Subject Guide
Reference Source
- Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics This link opens in a new windowThe articles consider both the professional ethics of science and technology and the ethical and political issues raised by science and technology in an increasingly complex and global society. Includes entries on Animal Experimentation, Animal Rights, Animal Tools, Animal Welfare, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Technology, and more.
Example Streaming Videos in Virgo
- Animal-Inspired Robot Behavior (2015, 30 min)Consider an approach to creating robots that's inspired not by maps but by the simple sense-and-act behavior of animals. You'll learn the benefits of behavior-based robotic architecture (including quicker reactions and stronger sensors), and see how simple animals including ants have inspired roboticists to build fascinating inventions.
- Are Other Animals Conscious? (2017, 29 minutes)Explore consciousness with a consideration of its appearance in other animals. Scientific studies in animals ranging from primates to octopi have uncovered some illuminating insights into how animals can potentially show complex behaviors (including compassion, self-recognition, and generosity) we typically associate exclusively with conscious humans.
- Are We the Only Musical Species? (2015, 29 minutes)We may be the only animal that uses words, but we are not the only animal that sings. Survey music-making among other species, from fruit flies to gibbons, whales, parrots, and songbirds. Analyze the sound structure of their song to learn how it differs from ours.
- Could a Machine be Conscious? (2017, 32 min)Twentieth-century mathematicians Alan Turing and Ludwig Wittgenstein both asked: "Could machines think?" Learn how they addressed the complex concepts of language, thinking, intelligence, and consciousness. All contemporary computers and the fields of artificial intelligence and neural networks trace their origin to Turing. But Wittgenstein seems to have the last word.
- Self-Driving Vehicles (2015, 31 min)Lane changes, off-roading, irregular traffic patterns—how do robotic cars handle it all? Find out in this lecture on the trade-offs (especially between speed and safety) involved in creating self-driving vehicles. Peer into the future of how you’re likely to get from place to place, perhaps without having to do a thing..
- Westworld and AI Artificial Intelligence (2018, 36 min.)Episode 11 in the series Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy. Sentient machines have been a staple of sci-fi for decades. Focus on a few key stories, and take a look at the long history of intelligent machines in film and TV - as well as get a glimpse into our very possible future - examining the ways we conceive of the mind and the implications of artificial intelligence. Machines can calculate, but could they one day be sentient?
- Zoonosis: Germs Leap from Animals to Humans (2015, 33 min.)Seventy percent of infectious diseases originate from wildlife. Why are new diseases--such as bird flu and swine flu--so prevalent, and how are these exotic diseases being transmitted from animals to humans? Learn how to protect yourself from these diseases, including two you can get from your cat.
Helpful URLs
- Ask a LibrarianQuestions? Ask us! Chat, call, text, or email anytime.
- Purchase RecommendationsIs there an ebook you think the UVA Library should own but doesn't? Make a purchase recommendation.
- Using Databases Off GroundsHave questions about accessing databases from off-grounds? Find more information here.
Preparing for Research
In preparation for your inquiry essay, you should have thought some about possible questions to start your research. You will also want to spend some time thinking about how you will conduct your research.
- Fine-tune your searches.
Think broadly when brainstorming search terms. What synonyms or related terms could stand in for your key search terms?
You can combine search terms using AND ("animal rights" AND zoos) and OR ("artificial intelligence" OR AI OR "machine intelligence").
In many databases, the asterisk (*) is a truncation or "wildcard" symbol that will match all possible endings for a word stem. For example, sex* will match sexism, sexual, sexuality, sexualize, etc.
Most databases have filters or facets that allow you to narrow your results by subject, date range, etc. Limit your searches to help you find the sources you need.
- Think about where you might find the type of information you are seeking.
Will you find the research you need in an e-book? An article? A newspaper? A documentary? An interview? Cast a wide net when looking for the types of resources that could help answer your research question or support an argument you are making.
- Know the difference between academic and non-academic sources, and when it's appropriate to use them.
Most databases allow you to limit results to academic/scholarly/peer-reviewed sources. Be mindful of your assignment and what you're being asked to provide. Need a refresher? Watch the short video Peer Review in 3 Minutes.
- When you find a good source, use it to find other good sources.
Use the subject terms and keywords associated with an item to find other items on similar topics.Scholarly books and articles will have works cited, bibliographies, or footnotes you can mine for additional resources.
Need help? Ask a librarian.
Finding articles
Multidisciplinary Databases
CQ Researcher provides award winning in-depth coverage of the most important issues of the day. Our reports are written by experience journalists. footnoted and professionally fact-checked. Full-length articles include an overview, historical background, chronology, pro/con feature, plus resources for additional research. Graphics, photos and short "sidebar" features round out the reports. Shorter "Hot Topics" articles provide a solid introduction to subjects most in demand by students.NOTE: This is a credible source but not a scholarly source. Good for an overview of current and/or controversial topics.
Academic Search Complete is a large general database of articles from scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers on many topics. Updated daily, it can be the best source for resources about very current topics.
ProQuest offers UVa faculty, staff, and students access to 35 separate databases, covering numerous fields from the hard sciences to social sciences, as well as newspapers, government records, and statistical data.
JSTOR includes older issues of scholarly journals in many disciplines, from the start to 3-5 years ago.
Project Muse Searchable full text of nearly 600 scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics, mostly from North American university presses. Older volumes are often available from JSTOR.
Subject-Specific Databases
Art Full Text (1929-present) includes articles and art reproductions in all arts media from selected periodicals. Art Index Retro covers 1929-1984 and Art Index Full Text 1984-present. Abstracts are included from 1994 on; full-text of articles from some journals from 1997 on.
Biological Sciences (1982-present) Search together a broad range of biology databases covering topics such as biomedicine, biotechnology, zoology, ecology, and some aspects of agriculture and veterinary science.
Computers & Applied Sciences Complete inlcudes ournals and other reference sources covering engineering and the business and social aspects of new technology as well as computer theory and systems.
ERIC provides access to more than 1.4 million bibliographic records of journal articles, most of which are peer-reviewed, and other education-related materials, with hundreds of new records added multiple times per week. If available, links to full text are included.
MLA International Bibliography (MLAIB) indexes the broadest range of resources about literature in all languages, as well as film, television, and popular culture, including over 4,000 journals as well as books and dissertations. For articles not available full-text in MLA, click on “Find article @ UVa Libraries,” or look up the journal title in VIRGO.
Finding books & articles using Virgo
Virgo, the UVA Library’s primary search tool, contains catalog records for books, print journals, DVDs, maps, and digitized materials, as well as links to online articles from our rich array of subscription journals. You can search catalog materials and articles together, or view those results separately, using the facets provided to limit your results by author, format, publication period, and more. To find online content, use the Format limiters like EBook, Streaming Video, or Online to limit your catalog search results.
Example subject terms - Animals:
- Animal Behavior
- Animal Rights
- Animal Welfare
- Animals in Art (or in Literature, or in Folklore)
- Domestic Animals
- Working Animals - Moral and Ethical Aspects
- Wild Animal Trade
- Wildlife Crimes
- Wildlife Smuggling
- Zoos - Social Aspects
Example subject terms: Artificial Intelligence
- Artificial Intelligence - Educational Aspects
- Artificial Intelligence - Social Aspects
- Human-Computer Interaction - Social Aspect
- Labor Supply - Effect of Technological Innovations on
- Robotics in Medicine
- Technology - Social Aspects
Example E-Books of Interest
Animal Labour: A New Frontier of Interspecies Justice? by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in Virgo.ISBN: 9780198846192Publication Date: 2020Is animal labour inherently oppressive, or can work be a source of meaning, solidarity, and social membership for animals? This challenging question drives this thought-provoking collection which explores the possibilities and complexities of animal labour as a site for interspecies justice. The book assembles an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars who carefully grapple with the many facets, implications, and entanglements of animal labour, and who, crucially, place animals at the heart of their analyses. Can animals engage in good work and have humane jobs? What kinds of labour rights are appropriate for animal workers? Can animals consent to work? Would recognizing animals as workers improve their legal and political status, or simply reinforce the perception that they are beasts of burden? Can a focus on labour help to create or deepen bonds between animal advocates and other social justice movements? While the authors present a range of views on these questions, their contributions make clear that labour must be taken seriously by everyone interested in more just and ethical multispecies futures.
Artificial Intelligence: Modern Magic or Dangerous Future? by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9781785785160Publication Date: 2019Artificial intelligence has long been a mainstay of science fiction and increasingly it feels as if AI is entering our everyday lives, with technology like Apple’s Siri now prominent, and self-driving cars almost upon us.
But what do we actually mean when we talk about ‘AI’? Are the sentient machines of 2001 or The Matrix a real possibility or will real-world artificial intelligence look and feel very different? What has it done for us so far? And what technologies could it yield in the future?
AI expert Yorick Wilks takes a journey through the history of artificial intelligence up to the present day, examining its origins, controversies and achievements, as well as looking into just how it works. He also considers the future, assessing whether these technologies could menace our way of life, but also how we are all likely to benefit from AI applications in the years to come.
Artificial Intelligence in Society by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9264582541Publication Date: 2019The artificial intelligence (AI) landscape has evolved significantly from 1950 when Alan Turing first posed the question of whether machines can think. Today, AI is transforming societies and economies. It promises to generate productivity gains, improve well-being and help address global challenges, such as climate change, resource scarcity and health crises. Yet, as AI applications are adopted around the world, their use can raise questions and challenges related to human values, fairness, human determination, privacy, safety and accountability, among others. This report helps build a shared understanding of AI in the present and near-term by mapping the AI technical, economic, use case and policy landscape and identifying major public policy considerations. It is also intended to help co-ordination and consistency with discussions in other national and international fora.
The Crimes of Wildlife Trafficking: Issues of Justice, Legality and Morality by Call Number: Ebook - Use link in Virgo record to access.ISBN: 9781472417749Publication Date: 2019This book examines trade and trafficking in endangered animal species and how the trade increasingly puts large numbers of nonhuman species at risk. Focusing on illegal trafficking, the book also discusses the harmful aspects of the trade and trafficking which is taking place in concordance with laws and regulations. Drawing on the findings of empirical research from Norway and Colombia, the study discusses how this global, transnational trend is addressed, and features of the trade and the ways in which it is controlled in the two case study locations. It also explores the motives driving the trade, and the consequences in terms of animal abuse and environmental harm. The book discusses whether internationally agreed measures, such as international conventions, actually help prevent the trade. Possible ways to address the harms of wildlife trade are considered, including a total ban. The work draws on a green criminology and eco feminist theoretical framework to provide a broad perspective on concepts such as harm, animal rights, species justice and speciesism.
Domestic Animals, Humans, and Leisure by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in Virgo.ISBN: 9781138209275Publication Date: 2018Domestic animals are an integral component of human leisure experience and can enhance the physical, social, and mental wellbeing of humans. The interplay of human and animal experiences of justice, wellbeing, rights, and roles within leisure is the central theme of this book. Research explores the position of domesticated animals in human leisure experiences, in a wide array of leisure settings. Chapters question whether domestic animals may have a desire for leisure that is different from human leisure, whether animals have and wish to fulfill needs for meaningful leisure or non-leisure, and whether human leisure needs and desires may coincide or contradict wellbeing interests of animals.
The Driver in the Driverless Car: How Your Technology Choices Create the Future by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9781523085538Publication Date: 2019A computer beats the reigning human champion of Go, a game harder than chess. Another is composing classical music. Labs are creating life-forms from synthetic DNA. A doctor designs an artificial trachea, uses a 3D printer to produce it, and implants it and saves a child's life. Astonishing technological advances like these are arriving in increasing numbers. Scholar and entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa uses this book to alert us to dozens of them and raise important questions about what they may mean for us. Breakthroughs such as personalized genomics, self-driving vehicles, drones, and artificial intelligence could make our lives healthier, safer, and easier. But the same technologies raise the specter of a frightening, alienating future- eugenics, a jobless economy, complete loss of privacy, and ever-worsening economic inequality. As Wadhwa puts it, our choices will determine if our future is Star Trek or Mad Max. Wadhwa offers us three questions to ask about every emerging technology- Does it have the potential to benefit everyone equally? What are its risks and rewards? And does it promote autonomy or dependence? Looking at a broad array of advances in this light, he emphasizes that the future is up to us to create-that even if our hands are not on the wheel, we will decide the driverless car's destination.
Healthcare Robots: Ethics, Design and Impllementation by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9781472444332Publication Date: 2016This study deals with an underexplored area of the emerging technologies debate: robotics in the healthcare setting. The author explores the role of care and develops a value-sensitive ethical framework for the eventual employment of care robots. Highlighting the range of positive and negative aspects associated with the initiative to design and use care robots, it draws out essential content as a guide to future design both reinforcing this study's contemporary relevance, and giving weight to its prescriptions. The book speaks to, and is meant to be read by, a range of disciplines from science and engineering to philosophers and ethicists.
Socialbots and Their Friends: Digital Media and the Automation of Sociality by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9781138639409Publication Date: 2016Many users of the Internet are aware of bots: automated programs that work behind the scenes to come up with search suggestions, check the weather, filter emails, or clean up Wikipedia entries. More recently, a new software robot has been making its presence felt in social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter - the socialbot. However, unlike other bots, socialbots are built to appear human. While a weatherbot will tell you if it's sunny and a spambot will incessantly peddle Viagra, socialbots will ask you questions, have conversations, like your posts, retweet you, and become your friend. All the while, if they're well-programmed, you won't know that you're tweeting and friending with a robot. Who benefits from the use of software robots? Who loses? Does a bot deserve rights? Who pulls the strings of these bots? Who has the right to know what about them? What does it mean to be intelligent? What does it mean to be a friend? Socialbots and Their Friends: Digital Media and the Automation of Sociality is one of the first academic collections to critically consider the socialbot and tackle these pressing questions.
Virtual Reality Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence in Special Education by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in Virgo.ISBN: 0367024535Publication Date: 2019New technologies and ongoing developments in the fields of virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence are changing the ways in which we facilitate learning. Recognising the positive role these technologies can play in the learning and progress of students assessed as having special educational needs, this practical guide explains the characteristics, benefits, risks and potential applications of new technologies in the classroom. An innovative and timely resource, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence in Special Education offers a background in the evidence-based theory and practice of using new technologies in an educational context. Chapters provide information on the development, intended uses and most current terminology used in relation to technologies, and explain how modern equipment, approaches and possibilities can be used to promote improved communication skills, independent learning and heightened self-esteem amongst students diagnosed with SEND.
Zoo Studies: A New Humanities by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9780773556904Publication Date: 2019How have we looked at animals in the past, and how do we look at them today? How have zoos presented themselves, and their purpose, over time? In response to the emergence of environmental and animal studies, anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers, theorists, literature scholars, and historians around the world have begun to explore the significance of zoological parks, past and present. Zoo Studies considers the modern zoo from a range of approaches and disciplines, united in a desire to blur the boundaries between human and nonhuman animals. The volume begins with an account of the first modern mental hospital, La Salpêtrière, established in 1656, and the first panoptical zoo, the menagerie at Versailles, created in 1662 by the same royal architect; the final chapter presents a choreographic performance that imagines the Toronto Zoo as a place where the human body can be inspired by animal bodies. From beginning to end, through interdisciplinary collaboration, this volume decentrers the human subject and offers alternative ways of thinking about zoos and their inhabitants. This collection immerses readers in the lives of animals and their experiences of captivity and asks us to reflect on our own assumptions about both humans and animals.
