Owing to the scope and pace of change, society has become increasingly knowledge-based so that higher learning and research now act as essential components of cultural, socio-economic and environmentally sustainable development of individuals, communities and nations. In this environment, it is essential that higher learning and knowledge creation involve effective partnerships among academic and non-academic learning institutions and communities to create and apply learning and knowledge with stakeholders that are managing and creating sustainable development initiatives. Growing concern regarding the importance of the contribution that higher education institutions make to society has aroused increasing debate about their relevance and credibility amid escalating social problems. An underlying premise of community engagement is the understanding that not all knowledge and expertise resides in the academy, and that both expertise and great learning opportunities in teaching and scholarship also reside in non-academic settings.
This conference will explore how LIS educators and researchers can develop curricula, programs, and research activities that enable active partnerships with communities and civil society to manage and create change. How can LIS programs increase opportunities for experiential, service oriented, and community engaged student learning? How can we develop further collaboration between LIS programs and their larger communities (local, regional/ state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity?
Our students need to develop an understanding of issues of culture, bias and equity at the same time that they learn technical skills, like programming. There are compelling ethical and practical reasons why information professionals have a responsibility to understand the organizations and communities in which we use programming skills (Forsgren & Humble, 2016; Sinclair, 2004; Wajcman, 2009; Wolske, Rhinesmith & Kumar, 2014). We don’t teach reference services, project management or cataloging isolated from their organizational and culture contexts, and we should similarly be teaching programming in its cultural context. Unfortunately there are few examples of courses that integrate these themes in a meaningful way. This reflects an ongoing challenge in LIS education to meaningfully engage curricula with issues of diversity, inclusion and equity.
