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Webinar: Multispecies Information Science: An Empathetic Vision for Peaceful Coexistence

Sponsored by: Middle East Chapter

From a multispecies perspective, a “good question” becomes: Who or what can be an “informant,” a “document,” or a “knower” in Library and Information Science (LIS)? This presentation addresses that question by introducing the multispecies movement to the Middle East Chapter community of ASIS&T. The proposed webinar builds on the historical chapter in Multispecies Information Science (Solhjoo, 2026), while simplifying, extending, and updating its arguments through the story of Solhjoo’s professional journey as a Middle Eastern information scholar. At its core, the presentation argues that the philosophy and practice of multispecies information science deserve wider visibility, as it lies at the heart of an empathetic, peaceful vision of coexistence in LIS, as an alternative to exclusion, conflict, and war.

Presenter

Niloofar Solhjoo
Niloofar Solhjoo is an early-career researcher originally from Iran and a Lecturer in Information Studies at the School of Information and Communication Studies, Charles Sturt University, Australia. She received her Doctor of Philosophy in Information Systems from the School of Information Management at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand (2024), and a Master of Information Management from the University of Tehran, Iran (2018). She developed an early passion for understanding others, expressed in childhood through writing letters to pen pals around the world and forming close connections with companion animals around her. Today, she studies information within the ecological layers of life that connect all living beings: humans, animals, and technologies. She is the editor of the volume Multispecies Information Science (2026). She has been involved with ASIS&T since 2019, as a member of SIG-USE and later as an officer of the Oceania Chapter between 2023 and 2025, and Chair-elect of SIG-USE in 2026. She has also served as a juror for the Best JASIST Paper Award since 2025.

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