Master’s in Library and Information Science Students Win National Law Library Paper Awards
Safia A. Francis and Emily Poling were recognized for research spanning information diplomacy, access to justice and artificial intelligence—reflecting longstanding ties between library science and law.
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Two University of Arizona College of Information Science students have received national recognition for scholarship exploring the ways information shapes institutions, legal systems and public access to knowledge.
Safia A. Francis, MLIS ’27, and Emily Poling, JD ’27, MLIS ’28, were named the 2026 Student Division recipients of the American Association of Law Libraries/LexisNexis Call for Papers Award. The annual competition recognizes outstanding papers relevant to law librarianship, with a student division open to students enrolled in library or law school.
Francis received the award for “Embassy Libraries and American Information Diplomacy: A Literature Review,” while Poling was recognized for “The Reasonable Pro Se Litigant in the Age of AI.”
Libraries as Instruments of Knowledge Diplomacy
Safia A. Francis, MLIS ’27, is the author of the award-winning paper, “Embassy Libraries and American Information Diplomacy: A Literature Review.”
Francis’s paper traces the history of U.S. international and embassy libraries from the founding of the country to the present, examining their role not simply as instruments of American influence but as places where knowledge is exchanged and relationships are built.
Her literature review argues that international library programs have been most effective when they are collaborative, responsive to local needs and designed to create shared institutional benefits. It also considers the recurring defunding of U.S. international information programs as part of a longer pattern in which access to information has often been undervalued as a diplomatic resource.
“Receiving the AALL/LexisNexis Call for Papers Award is a tremendous honor,” Francis says. “As I begin my career in library and information science, this recognition is especially meaningful. It affirms that the questions I am most passionate about—the histories embedded in collections and the ways we discover, preserve and share them—matter to our profession.”
Francis expects to graduate in winter 2027 and hopes to pursue a career in archives or academic libraries.
Rethinking the “Reasonable” Pro Se Litigant
Emily Poling, JD ’27, MLIS ’28, is the author of the award-winning paper, “The Reasonable Pro Se Litigant in the Age of AI.”
Poling’s paper turns to a rapidly emerging question at the intersection of law and technology: What happens when people representing themselves in court gain access to generative artificial intelligence?
Courts have historically allowed some leniency in pleadings filed by pro se litigants (people navigating the legal system without an attorney). Poling examines whether generative AI, by helping users produce more polished legal documents, could change what courts expect from those litigants.
Her paper considers challenges ranging from unequal access to AI tools to bias and hallucinations, in which generative AI produces inaccurate or fabricated information. Poling ultimately argues that while AI may raise the ceiling of what some pro se litigants can produce, its availability should not cause courts to raise their expectations for the form of filings submitted by people representing themselves.
“I am honored to be recognized with this award,” Poling says. “It’s incredibly encouraging to feel like I have a place in this profession and that I have something valuable to contribute.”
Poling is pursuing U of A’s JD/MLIS dual degree and expects to earn her law degree in May 2027 before beginning her legal career. Her longer-term interests bring law and information science even closer together.
“Long term, I would love to be an academic law librarian,” she says, “though I think an information science background will be helpful even in my legal career.”
Where Library Science and Law Meet
That intersection between library science and law has deep roots at the university.
The College of Information Science and the James E. Rogers College of Law offer an integrated JD/MLIS dual degree that allows students to begin their library and information science studies during their second year of law school and complete both degrees in four years rather than the five typically required to earn them separately. The colleges also offer a Master of Legal Studies/MLIS dual degree, which can be completed in as few as six semesters.
Within the Master of Arts in Library and Information Science, students interested in law librarianship and legal information can build expertise through coursework in areas including legal research, law library practice and administration, intellectual property, government information and information technology. The curriculum also connects to the College of Information Science’s Graduate Certificate in Legal Information.
Another important bridge between the programs is the Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library Fellows Program. Established in 2000, the program gives MLIS students intensive, hands-on experience in academic law librarianship while working 20 hours per week in the Law Library alongside professional law librarians. Fellows receive graduate assistant wages and tuition remission for two years, along with mentoring, individualized career planning, experience across Law Library units and opportunities to collaborate with faculty on research.
The partnership reflects the breadth of contemporary library and information science, where questions about access, technology, preservation and the responsible use of information increasingly cross disciplinary and professional boundaries.
The students’ award-winning papers approach those questions from very different directions: one through the history of libraries and international information exchange, the other through courts and generative AI. Together, they demonstrate the range of work emerging from a field in which access to trustworthy information remains central, even as the systems that produce, organize and deliver that information continue to change.
Learn more about U of A’s top-ranked Master of Arts in Library and Information Science or the five-course Graduate Certificate in Legal Information, or explore master’s dual degrees offered by the College of Information Science and James E. Rogers College of Law.