Project, Work, and Volunteer Opportunities

1.  Site: Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, East St. Louis, IL

 Activities:

• Serve as general office assistant to Ms. Stovall, with work including bookkeeping, report-writing, filing, office organization. (This activity is probably best done as a practicum, since it requires substantial and regular on-site presence).  

• Grant research and writing. Create website to support KDCAH’s development of grant proposals. Conduct grant-writing workshop for KDCAH staff. Assist with proposal-writing.

• Expand the KDCAH’s website (http://www.eslarp.uiuc.edu/kdunham/). One priority is to reach a broader, international audience, especially for the Children’s Workshop.

• Develop promotional and marketing materials.

• In relationship to the ESLARP/315 computer lab scheduled for installation in late Fall 2002: develop and present training programs for staff; develop interactive activities for KDCAH visitors, especially children. One specific idea is to develop an activity that would link KDCAH with the ESL’s Jackie Joyner-Kersee Youth Center (see the East St. Louis News for a story about the Center -- http://www.swi-news.com/E-STLNews.htm. Also see a press release for the Center’s newly created computer clubhouses -- http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20020606corp_a.htm)

 Contact Info:

Additional Info:  

The Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities are a non-profit, multi-disciplinary arts organization founded by, and currently operated under the artistic direction and leadership of dance legend Katherine Dunham. The organization exists to promote and preserve Miss Dunham's legacy as embodied in her anthropological writings, films, and works of visual art. The Centers operate the Katherine Dunham Dynamic Museum, East St. Louis' only cultural center. The Museum houses collections of African and Caribbean folk and contemporary art, and an extensive body of material documenting Miss Dunham's life and work. In addition, the Centers operate several arts training programs for children and adults. The Centers’ programs emphasize Miss Dunham's unique concept of "humanization and socialization of individuals and communities through the arts" and include a network of outstanding international visual and performing artists, educators, and researchers, who make available their knowledge and skills to the youth of East St. Louis.

2.  Site: Center for Women in Transition, Champaign, IL

Activities:

• Computer mentoring and training for women and children residing at the Center (Center has only one networked computer in each residence)
• Collection management. CWT has a small collection of print reading material, but it is not catalogued, nor was it systematically planned. Useful activities include: conduct inventory; assess collection goals and needs by surveying staff and residents; develop collection policies; plan for move to new building.

Contact Info:

Additional Info:  

The Center for Women in Transition provides support services and safe transitional housing to homeless women and their children to foster and sustain their self-sufficiency.

3.  Site: Douglass Branch Library, Champaign, IL

Activities:

• Computer mentoring and training for young children (5-7 yrs.)
• Develop and conduct workshops for staff and patrons for Microsoft Office applications (which came with the newly installed Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation computers), especially Word and PowerPoint.
• Liaison for teen group called Teen Mac. The group, whose members are mostly girls, pretty much set their own agenda. The previous liaison steered them toward creating their own poetry and journals, which they liked. Research additional teen program activities, presenting work along the way to library staff. Work with staff to develop more teen programs.
• The Douglass Library is striving to answer the question: How can we get more adults through the door? Numerous book displays have highlighted relevant adult material and certain patron needs are well-known, such as health information and programs. Analyze Douglass Branch patron needs, as well as best practices in other similar public libraries. Present results to library staff and work with them to develop ideas for increasing adult library use.
• Douglass Library currently has an evening program devoted to family literacy and adult education. They have run a “career night” as well as a “family reading night.” Volunteer as a participant in this program and work with staff on background research or behind-the-scenes activities, as needed.

Contact Info:

Additional Info:  

The Douglass Library is in the process of forming a community advisory committee. Their input will help in setting future directions and developing library programs and services. A key aspect of all the CPL projects is to gain the participation of staff and share what students are learning with them, in order to both build staff capacity and benefit from their expertise.

4.  Site: Independent Media Center, Urbana, IL

Activities:

The IMC includes a library, charged with supporting the research and information needs of IMC media creators and the community at large. It has several small collections of print and web material (http://www.ucimc.org/library/collections.html). Join IMC’s Radical Librarians Group and participate in the following ongoing work and special projects:

• Collection management, especially assessment of goals and needs of users;
• Catalog the IMC’s zine collection and develop zine-related activities to engage with other community organizations and residents (e.g., conduct zine creation workshops with residents of the Center for Women in Transition);
• Inventory and provide access to collections held by other small, local community organizations. Strategic planning and policy writing ­-- does it make sense to have a local independent library consortium with actual lending across organizations?

Contact Info:

Additional Info: 

The Urbana-Champaign IMC is a grassroots collective that provides a forum for community members to voice issues, ideas and opinions that are often underrepresented in the dominant media. The organization is also committed to being a safe and welcoming space for all people. The IMC is actively working against the dynamics of sexism, racism, classism, heterosexism, and ageism that are present in our society and within Indymedia itself.

5.  Site: Washington Park Public Library, Washington Park, IL (Washington Park is one of the communities participating in the East St. Louis Action Research Project)

Activities:

• Grant research and writing. Create website to support library’s development of grant proposals. Conduct grant-writing workshop for library staff. Assist library with proposal-writing.
• Organize computer clubs for early readers and young adults.
• Develop programs to assist with basic math and science proficiency for children through middle school. For example, create book displays and web guides for fun math and science activities; conduct Inquiry Page workshops related to math and science activities.
• Develop better means for kids to become aware of Internet safety issues, learn to be critical consumers of internet resources, and make good choices regarding their use of the internet.
• Support community inquiry and activism through Inquiry Page (http://inquiry.uiuc.edu/) workshops and/or other means. The local concerned citizens group is fighting EPA regulations in its ongoing efforts to improve the local community. Environmental conditions are a major concern, such as clean water. The library has extensive pollution data that could be more fully leveraged for local research and action.

Contact Info: 

Additional Info:  

This is a small but vibrant community library that shares a building with Americorps and a police sub-station. The library hosts an East St. Louis Action Research Project (see http://www.eslarp.uiuc.edu/) Neighborhood Technical Assistance Center (NTAC) computer lab, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation computer lab, and Safe Haven and Teens Reach programs. The elementary school located three blocks away is the only area school not on the “endangered species list” created by the Bush administration’s “no child left behind” regulations.

6.  Site: East St. Louis Public Library, East St. Louis, IL

Activities:

•  Grant research and writing. Create website to support library’s development of grant proposals. Conduct grant-writing workshop for library staff. Assist library with proposal-writing.

• Conduct a workshop on website development for staff. Help them to improve and augment their current website; build their capacity for maintaining the library’s website on their own in the future.

• Develop programs and resources for Seniors. The library has few large-print books and no magazines. They have a long list of seniors on their waiting list for computer training.

• Participate in a grant-funded library program for 9th and 10th graders that will start in the fall. A group of 12 students in an English class will be given palm pilots loaded with a set of books and use them for a kind of book club discussion group.

• Develop programs to attract more older kids (5th-7th graders) to the library.

Contact Info:

Additional Info:  

The East St. Louis Public Library is based in a beautiful new building directly across from the local high school. Its staff members represent an exceptional base of expertise; many have worked in the library for more than a decade. For a newspaper article about the ESL public library’s new building, see http://www.swi-news.com/SWI-ESTL323.htm

7.  Site: Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC), Chicago, IL

Activities:

Work with students and staff at the PRCC’s Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School (PACHS) to:

• Create a website for the Center.

• Develop programs leading to a Latino science or history fair, so that students will be better prepared to compete with other Chicago students in such events.

•  Develop and conduct individualized learning experiences with students in science, math, English, history, and computer technology. This could include creating a web-based guide to relevant online teaching and learning activities; conducting Inquiry Page (http://inquiry.uiuc.edu) workshops to facilitate students’ research and promote additional computer expertise; providing one-on-one tutoring/mentoring outside normal school hours.

• Help to inventory, organize, and provide access to the PRCC’s library collections: 10,000 books related to Puerto Rican culture, an African collection, and a smaller literature collection. Three specific projects are: 1) The high school would like to provide more engaging experiences for students related to reading literature; improving their physical collection or developing a collection of engaging literature on the web would be helpful; 2) Begin developing an inventory or catalog of the PRCC’s books. 3) In moving to their new building, the Center would like help in planning for a kind of “community library” where their collections could be more open to the general public. Students could help develop a strategic plan and actually begin work on it, if time permits.

• Help with the PRCC’s physical move to their new building on West Division St., slated for November 1, 2002.

• Work on the development of PRCC community technology centers for Humboldt Park.

The PRCC’s Family Learning Center (FLC) is a 10-year old adult education and family literacy project. It was created to allow adult parents to complete their high school equivalency degree along with obtaining free daycare in a family education environment. Work with students and staff in the Family Learning Center to:

• Provide computer training for FLC students;

• Participate in ongoing literacy programs;

• Develop and conduct intergenerational literacty activities.

Vida/SIDA is an innovative community-based outreach project dedicated to bring awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS and STD, as well as reproductive health educational materials, to area schools and the Puerto Rican/Latin community. Work with Vida/SIDA to:

• Organize the non-circulating collection of books and journals currently housed in their resource center; and create an inventory of the resource center’s material to post on their website;

•  Expand the “Other Links” portion of their website;

• Train staff to update their website calendar;

• Update (and possibly revise) Vida/SIDA’s database of their outreach activities. The database currently runs on FileMaker Pro, but they also have Microsoft Access. It contains date that records outreach activities performed and anonymous demographic data on clients receiving each of three outreach services: general contact, 2nd time callers, and individual education sessions.

Contact Info:

Additional Info: 

The PRCC was established 30 years ago. It promotes self-reliance, self-actualization, and self-determination in all of its programs. The PRCC houses the Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School, the Centro Infantil Consuelo Lee Corretjer (daycare) and the Family Learning Center. The Dr. Campos High School seeks to offer a safe and inviting place to explore the world; its philosophy is based on Paulo Freire’s pedagogy of freedom and a methodology of critical thinking. The PRCC also has projects beyond its walls, including: the Vida Health Center and Vida/Sida HIV/STD prevention project; La Casita de Don Pedro (a museum and cultural activity site modeled on a typical 1950’s home in Puerto Rico), and the Café Teatro Batey Urbano.

8.  Site: Computer Learning and Mentoring’s (CLAM) Stratton Tech Club

Activities:  

Join the team of CLAM staff and volunteers who operate the Stratton Tech Club (http://www.clamcenter.org/~stratton/intro.html) at the Kenneth O. Stratton Elementary School, 902 N. Randolph Street, Champaign (http://www.cmi.k12.il.us/Champaign/buildings/stratton/). The Tech Club meets twice weekly after school, from 2:30-4:00. Volunteers should plan on attending orientation and planning sessions in September. Staff are currently in the process of curriculum development, and they are interested in exploring the application of Paulo Freire’s educational philosophy to Tech Club activities. They are also trying to figure out what to do with returning students versus a whole batch of new students. Volunteers don't need to be computer experts; anyone who has a general understanding of Macs and likes working with kids is welcome.

Contact Info:

Additional Info: 

The Computer Learning And Mentoring Center (CLAM) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to reduce the local digital divide and empower people with the tools they need to enrich themselves and their communities by providing access to computer technology and computer technology education (http://www.clamcenter.org/index.shtml).

9.  Site: Prairienet Community Network, Champaign, IL.

Activities:

Content/Functionality Development

• Prairienet may be doing a web site makeover for the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois. Prairienet is talking about making this site a model site for Web accessibility. It will be following the new Illinois Web accessibility Guidelines:

http://www100.state.il.us/tech/technology/accessibility/

This would be an excellent opportunity for a student to do an accessibility audit on the before and after Web sites.

• Mary Anne Wilson (United Way) and Karen Fletcher at Prairienet are ready to roll immediately on their childcare database project. They have a slot for someone who is interested in working with Prairienet and United Way’s Success by 6 program to develop and pilot a Web-based reporting system which will let daycare providers report on open slots available for drop-in daycare. Volunteers will:  

•  attend all project meetings (first on at 1 pm, Sept. 10th in Karen Fletcher’s office)

•  help with user needs analysis

• collect feedback

• observe and assist with Web site design and database development

• conduct on-site training at the daycare centers in use of Web-based reporting system

•  be available to assist the program coordinator (to be hired) with the administrative functions of the system

• assist with evaluation of pilot phase.  

• Prairienet also needs research related to creating a template where non-profits and individual users can create and edit web pages on the fly… similar to the Inquiry Page (http://inquiry.uiuc.edu) and the way it creates Inquiry Units on the fly, or the way you are able to create a web page on the LEEP server with Site Edit. The template could be used in Prairienet’s Community Networking Initiative classes to have people with little technical expertise create a basic web page. Perhaps this might entice even more non-profits to join Prairienet because they could post info even if they don't have the greatest web skills. It would be useful to have some research about what could be done - Who is doing this? What software are they using, etc.  Students could also think through what a template might look like if Prairienet created this - the types of questions to ask individuals (name, interests, favorite sites, etc.) and non-profits (name of org, purpose, contact person, activities, etc.) to automatically generate the web pages.

Training

• Training for seniors - especially those at the Douglass Center Annex and possibly Canterbury Ridge. Involvement could range from developing the curriculum to actually doing all the steps involved in putting on a training session (interviewing the residents to see what they want, developing the curriculum and training material, finding trainers and an accessible training location, delivering and refining the training).

• Develop a computer accessibility toolkit ... there are a lot of products available that could help seniors and others have an easier time using computers ... limited eyesight and physical mobility have hindered the seniors that Prairienet serves from using the computers to the extent that they might ... ideally, the toolkit could be used to demo different products that seniors might use to make their computer easier to use (corrections to eye glasses that could be made; devices that can be fitted over bifocals, made by companies like compulens; software solutions that make the screen easier to see, etc). This project would involve research into the physical challenges of the seniors and recommendations for products. Prairienet has a budget to buy some items but seniors could also request complimentary products for demo purposes). Demo versions of products for Prairienet could be requested to use to take out to different sites to show the seniors the possibilities and a demo could also be done at a place like Douglas or Canterbury Ridge.

• Advanced training classes for the general public and for CNI class members (The Community Networking Initiative provides training and donated computers to those in need. The original CNI project ended in 1998, after delivering computers and training to over 700 low-income residents). Currently, Prairienet offers training in computer and Internet basics, but could use some curriculum developed for advanced classes like word processing and other topics.

• Follow up with CNI class members to see how they are using their machines and how Prairienet can help them to make better use of their machines; perhaps go out to visit homes and help people in homes to set up and use their CNI computers.

• Work on trying out strategies to increase usage of Prairienet’s public access workstations, including analysis of what software Prairienet should install, how to make the workstations more useful, and what small classes could be offered at any of these sites.

Contact Info:

For training activities:

For content development activities:

Additional Info: 

Prairienet, founded in 1993, is a member- and donation-supported community information network for Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding East-Central Illinois region, offered as a community service by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prairienet's mission is to:

• Strengthen community organizations by helping them provide and retrieve networked information.
• Empower individuals by providing access to networked information and by teaching the skills necessary to access and use this information.
• Facilitate information and resource sharing in support of community development efforts.
• Promote equity in access to computer resources for everyone in the community.

10.        Site: Family Service, Champaign, IL

Activities: 

Family Service's Help Book (http://www.prairienet.org/helpbook/) is a comprehensive online directory of human and social services in Champaign Co., IL. Family Service needs volunteers for the data entry. The ideal is to have those 2 or 3 people who can commit to about 10-15 hours/week for the duration of the project, which began in mid-August and will continue for about 6 weeks. The office is open 8:30 - 5:00 on Wed. and Fri., and 8:30 - 7:00 on Mon., Tues., and Thurs. If needed, volunteers can be let in on the weekend. Volunteers will have an office or a cubicle for their work. If interested, this project can also include helping to plan for or implement improvements to the HelpBook online.

Contact Info:

(If Joyce is unavailable, contact Debora Jones: djones@prairienet.org; 217-352-0099)

Additional Info:  

Family Service (http://www.prairienet.org/family-service/) is a private, non-profit, non-governmental organization founded in 1911. Its mission is to alleviate individual distress, strengthen families and improve community life by: facilitating access to and coordination of community human service resources; and providing quality, integrated, affordable human services to families and individuals of all ages, especially those who otherwise would not be served. Family Service is a long-time collaborator with Prairienet in making important community information more broadly accessible.     

11.        Site: GSLIS Social Justice website

Activities:  

Reorganize and expand the current “Social Justice Group” website (http://www.prairienet.org/socialjustice-group/). Reorient so that the main page is about “Social Justice in the Information Professions” with a link to the Social Justice group. Serve as ongoing webmaster. Conduct research into social justice theory and practice and add links and material to the website, based on your findings and on contributions of other members of the social justice community. Of particular interest is to present social justice activities in other LIS schools. Another possible task is to add easy to use functionality to improve communication and collaboration among site users, such as an interactive calendar (see the Inquiry Page calendar at http://inquiry.uiuc.edu/)

Contact Info:

12.        Site: Afya Project (Champaign, IL)

Activities:

The Afya Project (http://www.prairienet.org/afya-project/purpose.html) is a collaboration involving UI, Parkland College, local libraries and health services, and SisterNet (http://www.sisternetonline.org/), a grassroots organization of local Black women who are committed to nurturing a healthy lifestyle, both for themselves and for the whole community. One facet of Afya is to improve people’s capacity for finding, using, and creating digital information. At SisterNet’s fall conference on spiritual health last year, we developed a successful workshop in which participants used the Inquiry Page (http://inquiry.uiuc.edu) to create their own personal spiritual health plans--see one example at:

http://www.inquiry.uiuc.edu/bin/update_unit.cgi?command=select&xmlfile=u10905.xml  

This fall’s conference, on intellectual health, will be held on Saturday, Sept. 28. We would like to develop a similar workshop, so we’ll be working on creating an online template via the Inquiry Page that women can use to spin off their own intellectual health plans. Additional activities could include creating a physical health plan template, as well as working with women after the fall conference as they pursue their intellectual health plans. This might involve setting up a regular meeting time at the Douglass Library’s computer lab or other public access computing site, or working individually with SisterNet women, to help them develop additional skills related to conducting research on the web.

Contact Info:

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Last Modified: Friday, December 06, 2002 01:49:35 PM