Revised DFE Proposal: Kettering Foundation

I tried to make some changes to work on scope and time issues, and tried to tighten the connection to SI skills. Organization The Kettering Foundation is a private operating foundation in Dayton OH that researches democracy and how to make it work better through the practice of deliberative democracy. The Foundation produces a number of research papers every year, has a substantial network of contract researchers producing papers, and works with National Issues Forums to create forums on public policy issues around the country. Public Interest/CIC/SI Connection The project relates to SI as I could draw upon readings from courses to help with initial research into the project. Courses particularly relevant include 647 Information Resources and Services, 504 Social Systems and Collections, and possibly Digital Government or 501 Use of Information. The project also relates to the CIC core concept of public work, particularly Harry Boyte’s work on public scholarship, and citizenship and democracy. Project/Responsibility Student will write an issue book on how University of Michigan students use and perceive information resources on campus. The focus could be on the place of the library in student life, digital compared to print resources, perceptions of the library, the library as public space, and so on. The naming and framing sessions will help clarify the primary issues. (As a caveat, another possibility is to look at public libraries and society, and use a different population for the issue book—it could work either way). Furthermore, the student will hold deliberative forums using the issue book. Issue books take one issue and after a general overview, identify three major approaches to understanding and fixing a problem. For example, there are books on social security, America’s role in the world, the environment, and so on. I issue book called "Internet Choices in Public Libraries." Thus, I feel like this could be a very achievable book, and could contribute to public deliberation. The more local a project, the more impact I think it could have. If I were to actually do this project, I would get a chance to write an issue book and try to fix what I see as some of the limitations to them, or at the very least learn to appreciate why these limitations exist, as well as explore a significant information problem in depth. Work/Academic Goal 1. Hold Focus groups/naming and framing sessions with University of Michigan students on the subject of the role of library and information on campus. (20%) Recruitment of students is necessary as well as mentor involvement during this stage. 2. Participate in Moderator Training (10%) Student will participate in a two-day workshop about how to moderate forums. 3. Writing of Issue book (50%) Student will draw upon readings from classes, other background research, and the naming and framing sessions to write the issue book. 4. Holding of Forums (20%) Leading actually forums based on the issue book with students and reporting on the outcome of the forums to Kettering is a necessary component of the projrect. Ideally, the forums would be valuable for the community and to contribute knowledge on how people feel about a specific information issue. Mentors: There are several possibilities for mentors, including program officers at the Kettering Foundation and writers of issues books. This will be the trickiest part of the internship proposal. However, KF hosts about 6 international students a year in internship type opportunities, and they usually produce an issue book during their time at KF, so mentoring is available. Debi Witte, Alice Diebel, and one of the authors of an issue book are all potential mentors. Time Scale: This project probably would take 25-30 hours a week for a summer to complete. The biggest obstacle to completing it in a summer is actually holding the forums and reporting on them. It might be necessary to write the book over the summer and hold the forums in the fall, either as another internship or on my own time. There is also the possibility of attending workshops and meeting at Kettering to learn from colleagues across the country doing similar work. Scope is the biggest challenge to the project and getting started as early as possible on setting up naming and framing sessions would be the best way to ensure success. Also essential is talking to writers of issue books to find out how long it takes them to complete a project and learning the best practices.