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iSchool at Drexel Associate Professor Awarded Institute of Museum & Library Services Grant This month, Associate Professor Tony Grubesic, PhD, was awarded the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant via the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in their "programs to build institutional capacity" category. The grant amount was awarded at $345,270, with matching funds totaling $238,698. Dr. Grubesic's project, known as the "Geographic Information Librarianship" project (GIL), is a two-year curricular research collaboration between Drexel University and the University of Kentucky that will serve to bolster librarian management and preservation of resources created by an array of geo-location tools. The project's goal is to formally integrate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into library and information science (LIS) curricula at these two schools. The project's objectives are to create two online GIL courses, implement a recruitment plan and deliver the two online GIL courses at both institutions; use a survey validation study of the knowledge, skills, and abilities to inform LIS curricula; and increase GIS related research in LIS. These developed GIL courses will then be permanently offered by the two schools on a biannual basis. The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21) invests in the nation's information infrastructure by funding projects designed to address the education and training needs of the professionals who help build, maintain, and provide public access to the world's wide-ranging information systems and sources. The LB21 Program supports projects to develop faculty and library leaders, to recruit and educate the next generation of librarians and archivists, to conduct research, to build institutional capacity in graduate schools of library and information science, and to assist in the professional development of librarians and archivists. This grant program is especially interested in developing information professionals who can help manage the burgeoning data generated by the nation's researchers, serve as stewards of the nation's cultural legacy, and meet the information needs of the underserved. The program also seeks to help librarians develop the information and digital literacy of their communities, as well as other critical skills their users will need to be successful in the 21st century. This program addresses the field's need to advance the work of new faculty in library and information science by supporting an early career development program for untenured, tenure-track faculty. Research conducted under the early careers program should be in the faculty member's particular research area and is not restricted to research on the profession. The LB21 Program invites all members of the library community to play an active role in ensuring that the profession is prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century by fostering the development of a new generation of faculty, librarians, and archivists preparing library leaders, and strengthening schools of library and information science. For more information on the program, please visit: http://www.imls.gov/applicants/lb21_guidelines_2012.aspx