scholar

February 26th, 2025

Rachel Fundator, clinical assistant professor at Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies, was named a 2025 Project Information Literacy Research Scholar. The Research Scholars program is organized by Project Information Literacy (PIL), a renowned non-profit research institute that conducts large-scale studies about how individuals conceive of and use information to solve problems in their lives. Since 2009, PIL has published studies about information use, including tracking news coverage during the first 100 days of the COVID-19 pandemic, student experiences with news and information in the age of algorithms, and how recent college graduates use information in the workplace.

Founder Alison J. Head developed the Research Scholars Program for mid-career librarians to advance their research practices while developing research projects that build upon PIL research studies within a collaborative, cross-institutional research community. The 2025 Research Scholars cohort will design new research studies that build upon PIL’s latest study, titled “How information worlds shape our response to climate change.” The study found that despite a growing consensus that climate change is real and that the United States population is experiencing extreme climate events more frequently, differences in people’s engagement with information about climate change are  associated with differences in their beliefs and attitudes about how to respond to climate change.

Fundator shared her early plans for her research proposal, in which she will work with Purdue undergraduate researchers to conduct a study that addresses remaining questions that emerged from the PIL climate study findings:

“Through the PIL Research Scholars program, I aim to develop a qualitative interview study that investigates the experiences of college students who are knowledgeable and concerned about climate change as they engage in dialog about climate change with others who have different views than their own. As an information literacy researcher and educator, I of course want to know more about the various ways college students use information to have these conversations, as well as how those information practices shape their perceptions that the conversations are productive or unproductive. Knowing more about how information can shape conversations about sensitive topics, like the climate crisis, can inform recommendations for incorporating information literacy into relevant courses, climate change related organizations and programs, and more.”

Fundator will work closely with information literacy experts Alison Head, Kirsten Hotstetler, and Stephan Geofry, who developed and facilitate the Research Scholars program, as well as fellow PIL Research Scholars, Heather Ganshorn  at the University of Calgary and Stephanie Founds  at The Ohio State University.