MSU researchers receive grant to build ‘algorithmic awareness’ as form of digital literacy

The MSU Library received a $50,000 grant for “Unpacking the Algorithms That Shape our User Experience.”

Individuals’ experiences online are increasingly shaped by algorithms, but there is little awareness of how those algorithms work, according to researchers at Montana State University.

“Most of us routinely engage in systems that predict, recommend and speculate about our interests based on the digital fingerprint we provide with our link clicks and ‘likes,’ but we all struggle understanding how and why those systems work as they do,” said Jason Clark, associate professor and head of Special Collections and Archival Informatics at Montana State University.