Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Yonsei University
Vice President, Korean Library Association
Director, Academic Library Research Institute (2019– )
Vice President, Korean Library Association (July 2025– )
Member, Presidential Committee on Library and Information Policy (3rd term: 2011; 6th term: 2018)

Director of the Institute for Globally Engaged Librarianship at the University of Kansas Libraries, where he develops international partnerships, programs, and exchange programs. From 2010-2025 he served as founding co-director of KU’s Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities

Between Kazakhstan and Kansas: Library Collaboration Across Steppe and Plains
At a moment when international collaboration is increasingly shaped by unequal infrastructures, shifting political conditions, and limited resources, how do academic libraries continue to build meaningful connections across borders? This talk explores that question through the lens of the author’s work with the Institute for Globally Engaged Librarianship at the University of Kansas and its collaborations with partners across Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
The talk examines how cross-border work takes shape through concrete practices: visiting scholar exchanges, workshops and conferences, collaborative digital projects, and institutional partnerships. It highlights how these efforts are shaped not only by shared goals, but also by disparities in funding, technologies, and institutional capacity, which affect who is able to participate and on what terms.
The talk argues that library-based international collaboration is less a set of tools or programs than an ongoing practice of relationship-building amid unequal conditions. Libraries, in this sense, are not only places that organize and provide access to knowledge, but also institutions that help sustain trust, continuity, and long-term connection.
Drawing on examples from work across different global regions, the talk reflects on what it means to sustain collaboration across distance today—and how the concept of the “steppe and plains” can help us think about shared landscapes of knowledge work that are distinct yet connected.

School library specialist with 20 years in the international school sector, working in Australia, NZ, Vietnam, UK, and the UAE. Founding board member of the UAE School Librarians Association. Elected to the Joint Committee IFLA/IASL School Libraries Section. Awarded UAE School Librarian of the Year 2020 by the Emirates Literature Foundation.

AI Accidents - academic intervention and plagiarism prevention
People are either infatuated with how to use AI better and faster, or they are obsessed over the spanner it has thrown into the workings of school assessment, but the real problem is how students (& teachers) mis-understand the fundamental technology that underpins AI. Their lack of understanding often leads to ‘accidental plagiarism’ and unfortunately the consequences can be grave, the loss of a grade or worse. This workshop explains the most common mis-steps that students make, and explains how school Librarians are well positioned to intervene by teaching the skills they need to recover and protect themselves in the future. It will also address the strength & weaknesses of AI detection software. Finally, ethical practices for AI use are discussed, focusing on techniques that augment human processes by scaffolding skills that librarians already excel at, critical and creative thinking.
Key take aways:

• When to use AI & when to use traditional research skills
• Ethical AI techniques for research and writing
• Practical examples of key skills in practice

Andrew Beman-Cavallaro is a faculty research and instruction librarian for the social sciences at University of South Florida Libraries.  He has an undergraduate degree in Geography from Florida State University, a master's in Library and Information Science from University of South Florida, and a second master's in History from University of Nebraska.  He is also affiliate faculty in USF's School of Information where he has taught graduate students.  Andrew worked previously as a public librarian and a state college library director, and his research includes librarian collaborations, librarians and AI, and human dynamics.

Go where your colleagues are: Expanding impact by reimagining library collaborations
Explore unique perspectives on how to partner with other colleagues in librarianship and beyond. This presentation looks at non-traditional collaborations across various types of libraries, archives, and local organizations resulting in partnerships from the academic, public, and entertainment realms. Utilizing shared goals, interdisciplinary approaches, research, and teaching, we can connect with more librarians and better serve each other's professional, and patron, needs. Come share in a conversation about how to seek out, create, and/or sustain joint information literacy efforts in creative ways.