Biography

Stephanie Beene is a Graduate and Faculty Engagement Librarian for the Arts and Architecture at the University of New Mexico, where she supports the teaching, learning, and research of graduate students and faculty within the College of Fine Arts and the School of Architecture and Planning. As a liaison to these departments and programs, she conducts one-on-one research consultations with students, faculty, and staff; provides information and visual literacy instruction sessions and workshops in collaboration with instructors; selects and manages materials for related library collections; and participates in numerous outreach initiatives, such as coordinating and collaborating on exhibits, events, and accreditation reports, and participating on juried critiques and poster sessions. In conjunction with the Center for Southwest Research (CSWR) and the libraries' humanities and fine arts collection management team, Stephanie works to maintain distinctive collections in Photography, Latin American, U.S. Borderlands, Southwestern, Indigenous, and American Indian art and architecture collections.
 
Stephanie received an MS in Information Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, an MA in Art History (focusing on Contemporary Borderlands Artists and Identity Politics) from the University of California, Riverside, and a BA in Art and Art History from Colorado State University. Before UNM, Stephanie worked at Lewis & Clark College as a Visual Resources and Arts Librarian.  Previously, she worked as an educator in higher education and K-12 spaces and as a visual resources curator, as well as within museums, archives, galleries, and non-profits.
 
Stephanie's research interests include visual literacy as it relates to lifelong learning, information literacy frameworks as they relate to how we make sense of personal and professional information, and the politics of identity within social justice work, whether as teachers, learners, activists, or creators.
 

Selected Publications

Greer, K. & Beene, S. (2024). Dismantling Conspiracy Theories: Metaliteracy and Other Strategies for an Information-Disordered World. Bloomsbury Publishing (Rowman & Littlefield).

Thompson, D. S. & Beene, S. (2024). A Slow Approach to Teaching Visual Literacy in Higher Education. ALA Editions | ALA Neal-Schuman.

Murphy, M., Beene, S., Greer, K., Schumacher, S., & Thompson, D. S., eds. (2024). Unframing the Visual: Visual Literacy Pedagogy in Academic Libraries and Information Spaces. Association of College & Research Libraries Press. 

Greer, K. & Beene, S.  (2024). “When belief becomes research: Conspiracist communities on the social web.” Paranoid Publics: Conspiracy Theories in the Public Sphere," A Special Issue of Frontiers in Communication, guest edited by Professors Matthew Hannah and Christopher Connor. (peer-reviewed) Based on our research for the Institute for Information Literacy Award, from Purdue University, 2022-2024. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1345973

Beene, S. (2024). “Pursuing Social Justice Through Visual Practice.” In Unframing the Visual: Visual Literacy Pedagogy in Academic Libraries and Inform ation Spaces, eds. Maggie Murphy, Stephanie Beene, Katie Greer, Sara Schumacher, and Dana Statton Thompson (pp. 321-326). Association of College and Research Libraries Press. Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ulls_fsp/201/

Beene, S. & Gould, M. (2023). "Reading images on the wall: The camera obscura in academic libraries." In Creators in the Academic Library, vol 1: Collections and Spaces, eds. Alexander C. Watkins and Rebecca Zuege Kuglisch (pp. 159-178). Association of College and Research Libraries Press.

Lee, J. M., Beene, S., Chen, X., Huang, W., L. Okan, Rodrigues, F., & Huilcapi-Collantes, C., eds. (2023). Connecting & Sharing: Envisioning the futures of visual literacy. Book of Selected Reading Series. International Visual Literacy Association Press. ISBN: 978-0-945829-16-4; https://doi.org/10.52917/ivlatbsr.2023.001

Beene, S. and Greer, K. (2023), "Library workers on the front lines of conspiracy theories in the US: one nationwide survey", Reference Services Review, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-11-2022-0056; also available at https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ulls_fsp/195

Thompson, D. S., & Beene, S. (2023). “Reading images with a critical eye: Teaching strategies for academic librarians.” In Teaching Critical Reading Skills: Strategies for Academic Librarians, Volume 2:Reading for Evaluation, Beyond Scholarly Texts, and In The World. Eds. Hannah Gascho Rempel, & Rachel Hamelers. Association of College & Research Libraries Press. (peer-reviewed)

Beene, S. & Thompson, D. S. (2022, June). "Focusing on 'slow looking': An Exploration of techniques to develop critical observation habits.” Art Documentation 41:1, DOI: 10.1086/719405.

Lee, J., Beene, S., Chen, X., Huang, W., Okan, L., & Rodrigues, F. (Eds.). (2022). Seeing across disciplines: Visual literacy and education. Book of Selected Readings Series. International Visual Literacy Association Press. ISBN: 978-0-945829-15-7, http://doi.org/10.52917/ivlatbsr.2022.001

Fullmer, M. & Saulter, T. (Co-Chairs). Beene, S., Greer, K., Murphy, M., Schumacher, S., Thompson, D. S., & Wegman, M. (ACRL Visual Literacy Task Force). (2022). ACRL Framework for Visual Literacy in Higher Education, a Companion Document to the 2016 ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. https://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/standards/Framework_Companion_Visual_Literacy.pdf

Thompson, D. S., Beene, S., Greer, K., Wegmann, M., Fullmer, M., Murphy, M., Schumacher, S., & Saulter, T. (2022). “A Proliferation of images: Trends, obstacles, and opportunities for visual literacy.” Journal of Visual Literacy 41. DOI: 10.1080/1051144X.2022.2053819.

Lee, J., M., Christensen, S. M., Beene, S., Chen X., & Huang, W., eds. (2021).Visual literacy in the virtual realm. Book of Selected Reading Series. International Visual Literacy Association Press. ISBN 978-0-945829-14-0, https://doi.org/10.52917/ivlatbsr.2021.001

Beene, S., Koelling, G. & Thompson, D. S. (2020). “Recommendations for creating inclusive visual communication during a pandemic.” Visual Resources Association Bulletin 47 (2), article 2, https://online.vraweb.org/index.php/vrab/article/view/191

Beene, S. & Greer, K. (2020). “A Call to action for librarians: Countering conspiracy theories in the age of QAnon.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 47 (1), DOI: 10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102292

Beene, S., Soito, L., & Kohl, L. (2020). “Exhibition catalogs unbound: Overcoming challenges through models of engagement.”Art Documentation39 (1), pp. 24-43, DOI: 10.1086/709449

Thompson, D. S. & Beene, S. (2020). “Uniting the field: Using the ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards to move beyond the definition problem of visual literacy,” Journal of Visual Literacy 39 (2), pp. 73-89. DOI: 10.1080/1051144X.2020.1750809

Russo, A., Jankowski, A., Beene, S., & Townsend, L. (2019). “Strategic source evaluation: Addressing the container conundrum.” Reference Services Review 47 (3), pp. 294-314. DOI: 10.1108/RSR-04-2019-0024

Beene, S. (2019). Urban and Regional Planning Information Competencies (pp. 8-12), in The 2019 Update of ARLIS/NA Information Competencies for Art, Architecture, and Design Disciplines, an ARLIS/NA Research Report Publication, written by Stephanie Beene, Larissa Garcia, Stefanie Hilles, and Amanda Meeks. Compiled by Alyssa Vincent and Linden How, edited by Roger Lawson.

https://www.arlisna.org/publications/arlis-na-research-reports/1469-info-comp-aad.

Beene, S. & Schadl, S. (2019). “Tomes/Consume This! Engaging patron expertise through artists’ books.”Journal of Visual Literacy38 (3), DOI: 10.1080/1051144X.2019.1611698

Beene, S., Kostelecky, S., Jackson, A. S., & Quinn, T. (2018). “Reach Out! Highlighting collections and expanding outreach to non-traditional communities across academia.”The Reference Librarian60 (1), pp. 29-50, DOI: 10.1080/02763877.2018.1547891

Beene, S., González, L., & Schadl, S. (2018). “Tomes! Enhancing community and embracing diversity through book arts.”Radical Teacher: A Socialist, Feminist, and Anti-Racist Journal on the Theory and Practice of Teaching, 112, pp. 55-64, DOI: 10.5195/rt.2018.531

Beene, S. & Pierard, C. (2018). “RESIST: a Controversial Display and Reflections on the Academic Library’s Role in Promoting Discourse and Engagement,” Urban Library Journal 24 (1), https://academicworks.cuny.edu/ulj/vol24/iss1/6/

Beene, S. & Robinson, S. M. (2017). “When Research Does Not Start with a Question: Teaching with the Framework and Visual Literacy Standards within Art and Architecture Librarianship,” Art Documentation36 (2), pp. 254-280, DOI: 10.1086/694243

Beene, S.  (2017, July 7). “Visualizing the Architectural Research Process: A Collaborative Library Instruction Workshop.” Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture News, eds. Lucy Campbell and Barbara Opar.

Beene, S.  (2016 September). “Review of Visual Literacy for Libraries: A Practical, Standards-Based Guide, by Nicole E. Brown, Kaila Bussert, Denise Hattwig, and Ann Medaille, Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 2016.” ARLIS/NA Reviews, eds. Doug Litts and Terrie Wilson.