Community Connections: Advancing LIS Education and Practice Through Partnership

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Community Connections Advancing LIS Education
and Practice Through Partnership

• Joan C. Durrance
• Margaret Mann Professor of Information
• School of Information
• University of Michigan
• ALISE 2005

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Pasteurs Quadrant Research
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Recent Collaborative Funded Research Projects

• Approaches for Understanding Community
  Information Use (Information Behavior in Everyday
  Contexts-IBEC). Co-PI Karen Fisher, University of
  Washington. I School. 249,996. 2002-05.
•  
• How Libraries and Librarians Help
  Context-Centered Methods for Evaluating Outcomes.
  317,800. Co-PI Karen Pettigrew.2000-03.
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• Community Support Systems Information Systems
  that use and replenish social capital. Co-PI Paul
  Resnick. 198,000. 1999-01
• Help-Seeking in an Electronic World Focus on
  Community Networks. 189,000. (Co-PI Karen
  Pettigrew, Post-Doc) 1999-01.

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IMLS-Funded IBEC Research on Human Information
Behavior--Current UW-UM Venue for Collaboration
http//www.ischool.washington.edu/ibec/
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Keys to Collaboration in Durrance-Pettigrew
Research Studies

• Key characteristics
• Partner agency seen as a best practice site
• Key informants research issues are identified
  with the informed assistance of the collaborator
• The relationship is mutually beneficial
• Key issues
• Building Trust (essential to research)
• Developing mutual respect
• Understanding Reactivity(our presence as
  researchers in the community may have an effect).
• Recognizing Reciprocity(we have a responsibility
  to give something back)

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Selected Partners in RecentCommunity-Focused
Research

• HartfordInfo-Hartford Public Library (IBEC-IMLS)
• NCHealthInfo-University of North Carolina Health
  Sciences Library (IBEC-IMLS)
• King County United Way-Citizen need survey
  (IBEC-IMLS)
• CIAO-(Teen After School Program) Flint Public
  Library (Kellogg and How Libraries Librarians
  Help-IMLS)
• Wired for Youth-Austin Public Library (How
  Libraries Librarians Help)
• Community Information Program-Peninsula Library
  System (How Libraries Librarians Help)
• New Americans Program-Queens Public Library (How
  Libraries Librarians Help)
• CascadeLink-Multnomah County Public Library
  (Helpseeking)
• Three Rivers Free-Net-Carnegie Library of
  Pittsburgh (Helpseeking)
• NorthStarNet North Suburban Library System
  (Helpseeking)

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Community Information Program (CIP) Peninsula
Library System. San Mateo, CA

• 30 year old I R is sponsored by the library
  system housed with county social service
  agencies.
• Clientele San Mateo area social service
  agencies and non-profit organizations. Not the
  general public.
• Nature of our collaboration
• Worked with CIP remotely to build trust and
  understand service
• Conducted a site visit with a team from UM
• Conducted focus groups with with CIP staff,
  library administrators, andmost of allagency
  staff who worked with CIP
• Analyzed the data
• Prepared Report for the library
• Used study (with others) to develop Outcome
  Toolkit
• Wrote articles and included case study in our new
  book (2005)

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CIP Outcomes Identified by Our Study
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Outcomes Toolkit 2.0 Now on IBEC Site
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Course-Based Community Connections

• SI 623 Outcome-based Evaluation. Fall 03.
  Student teams worked w partner orgs to conduct
  outcome studies
• Ex. A study of the outcomes of a literacy
  program housed in a public library. Partner
  Washtenaw Literacy (WL)
• Nature of partnership
• WL provided students access to tutors, learners,
  and confidential records.
• A team to two students-- Maria Serapiglia
  Sarah Wooden--worked Sept-Dec 2003 to identify
  outcomes beyond those mandated by the
  funderreading skill gains
• Washtenaw Literacy gave permission for Maria and
  Sarah to publish the study.
• Ch 9 in Durrance Fisher. How Libraries and
  Librarians Help A Guide to Identifying
  User-Centered Outcomes. Chicago ALA Editions,
  2005.

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Ripples of Impact Washtenaw Literacy Outcomes

• Directors email to Maria S
• I just wanted to let you know how much your
  project helped us.  We use the diagram you
  developed in many ways--in our newsletter, our
  PowerPoint presentation, with grant apps and
  reports.  In addition we developed a new
  reporting form that we sent out to all
  tutor/learner pairs this Spring as the program
  year is ending for us.  We are getting a great
  response and are gathering much more information
  then we were previously receiving. This was a
  product of your recommendation to build in a
  defined data collection process.  I thought you
  might be interested in knowing this.

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Fall 2004-SI 501 Use of Information Class 21
Partner Organizations Worked with 120 SI Students

• Menlo Innovations
• ProQuest
• UM Public Health Library
• Veterans Walk for Health Study
• Senegalese Association of Michigan
• Soar Technologies
• Scholarly Publishing Office (UM Library)
• Salem S. Lyon PL
• UM-Text Creation Project
• Washtenaw Literacy
• Washtenaw County IT Services

• Ann Arbor District Library
• Assn of Women in Computing
• Henry Ford Museum-Benson Ford Research
• Greenhills School
• Genealogical Society
• Inter-Cooperative Council
• Library for Blind Physically Disabled
• UM Map Library
• Michigan Center for Biological Information
• Medstat

(Orgs in blue built on relationships built
previously by SI faculty or students)
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SI 501Fall 04. Washtenaw Literacy Team w Partner
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Contact Information

• Joan C. Durrance ltdurrance_at_umich.edugt
• Margaret Mann Collegiate Professor of
  Information University of Michigan School of
  Information 3084 West Hall Connector550 E.
  UniversityAnn Arbor, Mi. 48109-1092Phone (734) 
  763-1569. Fax [phone]