Please see below for some of our current academic initiatives. Please also see our Faculty pages for more information about individual faculty members.
On this page:
Digital Curriculum Laboratory
Jeannette Bastian, Martha Mahard, and Ross Harvey
The Digital Curriculum Laboratory (DCL) will be a virtual space that contains a variety of digital
content, provides an array of tools for describing, preserving and managing this content, and builds an
evolving set of instructional learning modules. For the GSLIS Archives and Preservation concentration it will
be a teaching tool to facilitate experiential student learning in an online environment.
The work of archivists and preservationists is increasingly concerned with digital information, both
digitized and ‘born digital', challenging educators to design ways of providing ‘hands on' teaching tools and
pedagogy in virtual environments. A virtual laboratory that contains a variety of digital content, will
provide an array of tools for describing, preserving and managing this content, and build an evolving set of
instructional learning modules that will prepare students for today's jobs in the archives and preservation
environment. This laboratory will facilitate scenario building, problem solving and tool utilization by
making it possible for students to experience a variety of online archival and preservation procedures and
techniques. Importantly, students will have opportunities to experiment with and evaluate new applications
and evolving standards. The laboratory will be open-ended to accommodate new techniques and technology as
they develop.
Please read more about our Archives Management concentration.
Ph.D. / Managerial Leadership in the
Information Professions Concentration (MLIP)—Targeting Public Library Leadership
Jennifer Andrews, Peter Hernon, Candy Schwartz
In 2005, Simmons GSLIS received a multi-year grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to develop a Ph.D. program focused on managerial leadership in the information professions (MLIP). The program, which combines onsite education and distance education delivered in multiple ways, is intended for practitioners who work full time and wish to continue in their careers while achieving a doctorate.
The public library leadership project, which was funded by IMLS in June 2008, is focused on developing outstanding public library leaders who are credentialed in conducting high quality original research. Program graduates demonstrate competency in a full range of leadership skills along with a keen understanding of the value of original research (and the accompanying research skills) in making wise and visionary decisions while leading public library and information centers. In addition to developing the next generation library leaders, this project generates new knowledge and strengthens ongoing research capacity in the field by developing library leaders who are experienced in evaluating public library services, including evaluation of the management and leadership of those services. This project also serves to enhance the curricula within graduate schools of library and information science (LIS) by generating a significant volume of relevant case studies, scenario plans, research reviews and issue briefs that can be used by LIS educators to strengthen student learning experiences in master's level courses on management and leadership.
Please read more about the Ph.D./MLIP concentration.
Usability Lab
Rong Tang
The Simmons GSLIS Usability Lab, established in September 2008, centers its purpose on fostering
collaborative research and experiential learning, and providing services to communities with usability needs.
Located on the second floor of the Palace Road Building, the GSLIS Usability Lab is an innovative,
state-of-the-practice usability testing facility that offers faculty and students a testing environment to
support user-centered curricula. In the Usability Lab, faculty and students conduct user studies and
usability testing/evaluation of specialized computer software, web interfaces, and library information
systems.
In addition to improving and enhancing the student research experience in GSLIS courses that center on user
information seeking behavior and the principles of information systems design and evaluation, the Usability
Lab gives GSLIS faculty opportunities to develop new courses and initiate cross-discipline collaborative
course offering with departments such as psychology, communication, education, and computer science. The Lab
has also been used for testing, implementing, and extending new initiatives in blended learning across
campus, and could help the library in designing information literacy initiatives.
Currently, multiple cross-institutional collaborative usability research projects are under development,
including a project with Harvard Medical School Center for Biomedical Informatics (CBMI) on the usability of
Harvard's Catalyst Web site. GSLIS Professor Rong Tang has been working with people from CBMI to develop a
program of research that can help the redesign of the interface in preparation of the launch of future
version of Catalyst as well as to provide research opportunities for GSLIS doctoral students.
For more information on the Usability Lab,
including reservations for testing sessions or to receive training, please see http://gslis.simmons.edu/usability/.
See Also
- Academic Initiatives
- Diversity Initiatives
- International Initiatives
- Technology Initiatives
