Profile for Mike Olson

Mike Olson, Murphy Library, received the Editors' Choice award at the 57th Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association on Nov. 2 in Aguascalientes, Mexico. His paper "Learning Machines: Artist Keith Walsh's Critical Visual Literacy in Activism" will be published as a book chapter by Purdue University Press in 2026.

Submitted on: Nov. 24

Mike Olson, Murphy Library, presented "Zines as Critical Visual Literacy: Student Agency, Slow Craft, and Scholarly Remix" at the Association of College and Research Libraries Image Resources Discussion Group Fall Meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 19 online. This lightning talk explored zines as sites of critical visual literacy in academic libraries, both as student-created research and remixed scholarly artifacts. Drawing from the Zine Reading Room at Murphy Library, Olson shared how students use handmade, multimodal formats to explore identity, authority and representation. He also discussed his practice of transforming his published scholarship on the visual strategies of artist-activists into zines that circulate at zine fests, traded to build a dynamic teaching collection centering marginalized voices. This dual approach of students as makers, of scholars as remixers, invites discussion on how zine pedagogy expands visual and information literacy in the age of generative media, offering materiality and intentionality as counterpoints to instant image production.

Submitted on: Nov. 19

Mike Olson, Murphy Library, presented "Zine Librarianship in the Undercommons: Memory, Labor, and Resistance" at Staple + Stitch Art Book + Print Fair on Nov. 15 in Chicago, Illinois. Olson brought together library workers who create, collect, and circulate zines as tools of resistance. How can zine collections subvert institutional norms? What does it mean to center the undercommons in academic settings (is it even possible)? What tensions arise when radical materials enter the stacks? Panelists April Sheridan (School of the Art Institute of Chicago), Cynthia Hanifin (Zine Club Chicago and South Side Zine Library), Savannah Carr (UW–Madison Information School), and Oscar Arriola (Chicago Public Library and ZINEmercado) explored zine libraries as political acts, and what they teach us about access, labor, and memory.

Submitted on: Nov. 17

Mike Olson, Murphy Library, presented "Zines in Hostile Climates" at Zine Librarians unConference on Nov. 8 online. From budget cuts to political pressure, zines are helping us resist, rebuild and reimagine. Olson shared how he's using zines at Murphy Library to challenge institutional norms, support independent creators and foster critical conversations across campus, focusing on how zines can be tools for change in our libraries and communities.

Submitted on: Nov. 10

Mike Olson, Murphy Library, presented "Exploring AI, Ethics, and Guiding Principles for Libraries" at Minitex Technical Services Symposium 2025: Navigating Uncharted Waters on Nov. 3 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Olson joined Hannah Scates Kettler, head of Digital Scholarship & Initiatives at Iowa State University and Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Cataloging Policies and Practices librarian at the University of Minnesota Libraries, for this plenary session sharing their perspectives on artificial intelligence (AI) and how they are approaching it in their work. Topics and initiatives explored included AI’s implications for technical services and cataloging work, the Responsible AI in Libraries and Archives project and its new toolkit to support ethical decision-making for AI projects, and the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) Task Group on AI and Machine Learning for Cataloging and Metadata, including its guiding principles and recent work.

Submitted on: Nov. 4

Mike Olson, Murphy Library, authored the article "Error as insight: AI hallucinations and the pedagogical possibilities of generative visual misrepresentation" in the Journal of Visual Literacy, which was accepted for publication by Taylor & Francis. This theoretical article reimagines AI-generated visual errors - “hallucinations” - as powerful teaching tools. By analyzing how these glitches expose biases in dominant visual systems, the paper highlights their potential to foster critical visual literacy in the age of algorithmic image-making.

Submitted on: Oct. 29

Mike Olson, Murphy Library, was interviewed by the Disrupted Science podcast on Wednesday, Oct. 22. The conversation explores how AI-driven changes in library infrastructure threaten the human expertise essential to metadata creation and reliable information discovery. The interview raises critical questions about library labor, automation and the role of librarians in resisting extractive tech practices.

Submitted on: Oct. 22

Mike Olson, Murphy Library, authored the article "Beyond Classification: The Human Cost of Library and Information Labor Under Digital Capitalism" in "The Scholary Kitchen," published on Tuesday, Aug. 26 by The Society for Scholarly Publishing. The article critiques the growing erosion of cataloging labor in libraries, driven by vendor consolidation, AI automation, and the commercialization of higher education. Through examples like OCLC layoffs and AI-driven discovery tools that suppress sensitive topics, it explores how human expertise in organizing knowledge is being replaced by systems that prioritize corporate control and algorithmic efficiency over scholarly integrity. It argues that protecting this labor is essential for preserving democratic access to information.

Submitted on: Aug. 26

Mike Olson, Murphy Library, authored the article "Classification as Colonization: The Hidden Politics of Library Catalogs" in "The Scholary Kitchen," published on Wednesday, March 26 by The Society for Scholarly Publishing. The article discusses how library classification systems can perpetuate colonial biases and power dynamics. It explores the ways in which these systems, often rooted in Western-centric perspectives, can marginalize non-Western knowledge and cultural expressions. The article argues for a critical examination and restructuring of library catalogs to promote inclusivity and equity in information organization.

Submitted on: Mar. 26

Mike Olson, Murphy Library, presented "Critical Visual Literacy in Activism: Artist Keith Walsh's Political Infographics - Illuminating Social Histories" at 'Illuminating Perspectives,' the 56th Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA) on Nov. 4 online. This presentation demonstrated the potential of critical visual literacy in activism through the powerful political infographics of Artist Keith Walsh, whose heavily researched, labor-intensive drawings invite the eye, making visible often obscured social and political histories while igniting critical visual engagement with socio-political issues. Drawing on the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Framework for Visual Literacy in Higher Education and the theoretical framework of Drucker's Graphesis, the presentation examined the critical choices made to create meaning in visual communications, illuminating the potential of critical visual literacy in activist art as a knowledge generator and learning machine, as well as a powerful catalyst for fostering political awareness and driving social change.

Submitted on: Nov. 11, 2024