Integrating Data Literacy into Technology Governance Frameworks: A University Case Study

Thursday, October 01, 2026 | 9:30AM–10:30AM MT
Session Type: Poster Session
Delivery Format: Poster Session
Across higher education—and increasingly within large academic libraries—institutions have developed technology governance structures to guide investments through inclusive cross-functional decision-making. At the same time, growing financial pressures and institutional risk have accelerated attention to data literacy and data governance. Yet these efforts often evolve separately, creating gaps in how data is understood, interpreted, and applied in technology-enabled decisions. This session shares a university library's journey to intentionally integrate data literacy into an established technology governance framework. Over the past decade, the library expanded governance structures originally developed for major system implementations and applied them to broader initiatives such as digital platform modernization and website redesign. With an explicit focus on data literacy, the model further evolved to treat data as a first-class consideration, including embedding assessment and user experience expertise within the technology team. Participants will leave with practical strategies and governance patterns they can adapt to align technology governance with data literacy efforts at their own institutions

Presenters

  • Hong Ma

    Senior Associate Dean, Head of Library Systems, Loyola University Chicago

  • Alexis Pearson-Kern

    User Experience and Assessment Librarian, Loyola University Chicago