Lili Luo

Lili Luo is a Professor at the School of Information, San José State University. She has been a full-time faculty member since 2007, progressing from Lecturer to Assistant, Associate, and now full Professor. She also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2005 to 2007.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Library and Information Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2007)
• Master in Information Management, Peking University, China (2003)
• B.A. in Economics & Library Science, Peking University, China (2000)

Research Interests: Dr. Luo’s research centers on academic librarianship, health information services, research methods in LIS, reference services, information literacy, and pedagogy. Recently, she has focused on generative AI in libraries, AI literacy, and the impact of the pandemic on information behavior. She is the lead instructor for the Institute for Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL), a national program to train academic librarians in research methods.

Recent Research Trends: Her recent publications reveal a strong focus on health information in public and academic libraries, research methodology, and the evolving role of libraries in the digital and AI era. She has conducted empirical studies on librarians’ use of AI, AI literacy initiatives in academic libraries, and health information needs of diverse populations.

Scientific Contributions:

• Co-author of Enhancing library and information research skills: A guide for academic librarians
• Maintains a research and teaching blog: Formalized Curiosity
• Active contributor to LIS literature in journals such as College & Research Libraries, Library Quarterly, and Journal of Academic Librarianship
• Principal investigator on IMLS-funded projects assessing scholarly communication programs

Advising and Grants: Dr. Luo has advised student research projects and served as a faculty advisor for the CPGE Online Student Conference at SJSU. She has been involved in federally funded research projects, including an IMLS grant on assessing scholarly communication programs, where she provided methodological expertise in data collection and analysis.

Labs and Teams: She is a key member of the Institute for Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL) team and has collaborated on national research initiatives involving multiple institutions. She has also led research teams on studies related to pandemic impacts, AI literacy, and health information services.