About us

The Social Justice Group was started in Fall 2001 by GSLIS Professor Ann Bishop as a cluster of faculty, students and staff from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science and other disciplines across the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We share a common vision to create awareness, build understanding, and directly address social justice issues in the information professions. Topics we have focused on include: equity of access to information, participatory and democratic practices in the design and evaluation of information systems, community networking and public access computing in low-income neighborhoods, the development of theory and research methods in LIS that promote the interests of marginalized society members, and the provision of library services promoting racial, economic, and gender equity in society.

The Social Justice Group engages in:

  • Discussion of social justice issues, readings identified by group members, and reports of events and activities of interest to group members;
  • Provision of a forum in which group members present their research;
  • Interaction with guest speakers from the community or other institutions across the country;
  • Community outreach and service-learning; and
  • Building a community of people interested in social justice in the information professions.

Our vision of social justice in the information professions encourages active participation of marginalized society members in redirecting the social processes responsible for current inequities related to information creation, dissemination and use. Our hope is to support the redefinition of existing relationships and the adoption of just practices in information systems and services. To fulfill this dream, we are working to seed cross-disciplinary collaboration among dispersed groups and individuals.

The social justice group did not hold meetings during Summer and Fall 2002. Instead our effort locally was directed to developing and conducting a new course, called "Social Justice in the Information Professions". (LIS 450 SJ).

GSLIS offers a number of courses especially geared to students interested in social justice issues:

  • LIS250RGI Race, Gender and Information Technology 

Description Examines how expression of gender and race affect, and are affected by, information technologies. The course considers how information technologies interact with race and gender in settings like high-technology workplaces, classification schemes, and the cultures of computing, and reviews theoretical background in the social studies of gender, race, technology and knowledge. 

  • LIS315 Introduction to Network Information Systems 

Description Hands-on introduction to technology systems for use in information environments. The course steps students through choosing, installing, and managing computer hardware and operating systems, as well as networking hardware and software. Students will have an opportunity to
design and create a working network environment as part of the course work. Field trips required.

  • LIS350AR Designing Universally Accessible WWW Resources 

Description Introduction to the concepts of designing web based materials to be more accessible to people with disabilities. Participants need to have experience in developing and publishing web materials. Students will learn how web browsing is different for people with disabilities and how to use W3C standards to create materials that are not only more accessible to people with disabilities, but make it easier for all people to access web materials. Students will test major authoring tool support for acessible design and review the capabilities of various evaluation and repair tools to help determine the accessibility problems of current web resources and to improve their accessibility. Students will work in small groups to evaluate and improve the accessibility of an existing web-based course at Illinois. 

  • LIS350LEI Legal and Ethical Information Issues 

Description Considers legal issues such as privacy, copyright, intellectual and academic freedom, and censorship, from the U.S. and an international perspective. Ethical situations covered include the
distribution, use, and possession of information that might harm others. This class is for undergraduates and beginning graduate students who are interested in learning about such issues as they apply to a wide variety of social and cultural contexts. 

  • LIS350SH Contemporary Culture and Information Industry 

Description Theoretical approaches to the study of culture and information are used to engage with an extended period in US history. The course examines the rise of the market in cultural and information
provision, and situates selected instances of market development within wider processes of social historical development. 

  • LIS350TC Social History of U.S. Telecommunications 

Description This course seeks to provide a broad historical account of a vital producer and consumer service: telecommunications. Its focus is on changing industry structures and public policies, set within the larger historical movement of American society. Experiences of private carrier monopoly, inter-carrier competition, and regulated monopoly are examined; the impact of emergent and sometimes destabilizing technologies, from radio to computer networking, is analyzed; and successive conflicts over the social purpose of telecommunications are scrutinized.

  • LIS391 Literacy in the Information Age (ITS minor capstone)

Description [Same as Comm 391.] This seminar explores what it means to be information literate in today's world. Students examine a number of information literacies, from print to multimedia, from stand-alone to networked, and discuss a variety of themes that have been affected by new communication and information technologies, such as community, the political sphere, and education. This course is normally taken as a capstone course in the student's last spring semester.

  • LIS450CI Community Information Systems 

Description Introduces community information systems, with an emphasis on community networks. Provides an opportunity to develop knowledge about community information and current issues in its creation, transfer and use. In this course, "community information system" is used broadly to designate any set of technologies, services, and content whose purpose is to supply information, primarily of a local nature, to members of a given geographic community.

  • LIS450ET Emerging Technologies and Community Information Systems 

Description This course looks at current technologies used to build community information systems, reviews emerging technologies, and discusses how emerging technologies might fit into existing community information systems or how they might be used to build new community information systems. One emerging technology will be selected during the semester as a case study of the broader issues related to implementation of an emerging technology within an existing community information system
or to create a new community information system. 

  • LIS450IF Intellectual Freedom and Library Services for Youth 

Description This course examines the intellectual freedom issues that affect children and young adults, including the censorship of books and student publications and the use of Internet filtering software in
libraries and schools. In addition, it explores cultural factors that affect young people's reading and viewing choices, including literary awards, mass media, youth culture, youth activism, and corporate marketing to youth. This course provides an opportunity for in-depth discussion of censorship controversies and developing the skills and strategies needed to navigate them. 

  • LIS450ISP Social History of U.S. Telecommunications: Industry Structure and Policy 

Description Same as COMM 490Q. This course seeks to render a broad historical portrait of the range and character of a vital producer and consumer service: telecommunications. Episodes of social conflict over the institutional purpose of telecommunications are accorded emphasis in our effort to set changing industry structures and public policies within the larger and longer-term historical movement of American society. 

  • LIS450NL New Literacies 

Description Explores what it means to be information literate in today's world. Students will examine a number of information literacies, from print to multimedia, from stand-alone to networked, and discuss a variety of themes that have been affected by new communication and information technologies, such as community, the political sphere, and education. In the course students will learn about literacy in the
information age, including rationales, approaches, implementations, challenges, and dilemmas; reflect upon historical processes, philosophical issues, and technical changes through small group discussions during class; study new literacy practices through an individual or small group research project. 

  • LIS 450/350PAR Participatory Action Research 

Description Participatory action research (PAR) unites people from all walks of life in identifying, investigating, and taking action on conditions that affect the well-being of local residents. Special
attention is given to building on the capacity and knowledge of people who face poverty, discrimination, or other barriers to achieving control over their lives and a voice in public affairs. This course will investigate the theory and practice of PAR, as it has been applied in spheres of life that include the evaluation of educational programs, the development of health services, the improvement of leisure opportunities, and the design of information and communication technologies. Students will collaborate
in conducting a local community-based research and action project, as well as have the opportunity to develop their individual research interests. 

  • LIS450SJ Social Justice in the Information Professions 

Description This course examines how issues of social justice are treated in LIS and related fields. It provides students with the opportunity to revisit the conceptual foundations of LIS and explore
current practice related to achieving equitable, democratic, and beneficial information services for all members of society. The course will introduce students to prominent researchers and proponents of
underserved groups, such as the poor and minorities. Students will investigate policy and practice related to marginalized society members, analyzing various aspects of information service provision (e.g., reference, cataloging, collection development, access to materials, public access computing, user studies and evaluation). 

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Last Modified: Monday, December 09, 2002 08:47:59 PM