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Project Title: "Community Informatics Corps: the Next Generation"

Award Amount: $996,243; Matching Amount:$858,802
Grant Category: Programs to Build Insitutional Capacity
Contact: cii@illinois.edu

The Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign serves as the lead applicant for the proposed project, called Community Informatics Corps: The Next Generation. We seek support for three years to develop our capacity to recruit and train the next generation of CI professionals who will take their places in libraries, museums, archives, and other organizations, armed for action in underserved communities. To this end, the pilot Community Informatics Corps (CI Corps) masters program at GSLIS will be expanded, and the alliance among LIS schools interested in CI will be extended and strengthened. Community informatics (CI) is an emerging field of interdisciplinary scholarship, practice and policy, devoted to the use of information and communications technologies for addressing individual and collective needs within communities. With close ties to community development, CI professionals help communities deal with issues such as poor health, inadequate education, violence, lack of economic opportunity, the inability to respond to environmental crises, and the loss of cultural heritage.

There are three intended audiences for project activities. One is students, especially from underserved backgrounds, who seek advanced education and careers that prepare them to contribute actively to strengthening their communities. The second is libraries, museums, and archives, especially in low-income and minority settings, who seek professionals with expertise that combines management of digital assets, new critical thinking and research skills, and knowledge of community-building from disciplines such as community psychology, urban planning, and educational policy. The third is the growing number of LIS institutions with a stake in CI, with whom we have been forming alliances for several years. Specifically, we propose to:

1. Further develop our pilot CIC masters curriculum, improving its design and expanding its content;
2. Attract and support students, especially those from underserved communities;
3. Support faculty development in CI;
4. Strengthen communication and capacity-building at the intersection of university and community; and
5. Implement mechanisms for collaborative program development with other LIS programs. Intended outcomes for members of our project audience include: new and redesigned curriculum with novel content, such as social entrepreneurship, participatory action research and professional reflection-in-action, community-based inquiry, and community networking and technology centers; expanded knowledge of the role that libraries, museums, and archives can play in CI and how we can develop strong university/community partnerships; the creation of a CI Corps curriculum committee and student advisory board; increased enrollment of minority students at GSLIS; increased faculty participation in CI, in part through CI colloquia, a national symposium, and support for inter-institutional visits and conference attendance; and increased CI capacity in underserved communities through CI Corps student practical engagement placements in community libraries, museums, archives, and other organizations, as well as inviting community residents to participate directly in appropriate CI Corps activities.