 |
 |
**APOLOGIES FOR CROSS POSTINGS** Greetings All: A glutton for punishment before a scheduled spring 2012 sabbatical, I volunteered to develop a draft syllabus for a broad spectrum advocacy course (elective) for the Dominican University Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) MLIS curriculum. At present GSLIS has a targeted elective, listed as "Issues of Access, Advocacy, and Policy in Youth Services," that does a fine job of promoting advocacy for this specialized sector. However, strong advocacy training across the educational spectrum was yet another recommendation that arose from the previously mentioned (in a recent JESSE posting asking for assistance with a marketing course) Defending Professionalism: A Resource for Librarians, Information Specialists, Knowledge Managers and Archivists (Libraries Unlimited). From my experience, including serving as chair of a state legislative committee, federal relations coordinator, etc., as well as the accumulating accounts of massive professional and other terminations, particularly within the British and American contexts, it seems to be impossible to overestimate the value of effective advocacy. Too often ALA-accredited and other educational programs have graduated students without the benefit of the extensive advocacy training that helps demonstrate and defend the value of their services in addressing the issues deemed important by funders and customers-patrons-users, etc. To this end, I am cross-posting on several lists to secure e-copies of any advocacy-relevant course syllabus, as well as information on any hardcopy or e-resources (commercial, state, provincial, and national associations, etc.) that may have assisted you in developing effective approaches to promoting the value of librarians, information specialists, knowledge managers, archivists, competitive data analysts, etc.. Naturally, I will provide those who respond with a copy of the draft version of the advocacy syllabus that I will be submitting to my colleagues. Any assistance that the list can provide will be most appreciated. My email is [log in to unmask] Many thanks, Bill Bill Crowley, Ph.D. Professor Graduate School of Library and Information Science Dominican University 7900 West Division Street River Forest, IL 60305 708.524.6513 v 708.524.6657 f [log in to unmask] www.gslis.dom.edu