AUSTIN, Texas --- The School of Information
<http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/> at The University of Texas at Austin
received a $500,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library
Services (IMLS) to educate doctoral graduate students about the evolving
occupations of information professionals. As future faculty and
scholars, these students will advance the study of information work in
the nation's information schools.
Recent technological and demographic changes are dramatically changing
the scope of work performed by information professionals and the titles
they hold.
The increasing digitization of information is altering the role of
individuals charged with information creation, organization,
preservation, and retrieval. Information professionals in the United
States are also faced with a diverse influx of immigrants whose
information needs may not be fully understood.
Successfully preparing graduates for work in these new environments
requires faculty with a nuanced, interdisciplinary understanding of the
wide range of roles that information professionals will play, as well as
the new skills and knowledge they will need.
This grant provides fellowships for six doctoral students who will
constitute the first cohort of future faculty specifically educated to
take on this challenge. Working with faculty in the School of
Information's Information Work Research Group
<http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/research/iwrg.php> (IWRG), these students
will
* conduct rigorous, empirical analyses of information professionals'
work in a variety of settings and occupations
* prepare curricular materials (including case studies, syllabi, short
videos and instructional modules) for use in programs across the
United States, with guidance on incorporating the skills and
knowledge needed for tomorrow's information professionals
* publish their work studies to address the field's new opportunities
and challenges
The IWRG is a unique research group in the field of information studies
that focuses on the study of information work and workers. Diane Bailey
<http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/%7Edebailey/>, principal investigator,
and William Aspray <http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/%7Ebill/>,
co-principal investigator, are joined by faculty colleagues Lecia Barker
<http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/%7Elecia/>, James Howison
<http://james.howison.name/>, and Tanya Clement
<http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/people/person_details.php?PersonID=176>
to guide and mentor the doctoral students who will receive fellowships
under this grant.
---------
Sam Burns
[log in to unmask]
