JOAN C. DURRANCE
is a Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information (SI), an interdisciplinary program which investigates the role of information in society including how it is created, identified, collected, structured, managed, preserved, accessed, processed, and presented.  In addition, SI focuses on how information is used in different environments, with different technologies, and over time.  This area includes the focus of her work.  She teaches and conducts research in information needs and use in community settings, the use of community information systems including libraries, the evaluation of information services, and the professional practice of librarians. 

Prof. Durrance is co-principal investigator, with University of Washington Assistant Professor Karen Pettigrew, of a research and demonstration project, “Help-Seeking in an Electronic World,”  funded by a $189,026 National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). www.si.umich.edu/helpseek.   This research project looks at the role of librarians in assisting users with finding community information over the Internet. It examines both public library involvement in networked community information provision and public library-community networking activities. 

With UM Associate Professor Paul Resnick, she coordinates a Kellogg-funded project which seeks to help young people acquire information and technology skills and put those skills to use in public work that benefits their communities.   This project focuses on two settings, an urban public library and a public housing project.  She developed the Community Connector an electronic gateway of digital community information resources.  The Connector, now a coordinated jointly with Prof. Resnick and a team of graduate students at the University of Michigan, showcases ways community networks and community information systems serve and engage their communities.

She has written three books--Meeting Community Needs through Job and Career Centers; Serving Job Seekers and Career Changers; and Armed for Action--and numerous articles. Her research on the professional practice of librarians earned her ALA's Isadore Gilbert Mudge—R.R. Bowker Award for distinguished contribution to reference librarianship.  She has conducted evaluations of several major projects including the NEH funded “Let’s Talk About It” reading and discussion programs in public libraries and the Kellogg funded Education Information Centers and MLink projects. 

Prof. Durrance has served the American Library Association as a member of the ALA Council, the Intellectual Freedom Committee, and in other capacities.  She has been active in the Public Library  Association on various committees which focus on research and evaluation and on the provision of community information.  She is one of the developers of the Association for Community Networking where she served as a founding member of the governing board.     Prof. Durrance has served the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) as President and as member and chair of various units including the JELIS Editorial Board.  She is Chair of the Advisory Committee to KALIPER, a Kellogg-funded examination of changes in library and information science education.

Prof. Durrance’s undergraduate degree, cum laude, is from the University of Florida.  She has an MS in library science from North Carolina and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Professor Durrance can be reached at durrance@umich.edu.
 

 DR. KAREN E. PETTIGREW  is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Library and Information Science.  Her primary research and teaching area is human information behavior, i.e., sociocognitive aspects of how individuals need, seek, give and use information in different contexts.  Dr. Pettigrew has published numerous articles and has received several honors for her work.

Her formal collaboration with Dr. Joan C. Durrance began when she joined the University of Michigan School of Information as a Research Fellow and Lecturer (January 1998 - July 1999).  Her postdoctoral fellowship was awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In addition to the IMLS funded "Help-seeking in an electronic world: The impact of electronic access to community information on citizens' information behavior and public libraries" study, she and Dr. Durrance are involved in the KALIPER Project, which is funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

In 1998 Dr. Pettigrew received her doctorate in library and information science from the University of Western Ontario.  Her dissertation, entitled "The role of community health nurses in providing information and referral to the elderly: A study based on social network theory," was supervised by Dr. Patricia Dewdney.  Prior to undertaking her Ph.D., she was the Coordinator for the Seniors Information Network (1991-1993) and an Information specialist for Honey Hi-tech Solutions (1990-1991) in London, Ontario.  She holds a M.L.I.S. (1991) from the University of Western Ontario, and a B.A. in English and Russian (1989) from Memorial University of Newfoundland. 

Dr. Pettigrew can be reached atkpettigr@u.washington.edu.
KAREN SCHEUERER is a research associate on the How Libraries and Librarians Help study. She started working with Professor Durrance and Professor Pettigrew as a graduate student research assistant two years ago on the previous IMLS study, Help-Seeking in an Electronic World. Karen earned her MSI from the University of Michigan School of Information in December. Prior to graduate school, she spent time in rural Poland teaching English to teenagers. Karen's interest in Central/Eastern Europe developed while pursuing a BA in History at Wellesley College. Karen's passion for foreign cultures led her to brief stints as both a travel agent and a map contributor to Let's Go travel guides. In addition, she served as an Americorps team leader for an anti-hunger project in Los Angeles. She is also a long-distance runner.

Karen can be reached at kmscheu@umich.edu.

 MICHAEL JOURDAN worked on the Help-Seeking in an Electronic World Study for two years while pursuing a Master of Science with a specialization in Library and Information services at the University of Michigan School of Information. After graduating from the program in December 2000, Michael took a librarian position at People for the American Way, a Washington, DC based progressive policy organization.. He earned his bachelors degree in English literature from University of Michigan. Before returning to graduate school, Michael spent a decade working in the publishing industry, most recently for Borders Group, Inc. in the Internet division. In his spare time, he writes music reviews and deflects comments about his taller, basket-ball playing namesake.

Michael can be reached at mjourdan@umich.edu.

Back to About This Project