For Immediate Release April 7, 2005

For More Information Contact: Diane Brown, 317-274-7711 habrown@iupui.edu

IUPUI to Develop Online Course for Museum/Library Professionals

INDIANAPOLIS - The Institute of Museum and Library Services has signed a cooperative agreement with the museum studies and library science programs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis for an $883,171 online course development project.

The IUPUI units will create an online instructor-mediated course in outcomes-based evaluation for library and museum professionals and students in library and museum educational programs. Funding during the three-year project will support course development, testing and a two-year initial deployment at no cost to course participants.

IUPUI was one of 14 institutions that responded to IMLS' request for proposals to pilot and evaluate a course to train museum and library personnel to master and apply outcomes-based concepts.

"If the aim of the manager in the public sector is to produce public value and to demonstrate that value, then the key to building strong museum and library programs enmeshed in their communities is outcomes-oriented planning and evaluation," Mary Chute, IMLS deputy director for Library Services, said in a press release announcing the grant.

Awarded to the School of Library and Information Science and the School of Liberal Arts, both at IUPUI, the grant could mean better, community-oriented exhibits and programming at libraries and museums around the United States.

"In three years, we can launch a really powerful tool that can be distributed to and operated nationally by library and museum staff people," said IUPUI museum studies Professor Elizabeth Kryder-Reid, who authored the grant proposal.

Those who take the online course will also learn how to measure a program's success based on the accomplishment of the program's stated goals.

"It is not just enough to do a project. We must look at what are the outcomes. What are the effects?" Kryder-Reid said.

"For example, if you think it is important that parents read to their children, then how do you engage parents in doing this? And then what were the outcomes? Did you raise awareness or involvement of parents in the local reading program?"

Course content will build upon case studies that instructors can use as lesson plans, Kryder-Reid said. Software for the course incorporates open-source coding so that users can tweak the software to suit their individual needs.

Along with Kryder-Reid, others at IUPUI who will work on the project include Helen Schwartz, professor of English; Annette Lamb, professor for online development with SLIS; and Rachel Applegate, assistant professor and graduate advisor for academic librarianship.

"This is an excellent opportunity to show collaboration between museum and library studies," said Daniel Callison, professor and executive associate dean for SLIS in Indianapolis.

Focus groups, workshops and other activities will provide feedback on the online course during the three-year pilot stage.

Three different modes of access will be offered: IU's Oncourse (suitable for large institutions), Blackboard (for medium-sized institutions), and IUPUI's Community Learning Network for small institutions or anyone with Internet access. In addition, IU will develop a business model for future deployment of the course, make course materials available for use by other providers at the end of the grant period, and disseminate the evaluation research on the online course through publications and conference presentations.

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