Community Informatics for Whom?

摘要

The approach in the community informatics program at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign includes linking LIS students to local community efforts. There are several challenges in this effort due to different priorities among the interrelated stakeholders: academic faculty and staff with diverse perspectives on what constitutes Cl work; students, who have limited opportunities to participate in community engagement activities since they must integrate quickly into a two-year master's program; and community partners, whose schedules, resources, and goals differ from that of the university. While the university-based community informatics curriculum is still evolving, its most immediate successes have been those initiated by students who expanded their class assignments into enduring community programs.