WebJunction

Dear ARSL members: Greetings! In this message I am sharing with you some exciting information regarding a wonderful opportunity being offered in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Tennessee. The School has recently been awarded a grant entitled “Rural Library Professionals as Change Agents in the 21st Century: Integrating Information Technology Competencies in Southern and Central Appalachian Region (ITRL)” for $567,660 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The goal of the project is to recruit sixteen students who have paraprofessional jobs in the Southern and Central Appalachian region’s rural libraries to complete their master’s degree with a focus on IT and rural librarianship in the SIS program via distance. Here is some recruitment information:

WORKING IN A RURAL LIBRARY IN APPALACHIA AND WANT TO EARN A MASTER’S DEGREE ONLINE? Consider applying to the ITRL Scholarship Program.

PROGRAM BENEFITS: Full-tuition scholarship for two years with an allowance for materials, part-time degree program with a structured, individually-tailored information technology and rural management-based curriculum with formal/informal professional mentoring by educators and practitioners.

PROGRAM GOAL: To recruit 16 individuals who are working in the Southern and Central Appalachian region’s rural libraries to complete their master’s degree with a focus on information technology and rural librarianship in the University of Tennessee’s School of Information Sciences program via distance education.

APPLICATION & ADMISSION: Eligibility & Requirements

• Currently working in a rural Appalachian library

• Completed bachelor’s degree

• A 3.25 cumulative GPA in undergraduate coursework and GRE scores (above the fifty percentile) or a cumulative GPA of 3.0 in 12 or more hours of graduate coursework

• Complete the UT SIS Admission Application and the ITRL Scholarship Program Application

For additional information on how to apply, visit http://www.sis.utk.edu/admissions and https://www.sis.utk.edu/rural-librarianship

DEADLINES/TIMELINES: UT SIS Admission Applications and the ITRL Scholarship Program Applications will be reviewed in January 2010. Students will be admitted into the ITRL program by May 2010. ITRL Program duration is June 2010 - August 2012.

CONTACT: If you are interested (or know of others who might be interested), please contact
Dr. Bharat Mehra at 865-974-5917 or bmehra@utk.edu, Assistant Professor, School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

PARTNERS: SIS faculty Drs. Bharat Mehra, Kimberly Black and Vandana Singh are partnering with the Clinch-Powell Regional Library (Susan Simmons), Sevier County Public Library System (KC Williams), and the Watauga Regional Library (Nancy Renfro). Most recently the Nolichucky Regional Library (Don Reynolds) has agreed to partner in the grant activities.

FUNDED BY: Institute of Museum and Library Services

____________________________

Here in the SIS we are very excited about this news and I really look forward to working with you and others in implementing this project to make a difference in our region via training librarians in IT and rural management skills that resonate with the region's complex realities and circumstances. Towards this goal, I am seeking your assistance to help me in the first task to identify paraprofessionals and others working in rural libraries in the region who may be interested to get a master's degree from the SIS and learn rural management skills in developing IT-related outcomes that are relevant to their local libraries and their communities.

If you are interested (or know of others who might be interested), please do not hesitate to get in touch with me (phone: 865-974-5917; email: bmehra@utk.edu) and I will be happy to share additional details with you. Also, if are willing to be on the ITRL Recruitment Board and/or ITRL Practitioner Mentoring Board do let me know. The following is the grant abstract for your attention:

***********************

ABSTRACT

“Rural Library Professionals as Change Agents in the 21st century: Integrating Information Technology Competencies in Southern and Central Appalachian Region” (ITRL) at the University of Tennessee (UT), School of Information Sciences (SIS) meets an urgent need for rural librarians in the Southern and Central Appalachian (SCA) region with information technology (IT) competencies in a novel program that combines work experience/practice in regional library systems with graduate instruction/curriculum support. This region is experiencing information poverty and unemployment, economic challenges, low levels of information literacy and educational attainment, a lack of access/use of IT, and unique environmental challenges. Library professionals who are embedded in their communities are in a strong position to help address and develop solutions to these needs. The goal of ITRL is to recruit sixteen students who have paraprofessional jobs in the SCA region’s rural libraries to complete their master’s degree with a focus on IT and rural librarianship in the SIS program via distance. Students will receive a structured, individually-tailored curriculum with formal/informal professional mentoring by educators and practitioners. IT competencies in developing rural library work applications/practices especially tailored towards the needs of the SCA communities will be incorporated into the curriculum. If funded, ITRL will begin October 1, 2009 and will be completed by September 30, 2012.

The overall project design covers five phases that include: recruitment of ITRL students from rural libraries in the SCA region, needs assessment of library services and information challenges faced by rural regional libraries, implementation of educational/training activities, mentoring, evaluation/assessment of program outcomes, and dissemination of program results/experiences. Two major components in the curriculum will include IT and rural librarianship courses. IT deliverables applied towards rural libraries in the SIS courses will include:

· Technology infrastructure planning, assessment, and analysis of library automation systems;

· Web design, development, and usability;

· Database design and implementation;

· Building digital library and web portals ;

· Establishing hardware and software configurations for networking systems;

· Creating Library 2.0 tools.

Management outcomes in rural library courses will include:

· Service evaluation/assessment in rural libraries;

· Planning/management of a rural library program for children (or young adults) and adults;

· Reader’s advisory and fiction/non-fiction genre;

· Grant writing and development.

UT-SIS’ Dr. Bharat Mehra will administer the project with Dr. Kimberly Black and Dr. Vandana Singh. The three partnering institutions are: Clinch-Powell Regional Library (Clinton, Tennessee), Sevier County Public Library System (Sevierville, Tennessee), and the Watauga Regional Library (Johnson City, Tennessee). Project partners have been selected to participate in ITRL based on their leadership, role, knowledge, networks, experience, and interests to participate in promoting IT-based development and change in the SCA libraries and their communities. Though all project partners are located in the East Tennessee region, representatives from other regional and county library systems in the SCA region will be contacted to elicit their participation in the various activities identified in the grant proposal. Project partners will assist in recruitment of ITRL students via participating in the ITRL Recruitment Board; participation/recruitment for the online ITRL Needs Assessment Symposium; participation/recruitment for the ITRL Practitioner Mentoring Board; and participation/recruitment for the Annual ITRL Summits. The model of a master’s degree in information science to prepare future rural library professionals (who are already working paraprofessionals) with IT competencies and skill-sets that integrate coursework geared towards producing tangible outcomes and products relevant for rural communities in the SCA region will be of interest and applicability to master’s programs nationwide.

*********************

I look forward to working with you and hope that you will be deeply involved in the planning and implementation of this project. I definitely look to you and others for leadership and guidance in navigating the forces that may lead towards the success of this venture to help rural libraries make a difference in the everyday lives of our communities. I am also looking forward to participating in the ARSL 2009 Conference in Gatlinburg and connecting with rural librarians in the region and country via that venue.

Feel free to get in touch with me to give suggestions and provide comments and feedback. Also, do feel free to forward my message to others interested in the project. Meanwhile, looking forward to working with you and my best wishes to you!

Yours sincerely,
Bharat Mehra

#######################################
Bharat Mehra, PhD
Assistant Professor
School of Information Sciences
University of Tennessee
# 454 Communications Building,
1345 Circle Park Drive
Knoxville, TN 37996-0341

Telephone: (865) 974 5917 (O)
E-mail: bmehra@utk.edu
Homepage: https://www.sis.utk.edu/user/118;
https://web.utk.edu/~bmehra/ (cut and paste the URL in your web browser).
#######################################