Karen
Pettigrew
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
Elborn
College
University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada N6G 1H1
Phone: 519-679-2111 ext. 8516
E-mail: kpettigr@julian.uwo.ca
I&R in the Electronic Age: Bringing It to the Classroom
SIG 19: Teaching Methods, Wednesday, February 12, 1997, 8:00am - 9:30am
The purpose of this paper is to suggest ways students can be prepared to deliver information and referral (I&R) services based on a Special Topics course under development at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). The ability to design and deliver I&R services in traditional and electronic settings is a requisite competency for LIS graduates who wish to facilitate the public's needs for community information. These services involve assessing the public's needs, collecting and managing community information electronically, referral making, and designing other methods of service delivery. However, despite the public's expanding needs for community information, the emergence of new ways for delivering this information (e.g. on-line community networks and the Internet), and increasing employment opportunities for graduates, I&R services are seldom taught regularly in LIS curricula. With a few notable exceptions, this area is usually covered briefly as a unit or a lecture in other courses. As a result, many LIS students are unprepared to work in I&R upon graduation and miss important opportunities for improving the accessibility of human services in their communities.
In response to these observations, a new course entitled "I&R and Its Place in the Community" was developed at UWO. The course focuses on the provision of I&R services in traditional and non-traditional settings, including public libraries, I&R agencies, government departments, on-line community networks and the Internet. Its purpose is to teach students about the needs and uses of different groups for community information, and the ways in which they, as service providers, may design and deliver services to meet these needs by drawing upon knowledge and skills developed in it and other LIS courses. The course is based on theory and research on citizens' information-seeking, including that on specific target groups, since the successful design of any system depends on its potential usefulness to its users and whether it complements their information-seeking behaviour. Specific course elements include:
- Research methods for conducting community needs assessments where students conduct a small field study using "community walks"
- Community development, specifically how to create liaisons with other service providers and build networks for providing information services
- How to design, implement and evaluate I&R services using new technologies
- Management and funding issues in I&R
Upon completion of this course, students will be better prepared to design and deliver I&R services in many diverse environments in response to societal and technological changes.
Following a brief overview of I&R and its historical place in LIS curricula, this paper is organized along the new course's syllabus, starting with the objectives, method of delivery, class size, materials and resources, evaluation criteria and assignments, followed by key lectures. These lectures are described in terms of their objectives, topics, and readings.
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