Service Learning, Technology and LIS Education

Abstract

With a campus mandate to educate information professionals who are civic leaders, the Indiana University School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) on the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis campus (IUPUI) has played a key role in campus-wide civic engagement activities, developing community partnerships, and promoting service learning opportunities across the curriculum. This article describes the creation, implementation, and evaluation of service learning activities in an elective Library Automation course. Course goals include preparing students for real-world challenges by implementing service learning projects to enforce skills development such as critical thinking and problem solving, within the larger framework of project management and systems analysis. Through their participation in the course, students partner with libraries to complete real-world projects. Assignments and course activities reinforce fundamental lessons in managing servers, systems, technologies, and related policies and processes. Issues and challenges related to recruiting and sustaining relationships with partners, working effectively in teams, and managing complex digitization projects are discussed. Introduction: The Civically Engaged University Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) holds as one of its core values a commitment to civic engagement through service learning and other community-based collaborative activities. This mission is supported administratively, politically, and financially through internal funding, scholarship opportunities, and numerous faculty-development activities. The IUPUI Center for Service and Learning (CSL) and Office of Professional Development (OPD) partner to provide funding and support for civic engagement activities across the University. Since the inception of the CSL in 1993, IUPUI has gained national recognition for its commitment to and scholarship on civic engagement and service learning. The CSL is comprised of four offices: the Office of Service Learning promotes faculty development, the implementation of service learning courses, and involves students in community service as part of their academic schedules; the Office of Neighborhood Partnerships collaborates with local community organizations to build sustained relationships; the Office of Community Work Study gives students the opportunity to fulfill federal work study employment in meaningful engagement with local organizations; and the Office of Community Service partners students, faculty, and staff with volunteer projects at local community centers, schools, and other institutions. ' IUPUI approaches civic engagement and service learning primarily through a focus on long-range partnerships with community agencies in its geographic neighbors, central Indiana and statewide.2 IUPUI promotion and tenure policies allow faculty to establish one of three primary areas of excellence: research, teaching or service. This level of commitment to civic engagements rewards faculty who immerse themselves in course development around service learning and civic engagement. Rigorous standards are established for actively engaging faculty in research and scholarship around teaching and service. Promoting Civic Engagement through Service Learning Courses In service learning, university courses, departments, or entire schools partner with specific community agencies. Faculty and students first learn about, then become active members in the community. Unlike more traditional volunteerism, these civic partnerships are characterized by their emphasis on equality, building on the resources, skills, expertise, and knowledge of both the campus partner and the community partner. Civic engagement promotes quality of life among all participants, with the overarching goal to make tangible and positive impacts on all partners and on the lives of the community at-large. Service learning (SL) is one strategy for becoming civically engaged. …