Drs. Suzie Allard, Bharat Mehra, and Vandana Singh at the University of Tennessee's School of Information Sciences in the College of Communication and Information have scored a triple play of grant awards from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) totaling over $1.6 million for the next four years. These Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program awards support projects that are designed to recruit and educate the next generation of librarians and faculty members, to compare and improve the technology tools that librarians use daily, and to shore up technological expertise of regional library leaders.
UT is in elite company; only one other university in the nation garnered as many IMLS awards this year. According to SIS Director Edwin Cortez, this is due to the high regard that IMLS and national reviewers have for UT’s School of Information Sciences, and also because of the tremendous support provided by the college’s Center for Information and Communication Studies which is headed by SIS faculty member, Carol Tenopir.
“The quality, creativity, and capacity of our faculty to address real-world needs is remarkable,” said Cortez. “I am more than pleased to work with an exceptional faculty who continuously measure the pulse of information needs of various communities and then find solutions to address gaps in information literacy, education, and technology.”
Dr. Suzie Allard
Dr. Suzie Allard is the principal investigator of the ScienceLinks² grant, which was awarded $711,727 to build curriculum, provide mentoring and support the research agendas of six doctoral students who will become educators of the next generation of science data and information specialists. “ScienceLinks² PhD: Linking Education and Science to Develop the Next Generation of Educators for Science Librarians and Data, Information and Communication” bridges a knowledge gap that exists to educate science librarians who are increasingly needed to “provide reliable digital preservation, access, integration, and analysis capabilities for science and/or engineering data,” “to anticipate and adapt to changes in technologies and in user needs and expectations;” and to “engage at the frontiers of computer and information science and cyberinfrastructure with research and development to drive the leading edge forward.”
Allard’s team will recruit doctoral students from information, communication and science backgrounds, with an emphasis on those from minority populations; provide them with mentoring, financial support, and a focused doctoral education; and coordinate mentored research experiences in world-class science institutions and major science data initiatives. Other College of Communication and Information faculty involved in the project include Drs. Sally McMillan and Carol Tenopir, Co-PIs, and the following academic mentors: Drs. Ben Bates, Karen Hilyard, Lorraine Normore, Vandana Singh, Lu Tang, and Peiling Wang. Thura Mack, an SIS alumna, will be the library coordinator for the project.
ScienceLinks² builds on two previous science information initiatives at the school: the IMLS-sponsored project, Science Links (a masters-focused program successfully completed in 2008) and NSF’s DataONE, a major international initiative, which includes faculty and researchers in the UT libraries and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Dr. Bharat Mehra
A second grant will work to tackle lagging information technology literacy in Tennessee's rural Southern and Central Appalachians. Principal investigator Dr. Bharat Mehra will work with co-PIs Dr. Kimberly Black and Dr. Vandana Singh to recruit and mentor 16 IMLS-funded technology support librarians to earn a master's degree. Titled “Rural Library Professionals as Change Agents in the 21st Century: Integrating Information Technology Competencies in Southern and Central Appalachian Region,” this $567,660 grant will allow SIS to collaborate with a team of regional library systems (Clinch-Powell Regional Library, Sevier County Public Library System, and the Watauga Regional Library) to offer students coursework tailored for a specialization in Information Technology and Rural Librarianship. Upon graduation, students will be prepared to assume leadership roles in their libraries and the region.
Dr. Vandana Singh
Dr. Vandana Singh is the principal investigator on a third grant for $321,178. “Technical Support for Integrated Library Systems’ Comparison of Open Source and Proprietary Software” will compare the level of technical support required by open-source integrated library systems (the computer systems used to acquire, manage, and circulate library materials) and the off-the-shelf, proprietary versions of these systems. This research project seeks to better inform librarians about the maintenance and management costs associated with one of the key tools that they use to serve the public.
The University of Tennessee’s College of Communication and Information's (CCI) Center for Information and Communication Studies (CICS) submitted the successful grants to IMLS.
For more information, contact Dr. Suzie Allard at sallard@utk.edu or (865) 974-1369.
- Login to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
