SCILS, Rutgers University - Planning Outreach Services [17:610:517]

Planning Outreach Services

[17:610:517]

Credits:

Pre-requisites:

(none)

Co-requisites:

(none)

Description:

Language, ethnicity, culture, disability, and other conditions that can hamper access to appropriate library information services; methods for studying communities in these categories and developing relevant programs and resources. Students write grant proposals to implement needs-based information services for target groups in specific settings.

Synopsis:

Course Objectives

Students will acquire techniques for studying diverse communities and will apply the insights gained to the design of relevant information services. In the process, they will identify resources, communication channels and styles, and feedback mechanisms appropriate for their chosen client group. They will write a grant proposal as a means of presenting their implementation plan.
Students will select a potential user group that appears to be underserved by a specific library agency as their target group by the second class
Students will explore the use of census data, community information, gatekeepers, and other resources to learn about their target group during the first half of the course
Students will compile first draft resource guides about their target group by the seventh class
Students will identify information and library service needs of their target group by the eighth class
Students will decide on an action plan to meet needs by the ninth class
Students will draft a grant proposal to fund their plan by the thirteenth week of the course
In addition, students will be exposed to readings and discussions of outreach services, cross-cultural communication, staffing and diversity issues, grant writing and project management basics.

Organization of the Course

For the most part, the course will be conducted as a seminar, with specific content determined by the students' selection of populations for study.

Part 1: Why outreach? American identities and relationships between these identities and library/information use. Historical perspectives on library/information services for non-traditional clienteles. NJ/NY demographics and community analysis. First look at grant proposal preparation.

Part 2: Investigating target groups, i.e., locating gatekeepers, organizations, governmental agencies; using data; using focus groups. Identification and evaluation of resources (materials, organizations, media, etc.) pertinent to the various groups selected for study; political and economic issues; communication/linguistic issues. More on proposals.

Part 3: Service implementation and evaluation problems. Diversity in the workplace, personnel issues and training. Marketing and promoting library/information services.

Part 4: Examples of library/information services for and outreach to groups other than those targeted by class. Proposal presentations and critiques.

Major Assignments

Students will gather information about their chosen population's history, culture, and current status in the U.S. through readings, conversations with gatekeepers, observation through field visits, etc. In addition, general readings about outreach will be assigned. Students will keep journals in order to comment on the readings and to record their investigations, and will regularly report on their findings in class. Students may work in teams, but all must keep their own individual journals.

They will prepare a guide to information about and resources for their selected group. The final project will be in the form of a funding proposal for establishing an information service for the target group. The proposals will include needs assessment, goals and objectives, specific activities to meet objectives, implementation time line, budget and personnel requirements, and evaluation methodology.

Methods of Assessment

Work will be graded primarily on the basis of timely submission of a resource guide and grant proposal that reflect an adequate investigation of the target group and its needs and an appropriate plan of service to meet the need identified. Twenty-five percent of the grade will be based on the journal and in-class reports, 25 percent on the guide, and 50 percent on the proposal.

The quality of the proposal will be judged according to these criteria:

the need for the project is convincingly documented
the proposed project is likely to meet the identified need
the objectives are SMART
the time line is clear and adequate
the personnel is qualified
who will do what when is clear
budget is adequate and fully explained
appropriate evaluation is built in
results will be shared with the profession
how the project will be maintained is stated

Course Outline

___Week___	Schedule
Week 1	Course overview; selection of groups to study; a look ahead to developing the resource guide and proposal - from knowing your community to identifying needs, designing and justifying services. Assignments: For a preview of what proposal writing entails, go to "Writing a Successful Grant Proposal" http://www.mcf.org/mcf/grant/writing.htm. Skim, just to get an idea for now. Readings (remember to submit comments): Cohen, J. (1995). Who's out there and what do they want? Public & Access Services Quarterly 1(3), 49-54 New York Public Library. Office of Special Services. Mission and Goals Orange, S.M. & Osborne, R. (2004). From outreach to equity. American Libraries 35 (6), 46-51 Shaw, D.V. (1994). Immigration and ethnicity in New Jersey history. Trenton: NJ Historical Commission A novel, memoir, or other first-hand account by a member of your target group (I can make suggestions, if necessary). The idea is for you to be able "walk in the shoes" of your target group, to gain the kind of insight that eludes factual descriptions
Week 2	Meet in Room 413 of the Scholarly Communication Center, 4th floor, Alexander Library, at 9:00 am. Ron Jantz will help us to explore U.S. Census data. Please print out and bring with you his handout: http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/altek/census_outreach05.pdf. Here are sites we will consult, and that you will want to use as you gather information about your target group: http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/public/data/c2000_soc_econ/index.html If the link does not work, type the URL, which does still work. http://factfinder.census.gov http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/dp1/2kh34.pdf http://landview.census.gov Assignments: Decide on what you need to know about your community/target group, plan how you will collect the data, and get started. Refer to "Questions to consider..." and Suggestions for Preparing the Resource Guide; see also the two files under "Community Analysis" in Doc Sharing. BEFORE you look at the "Questions" list, please write down what you THINK you know about your group; save for later comparison with what you find out! Look at the Library Research Services, Colorado, site: http://www.lrs.org; click on Public Libaries --> Community analysis -->Community Analysis Scan Form. If you are choosing a setting that does not involve a public library community, try to develop a comparable outline for collecting data on your selected target group. Be sure to include this in your journal so that I can give you feedback. In conjunction with the Colorado community analysis site above, see also the workforms from the ALA publication, the New Planning for Results, online: www.elearnlibraries.com. These forms let you walk through the process of community analysis and look at the library in order to identify gaps in service and plan what to do. I am not saying that you should actually do every step, but scanning the forms will help you to organize your thinking about your project within a context of overall library planning. See especially Workform B, Community Data. You may also want to skim Cassell's leaflet on Knowing Your Community -- intended for small libraries, but the principles can be applied to neighborhood branches Readings: Logan, M. (2000). Ready, set plan! Community analysis help online. Public Libraries 39(4), 220-223.
Week 3	Review of community analysis; discussion of readings so far. Readings: Agada, J. (1999). Inner-ciy gatekeepers: An exploratory survey of their information use environment. Journal of the the American Society for Information Science 50(1), 74-85 Buschman, J. (1998). History and theory of information poverty. In K.M. Venturella (Ed.). Poor people and library service (pp.16-28). Jefferson, NC: McFarland Cohen, J., & Flad, M.M. (1997). Reinventing the image of the public library: Insights gained from community focus groups. Multicultural Review 6, 50-56, 63 Constantino, R. (1994). "It's like a lot of things in America:" Linguistic minority parents' use of libraries. School Library Media Quarterly 20(2), 87-89 Constantino, R. (1998). "I did not know you could get such things there!" Secondary ESL students' understandings and beliefs concerning the school and public library. In R. Constantino (Ed.), Literacy, access, and libraries among the language minority community, pp. 53-68. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Lutzker, M. (1995). Multiculturalism in the college curriculum: A handbook of strategies and resources for faculty, chapter 1, pp.9-20. Westport, CT: Greenwood. This is directed at higher education faculty, but I think it is useful for its advice about names and in general for reminding us to avoid ethnocentric behavior. Peterson, L. (1995). Multiculturalism: Affirmative or negative action? Library Journal 120(12), 30-33 Sensitivity seminar. County of Middlesex Department of Human Services. Office for the Disabled Winston, M. (1995, Fall). Cultural sensitivity: Or, how to make the library a better place. Reference Services Review, 23, 7-12 McIntosh, P. (2002). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. In P.S.Rothenberg (Ed.), White privilege: Essential readings on the other side of racism (pp.97-101). New York: Worth. Duncker, E., Theng, Y.L., & Mohd-Nasir, N. (2000). Cultural usability in digital libraries. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science 26(4), 21-22. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science
Week 4	Discussion of readings; review of progress with data collection, community analysis Assignments: Explore the following: New Jersey Library for the Blind and Handicapped. http://njstatelib.org MultiMAC. http://www.npl.org. Click on Collections & Services, then on Multilingual Materials Acquisitions Center Readings: Holmes, A. & Whitehead, D. (1992). Technical services III: Collection development policy and criteria for selection of materials. In M.F. Zielinska (Ed.), Muticultural Librarianship: An International Handbook (pp.145-149). New York: K.G. Saur Manoogian, S.N. (1990). "Issues and procedures in the acquisition of ethnic materials." In K.T.A. Scarborough (Ed.), Developing library collections for California's emerging majority (pp. 66-71). San Francisco: Bay Area Library and Information System, 1990 McMorran, C. & Schlein, A. (1997, November). Walking the multilingual walk. American Libraries 28, 46. Pisano, V.M. (1990). Organizing and cataloging ethnic collections. In K.T.A. Scarborough (Ed.), Developing library collections for California's emerging majority (66-71). San Francisco: Bay Area Library and Information System RUSA multilingual guidelines
Week 5	Issues in cross-cultural communication; discussion of collection development, acquisition, and access issues. Assignments: See proposal guidelines/tutorials and examples at the following: http://fdncenter.org. Go to site map--Learning Lab--Virtual Classroom--Proposal Writing Short Course http://www.imls.gov. Go to IMLS E-Services--NLG Project Planning Tutorial, or see Webliography under NLG Project Planning Tutorial http://www.njch.org. New Jersey Council for the Humanities Also, review the Minnesota grant writing tutorial -- see link in first assignment; see handouts on goals and objectives and action plan; goals and objectives exercise is to be done in class.
Week 6	Mechanics of writing proposals -- goals and objectives. Assignments: Resource guide draft is due. Readings: Cox, T. (1993). Cultural diversity in organizations: theory, research and practice, chapt. 15. San Francisco: Brett-Koehler. Fitzgerald, A. & Jones, D. (1997). ARL partnerships program: Breaking down walls and building bridges. Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries Goodwin, J.G. (1998). Perceptions of diversity: A diversity climate survey, Fairfax County Library. Fairfax, VA: The Library. Adkins, D. & Espinal, I. (2004). The diversity mandate. Library Journal, April 15 Gomez, C. (1994). Cultural diversity staff training: The challenge. In K.H. Hill (Ed.), Diversity and Multiculturalism in libraries (29-42). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press Kendall, M. (1990) Training for library work in multicultural Britain. In R. Prytherch (Ed.), Handbook of library training practice (vol. 2, 17-48). Brookfield, VT: Gower. Only pp 36-39 are assigned; please print out and bring to class with you for discussion! Espinal, I. (2003). Wanted: Latino librarians. Criticas 3 (5), 19-24 Explore the following: http://oceancounty.lib.nj.us/About/Diversity-Plan.htm http://www.alllooksame.com http://tolerance.org -- "Explore your hidden biases" primer (under Dig Deeper on sidebar)
Week 7	Turn in first draft of resource guide. Discussion of staff development issues Assignments: Keep working on the resource guide and start writing the proposal. Explore these resources: Proposal Writing Help Tutorials: http://www.fdncenter.org/learn/shortcourse/prop1.html http://www.njch. org Click on the Grants button on the top bar http://e-services.imls.gov/project_planning/ http://www.mcf.org/mcf/grant/writing.htm http://www.newjerseyreads.org To see the IMLS grant application, go to http://www.imls.gov/grants/library/pdf/recruitAppl2005.pdf See especially the section on how proposals are evaluated (pp. 17-18), and the budget forms and time line (pp. 34-37) Additional guides: ProposalParts.doc Goals and Objectives.doc Writing Objectives (E-Learn).bmp 517njActionPlan.bmp 517njProposalActivityPlan.doc Sample proposal-learning technology.pdf Sample proposal-migrant education.doc Sample Budget Worksheet.pdf 517ProposalEvaluation.doc Sites that help estimate costs: http://www.ifls.lib.wi.us/ Click on budget, scroll through for book costs, useful links, etc http://www.aimusa.com/content/employment_services/convert.shtml [salary calculator] http://www.demco.com http://www.brodart.com http://www.highsmith.com
Week 8	Field trip? Guest speaker? Readings: St. Lifer, E. (2001). Tapping into the Zen of marketing. Library Journal 126(8), 44-46 Skrzeszewski, S. (1992). Marketing, public relations and promotion. In M.F. Zielinska & F.T. Kirkwood (Eds.), Multicultural librarianship: An international handbook (305-329). New York: K.G. Saur.
Week 9	Translating your findings into an action plan; proposal writing and discussion of training and marketing issues Assignments: Review marketing -see my Marketing notes.doc. Review Foundation Center short course on proposal writing http://www.fdncenter.org/learn/shortcourse/prop1.html and see the last set of handouts on proposals in document sharing. Explore http://bobby.watchfire.com Readings: LoTempio, S.M. (7 October, 2005). A ticket to bias. New York Times, op-ed A29 Hutchinson, N.G. (2001). Beyond ADA compliance: Redefining accessibility. American Libraries 32 (6), 76-78 Klauber, J. (1998). Living well with a disability: How librarians can help. American Libraries 29(10), 52-55. Pontau, D.Z. (1994). Transforming academic libraries for students with disabilities. In K.H. Hill (Ed.), Diversity and Multiculturalism in libraries (29-42). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. Walling, L.L. (2001). Public libraries and people with mental retardation. Public Libraries 40, 115-120
Week 10	Review proposal writing. Discussion of sample target groups for outreach; examples of services Readings: Greenblatt, E. & Gough, C. (1994). Gay and lesbian library users: Overcoming barriers to service. In K.H. Hill (Ed.), Diversity and Multiculturalism in libraries, pp. 29-42. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press Langley, L.P. Brady, D., & Sartisky, M. (2001). Family literacy in action. Public Libraries 40, 160-165. Sullivan, L.E. (2000). The least of our brethren: Library services to prisoners. American Libraries 31(5), 56-58. Vogel, B. (1997). Bailing out prison libraries. Library Journal 122(19), 35-37.
Week 11	Target groups, services, continued
Week 12	Target groups, services, continued
Week 13	Reflections on outreach services; proposal writing review
Week 14	Proposal presentations
Week 15	Proposal presentations; feedback