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Research Internship (RI)

"Honoring Generations: Developing the Next Generation of Native Librarians"

Description

The School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin is seeking applications for a Research Internship (RI). The RI will contribute to the Honoring Generations program.

On October 28, 2003, the School of Information (SI) was awarded a $341,294 grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services for "Honoring Generations." This three-year program will recruit and train 6 American Indian students for leadership roles at tribal school, college, and community libraries. Students will receive mentoring by members of the American Indian Library Association. They will participate in community-based service. Those interested in youth services will join a work group for "If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything," a national reading club for Native children headquartered at the SI (http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~ifican). Students interested in tribal college
librarianship will work to develop library instruction resources, such as the OKSALE site SI students developed for the Northwest Indian College (http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~vlibrary). Students interested in tribal public libraries will develop reading guides for the library at the new National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, DC and will develop further content for a Web site for the American Library Association on digital divide efforts in pubic libraries (http://ww.ischool.utexas.edu/~access). RI applicants will be asked to submit an autobiographical essay introducing his or her engagement with indigenous populations along with his or her cultural background. It is common protocol for Native people to introduce themselves in such a way and it will provide me with a means to assess an applicant's SES.

Over forty SI students have been involved in these efforts since 1998. Five SI students assisted native children to digitize artifacts from the NMAI holdings. Twenty students created an information literacy Web site for tribal college students. Another fifteen students participated in "If I Can Read," which now serves 5,000 Indian children at twenty communities, including the Ysleta del Sur Library/Education Center in Socorro, Texas. Students visited tribal communities in Michigan, New Mexico, Arizona, and Washington. They co-presented papers and staffed information booths at events such as conferences of the American Library Association, Texas Library Association, and Library &
Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa. They co-authored papers published in Education Libraries, Tribal College Journal, D-Lib Magazine. One student and I co-edited a book (Getting Libraries the Credit They Deserve, Scarecrow, 2002), that has been very well received.

The structure of the Research Internship will include :

(D) Presenting: We have presented at a dozen venues. The RI will be invited to participate.

(E) Travel or other support: The IMLS grant and a $100,000 Tocker Foundation grant provides funding for site visits to tribal communities. The RI will be invited. The Tocker and IMLS monies provide funding for a GRA position. The RI will be considered for this and other future salaried appointments.

Eligibility

The RI may be admitted to the master's degree or PhD degree programs. To be eligible, a student must not be currently enrolled in graduate studies at UT-Austin; previously enrolled graduate students at UT-Austin are also not eligible. The RI must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident or an alien living in the U.S. who has applied to or has petitions pending with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The RI appointment is for nine months to include the fall 2004 and spring 2005 semesters. The RI will receive a stipend of $16,000 (paid in nine equal installments beginning 1 September 2004), and an additional $715 for medical insurance. Also, the Graduate School will pay up to $2,520 in tuition and required fees for up to the usual nine hours of course work for both semesters. For more information contact Dr. Loriene Roy (Anishinabe/White Earth enrollee) at loriene@ischool.utexas.edu. Additional information about the Honoring Generations program is available at http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~loriene. Admissions information is available on the School of Information Web site at http://www.ischool.utexas.edu.