"In a world characterized by rapidly advancing technology, America’s public libraries are championing the rights of the individual to equitable access to information over the Internet by providing public access," noted Gary Olson, interim dean of the School of Information.

Karen E. Pettigrew said: “We are excited by the opportunity to explore how citizens use networked community information and to identify how libraries can best utilize this powerful new tool. A conceptual challenge of our research is to learn how community information is socially constructed by different individuals as they interact in online environments.”

The School of Information at the University of Michigan is one of 41 recipients selected from more than 250 applications for the National Leadership Grant awards. SI is dedicated to investigating the fundamental role of information in society. Its field of study is information: how it is created, identified, collected, structured, managed, preserved, accessed, processed, and presented; how it is used in different environments, with different technologies, and over time. Faculty and students conduct multidisciplinary research to discover new knowledge about the interplay among information, technology, and people with the aim of unifying human-centered design approaches and sophisticated technologies.

The School of Information is the home of the “Community Connector” web site. The Community Connector is an electronic gateway of digital community information resources which showcases ways community networks serve and engage their communities. The Community Connector serves as a searchable library of useful information available to librarians, community networking developers,and others who are attempting to build and improve the quality of life within geographic communities. The Connector maintains an online journal, a major directory of community networks, a collection of relevant online articles and research, and many examples of projects, best practices, and resources developed by non-profit organizations, government agencies, and others arranged by topics of interest to communities. This website is considered by many to be the most comprehensive online resource to focus on community networking and community information systems. The Connector is developed and maintained by a team of graduate students led by SI Professor Joan C. Durrance.

IMLS is a federal grantmaking agency located in Washington D.C. that fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting museums and libraries. National Leadership Grants mark a new opportunity for libraries to address pressing needs in education, research and preservation, and for libraries and museums to work together to address community needs, expand audiences and implement the use of the most efficient and appropriate technologies.

For more information on Help Seeking in an Electronic World, please refer to the project overview.

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