Anita Crescenzi

Anita Crescenzi is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, holding primary appointment in the School of Data Science and Society and a secondary appointment in the School of Information and Library Science (SILS). Her research focuses on understanding how individuals use information systems (e.g., search engines, AI tools) to support decision-making, learning, and problem-solving, with particular emphasis on time constraints, metacognitive regulation, and FAIR data practices. She also investigates methodological issues in measuring search and learning outcomes.

Dr. Crescenzi holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Information Science from UNC-Chapel Hill and a B.S. in Secondary Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to academia, she worked as Head of Application Development and User Experience Librarian at the UNC Health Sciences Library and as a User Experience Analyst at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.

Her work bridges human-centered design of information systems, cognitive science principles, and empirical research methodologies. Recent studies explore tool-assisted metacognition during exploratory search (e.g., the OrgBox system), realism in information retrieval experiments, and FAIR data implementation in pharmacy education. She actively contributes to interdisciplinary dialogues through conference leadership (e.g., ECRs4IR Roundtable) and collaborative research initiatives.