39 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 299 2019 let those who regulate air travel regulate AI in air travel), there are overarching principles, such as explainability, that cross application boundaries and deserve a different level of attention. Research libraries can be influential in these debates given their expertise in knowledge management and research support, and their concern for the public good. An interesting example arises in the area of copyright as a result of discussion about the ownership of materials created by an AI. This has led some to argue for the creation of “AI sunshine laws,” which would mirror the idea of the public domain in copyright or patent law. The code and logic of the AI system would, at some point, become public, transparent, and open to scrutiny and reuse. This requirement would position AI within more traditional IP legislation and would extend the notion of public domain into new and likely highly contentious areas. Algorithmic Literacy Research libraries, like all libraries, have been active proponents of enhancing literacy, be it traditional reading and writing or more recently digital literacy in all its various forms. While algorithmic literacy can be seen as a subset of digital literacy or computational thinking, it has unique characteristics and applications that deserve specific attention. Just as information literacy provides users with skills and perspectives to assess resources, algorithmic literacy is an explainability strategy allowing users to navigate and utilize algorithmic tools and services. Calling “algorithmic awareness” a “new competency,” the objective of the 2017 Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant proposal from Jason Clark and colleagues at Montana State University is to “find transparency for the invisible logic embedded in our software interactions. Success in this setting would be our community finding new teaching methods and confidence to make this logic visible for our patrons and ourselves.”27 By linking algorithmic awareness to
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