Roland Poellinger

The open library

As CTO and digital strategist at the Munich City Library, I am passionate about leveraging digital technologies to enhance the user experience and our library’s reach. I believe in the transformative potential of libraries as houses of language and learning, spaces for creating and hubs for community engagement. Building on the library’s core values and mission, I strive to create innovative solutions that meet the needs and expectations of our diverse audience. I am excited by the opportunities and challenges that come with leading the digital transformation of our library in a rapidly changing world.

At a glance: my work on library strategy and digital literacy

• Paper „Von der Informations- zur Kompetenzplattform. Die öffentliche Bibliothek als Befähigungsraum für digital kompetente Communitys“, Projekt Digitales Deutschland, 2023. Read on digid.jff.de
• Interview with Roland Poellinger on the talk „Inspiring Convergence“ (VVBAD anniversary meeting „Informatie aan Zee“, 2021). Read on vvbad.be
• Talk „Open Up“, Library Journal Virtual Summit, 2020. View on YouTube
• Recording of the webinar „Digital strategy & innovation in libraries“ with Roland Poellinger, 2020. View on bibliotheca.com
• Paper „Bibliotheksraum und Medienpädagogik“ (Fink-Gaudernak, Poellinger, Post), 2020. Download from pedocs.de
• Paper „Moralisches Entscheiden in Künstlichen Systemen“. In: Internet der Dinge (Lutz & Bader). merz | medien + erziehung 4/2016, kopaed, 2016. Preview on merz-zeitschrift.de
• Paper „Wer da? – Turings Test in virtuellen Spielwelten“. In: Demmler, Lutz, Ring: Computerspiele und Medienpädagogik. Konzepte und Perspektiven. Materialien zur Medienpädagogik, Band 11, kopaed, 2014. Preview on jff.de

Digital strategy

Digital transformation affects all areas of our library. It affects collections and topics, our catalog and metadata, the presentation of our content, cultural programs and digital literacy education, our communication, our infrastructure, our technology and, last but not least, the cooperation within our teams and with other institutions. We want to actively shape this change.

Our digital strategy is not about going digital for the sake of going digital. It is about our aspirations for our work as a library in the digital space and with digital means. In seven interrelated goals, the strategy sets priorities, structures the field and establishes context.
More about the strategy paper

Philosophy of science

From 2007 through 2017 I was working at LMU Munich, first at the chair of philosophy, logic and philosophy of science, and later at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP). The focus of my research there was on formal epistemology and the philosophy of science: causal modeling, the metaphysics of causation, conditionals, Bayesian networks and the foundations of probability, as well as artificial intelligence, automata and algorithms. As a member of the research group on the philosophy of pharmacology (2015-2017), I applied Bayesian epistemology and causal inference methods to problems of risk assessment in clinical research. I have an additional background in computational linguistics and cognitive linguistics.
More about my topics, talks and teaching

At a glance: my philosophy of science research

• Paper „A Protocol for Model Validation and Causal Inference from Computer Simulation“ (Osimani and Poellinger). In: „A Critical Reflection on Automated Science“, Springer, 2020 [DOI]
• Paper „Analogy-Based Inference Patterns in Pharmacological Research“ (Poellinger). In: „Uncertainty in Pharmacology“, Springer, 2020 [DOI]
• Paper „Real and Virtual Clinical Trials: A Formal Analysis“ (Osimani, Bertolaso, Poellinger, Frontoni). Topoi, 2019 [DOI]
• Paper „Evidence Amalgamation in the Sciences“ (Fletcher, Landes, Poellinger). In: „Special Issue on Evidence Amalgamation in the Sciences“, Synthese, 2018 [DOI]
• Paper „Epistemology of Causal Inference in Pharmacology: Towards a Framework for the Assessment of Harms“ (Landes, Osimani, Poellinger). European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2017 [preprint; DOI]
• Talk „Probabilistic Causal Inference from Heterogeneous Evidence“, 2017 [video on YouTube]
• Talk „The Mind–Brain Entanglement“, 2014 [video on YouTube]
• Paper „Anchoring Causal Connections in Physical Concepts“ (Hubert and Poellinger). In: „New Directions in the Philosophy of Science“ (Vol. 5), Springer, 2014 [preprint; DOI]

Media design

As a freelance coder and media designer, I have created print designs, video content and interactive media for a wide range of purposes. I have also done consultancy work in communication design and taught creative workshops in media literacy education.

As a faculty member at LMU Munich, an additional focus of my work was in science communication, with the aim of making complex topics accessible to both an academic community and the general public.

Contact me

Dr. Roland Poellinger ▪ roland.poellinger@outlook.com ▪ rolandpoellinger.com ▪ LinkedIn

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