Information for All
"Information penetrates every aspect of our lives—education, employment, entertainment and more," says Assistant Professor Paul Jaeger. "If you don’t have equal access, then you’ll probably be left out of a lot of important things in our society.”
Many people still struggle to access online resources like job listings, educational materials or government services due to lingering information disparities in language, literacy, gender, disability, age and other factors. Jaeger helped establish a new concentration in the iSchool’s master of library science program to help close this information gap.
The Information and Diverse Populations concentration is training the next generation of information professionals to design, develop and integrate the wide range of services, resources, technology and outreach needed to serve diverse populations.
Funded by an $800,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the concentration offers research, classroom instruction and mentoring that allows students to develop the practical and analytical skills needed to serve people from almost any background in places like libraries, archives and government agencies.
Jaeger expects the new courses to attract a range of students. “Information professionals have not necessarily represented the way that society looks,” he says. “This program is the first that specifically trains information professionals to succeed in varied settings working with diverse patrons.”