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University of Tennessee School of Information Sciences and
partners receive IMLS grant to improve Data Curation
The Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has
awarded $988,543 to fund the program, Data Curation Education in Research Centers
(DCERC), which will be developed by a partnership of the University of
Tennessee School of Information Sciences (SIS), the University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Graduate School of Library and Information Science and
the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
Suzie Allard, associate professor and assistant director of
SIS, is one of three principal investigators on the project with Carole Palmer
(UIUC) and Mary Marlino (NCAR). Carol Tenopir, UT Chancellor’s Professor,
director of research and director of the Center for Information and
Communication Studies (CICS); and Tanya Arnold, SIS coordinator of student
services, will also work on UT’s portion of the project, which amounts to
approximately one third of the funding.
The DCERC project will develop a model, including field
experience in a data-intensive scientific environment, for educating LIS
masters and doctoral students in data curation. It will implement a graduate
research and education program to address the need for professionals with
scientific expertise who can manage and curate large digital data collections.
The masters students will be based at UT and the doctoral students will be
based at UIUC; there will be many activities coordinated between the two
cohorts.
“There is an urgent need to develop a workforce that
can support scientists and scientific inquiry that is increasingly becoming
more data intensive in order to address the important scientific challenges
facing society,” said Suzie Allard. “IMLS’ funding has
provided the means to design the curriculum and establish the experiences that
will help fill this critical need for information professionals. We are proud
of how our DCERC partnership mirrors the cooperative actions that are needed to
accomplish this.”
“The faculty in our program has so much to offer LIS
students and educators in terms of developing new models and standards of
scholarship,” said Dr. Cortez, director and professor at UT SIS.
“Keeping up with technological developments and establishing innovative
models for data curation is critical for sustaining and improving scientific
communication. Our faculty continues to demonstrate in very tangible projects
like these that they understand and are addressing substantive, real-world
needs.”
Cortez also noted the tremendous support provided by the
college’s Center for Information and Communication Studies, which is
headed by SIS faculty member, Carol Tenopir.
Ongoing IMLS Grants at UT SIS
In fall 2009, three SIS faculty members—Drs. Suzie Allard,
Bharat Mehra, and Vandana Singh—received IMLS awards totaling over $2.6
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.
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.
SIS Associate Professor Bharat Mehra, along with co-PIs and
SIS assistant professors Kimberly Black and Vandana Singh, received an IMLS
grant that targets lagging information technology literacy in Tennessee’s
rural Southern and Central Appalachians. “Rural Library Professionals as
Change Agents in the 21st Century: Integrating Information Technology
Competencies in Southern and Central Appalachian Region” is a $567,660
grant that has gifted full scholarships to 16 rural librarians.
SIS Assistant Professor Vandana Singh is the principal
investigator on an IMLS 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.
And finally, Professor Carol Tenopir was awarded a $1
million IMLS grant to address academic librarians’ growing needs to
demonstrate the return on investment and value of the library to their
respective institutions. The project, entitled “Value, Outcomes, and
Return on Investment of Academic Libraries,” will help guide library
management in the redirection of library funds to important products and
services for the future. For more information, contact Dr. Suzie Allard at [log in to unmask] or (865) 974-1369.
The School of Information Sciences at the University of
Tennessee is an innovative leader among library and information programs
nationally, and one of four schools that make up the College of Communication
and Information. School faculty instruct some 250 graduate students, are
engaged in leading-edge research, and partner with organizations throughout the
world to help people flourish in our dynamic information society. UT SIS is the
only master’s degree program in Tennessee to be fully accredited by the
American Library Association.
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Joel Southern
Communications Specialist
School of Information Sciences
College of Communication and Information
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
1345 Circle Park Drive, Suite 451
Knoxville, TN 37996-0341
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(865) 974-6727
jsouthern at utk dot edu
www.sis.utk.edu