Indiana University’s School of Library and Information Science and the IU Digital Library Program received a $939,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to educate librarians for work in digital library programs.

IU will partner with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to create the first research-based, comprehensive master’s-level program for training information specialists in digital library development. Both institutions will offer internships for students to gain experience with digital library projects.

The granting agency also selected Indiana University to host a national conference planned by representatives from schools of library and information science that are developing digital management programs, with a goal of developing recommendations for core competencies in digital information management.

“Being selected to host a national conference speaks to our standing as one of the nation’s leading digital library programs,” says Suzanne Thorin, Ruth Lilly University Dean of University Libraries and Associate Vice President for Digital Library Development. “We were already a leader, but this opportunity pushes us to the forefront. I am very proud of the program we have developed at IU.”

Digital libraries provide online collections and services, just as traditional libraries acquire, organize, and give access to print collections. Librarians who create and manage digital collections and services must know about imaging technologies, optical character recognition, indexing and database technologies, programming, and how people use the Web.  

The grant will leverage the strengths of the IU School of Library and Information Science, ranked sixth in the nation in library science education, and the IU Digital Library Program, renowned as a leader in research and development through projects such as VARIATIONS, which marked the national introduction of digitized music distributed over a computer network.

"This award recognizes the school's many strengths in both digital library teaching and research," says Blaise Cronin, dean and Rudy Professor of Information Science at IU's School of Library and Information Science. "We have been offering graduate courses in digital libraries for almost a decade and during that time IU has received several grant awards from the National Science Foundation to support digital library-related research."

Javed Mostafa, associate dean at the School of Library and Information Science, and Kristine Brancolini, head of IU’s Digital Library Program, are co-directors of the grant.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities. In 2002, first lady Laura Bush, a former librarian, announced the funding program, which seeks to recruit and prepare librarians for the 21^st century.

For more information:  http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/      http://www.slis.indiana.edu/