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The Community Informatics Initiative at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign is a center for research and teaching focused on working with communities to address their information and technology needs.
The Community Informatics program is a specialization for students who are working toward earning a Master's degree in Library and Information Science. In addition to the courses required for the Master's in LIS, Community Informatics students complete 12 credit hours of courses that consider how communities use information and communication technologies, the practice and theory of community engagement and the fundamentals of social science research. Students learn through traditional classroom methods, but also through project work that takes them into surrounding communities and puts them in contact with community members and organizations.
Community Informatics students have worked on projects that include creating a community library, helping local teens create an exhibit on their cultural heritage for a renowned Chicago cultural organization, building community technology centers (CTCs) in economically depressed areas and training local residents on computer maintenance and repair, coordinating an after-school reading and homework help program for K-7 at-risk youth, and organizing local history archives of underrepresented groups.
If you are interested in hosting an internship for a community informatics student, click here (pdf).
If you would like to post a job opportunity on our free job board, click here.
For additional information, please contact Assistant Dean of Students Affairs Rae-Anne Montague at rae@illinois.edu or 217-244-0577.
To see examples of students working in the field of Community Informatics please visit our student profiles page.
What is a Community Informatics Internship?
A Community Informatics internship should provide students or recent graduates with field experience that allows them to integrate their previous work experience with the knowledge and skills gained in their LIS coursework in an information services role in a public or school library, museum or cultural center, or a community or non-profit organization.
The goals of the internship program are to:
- Provide students an opportunity to work with an underserved group or community (for example, rural, urban, recent immigrant, ethnic minority, at-risk youth, elderly, or others).
- Increase the student's understanding of the information needs and processes of the community with which they are working.
- Help communities reach their goals with regard to access to information, education, technology infrastructure and training, or civic engagement and renewal.
- Allow students to work with others in their field and develop professional contacts.
Length of internship and compensation
The terms of the internship placements may vary. Internships can be part time or full time and can last anywhere from 8 weeks to 12 months, depending on the needs of the organization. Compensation should be negotiated by the organization and the student. Typically, an intern might earn an hourly wage for a shorter term of service or a monthly stipend for a longer term of service. Additional forms of compensation may include a scholarship to fund educational costs such as tuition and student loans.
To contact the GSLIS practicum and internship coordinator, please contact Lynn Hanson at lmhanson@illinois.edu or 217- 333-6202.