Charge for International and Area Studies Implementation Team

International and Area Studies Implementation Team

 

BACKGROUND :

 

In Fall 2008, a planning team composed of Library faculty and staff from an array of Library units directly involved in providing services in support of international and area studies programs on campus, as well as faculty members from two of the liaison National Resource Centers (Title VI), was convened to continue earlier discussions about how to best support both international and area studies. The Team agreed that a new unit called the International and Area Studies (IAS) Library should be established. The vision outlined by this team indicated that the resulting unit should serve as the University's gateway to the world of information and scholarship about international, global, and area studies. This new service point should build upon and enhance the excellence of the University Library's existing services, promote opportunities for collaboration and coordination among all programs in the Library supporting the study of the world and its regions, and provide a single physical service point and web presence for library users who may need to draw upon various library collections (including relevant resources that may continue to be managed by other units, e.g., international documents, newspapers and maps) and upon the expertise of librarians supporting international and area studies. As such, the proposed service point would connect the knowledge that is crucial to developing global competencies through the study of global concerns and transnational issues as well as the study of distinct nations and regions. In their final report, the team recommended that a smaller implementation team be charged to pursue the integration of existing Library units serving international and area studies programs into an IAS Library that supports the vision outlined by the International and Area Studies New Service Model Team.

 

The Implementation Team now being charged is being asked to plan for the establishment of this new unit.  The service program implemented should be grounded in the Library's ongoing commitment to developing rich collections of international materials and to providing access to subject specialists who support the use of those materials. Because of the Library's commitment to retain, for the immediate future, the current location of its Office of Advancement and Public Affairs (a space earlier identified as suitable for a new IAS unit), the International and Area Studies Library will instead be located on the Main Library's 3 rd floor.

 

CHARGE

 

The International and Area Studies Implementation Team (IASIT) is charged with developing a service profile, a space program, and an implementation plan for the University Library's International and area studies activities. This team is expected to build upon the work of the Library's previous International and Area Studies New Service Model Team. The IASIT will:

 

  1. Develop a service profile for the new unit. This process should draw upon the expertise of working group members who are not affiliated with the University Library and include broad consultation with relevant communities on campus, including the Title VI Area Studies Centers, other international and area studies centers, and the full array of programs coordinated at the campus level by International Programs and Studies < http://ilint.illinois.edu/ >, including Study Abroad, continuing education, and public engagement programs, in order to develop a broad-based understanding of the existing and emerging needs of global, international and area studies students and scholars
  2. Identify opportunities for the development of new initiatives and expansion of services currently offered
  3. Identify complementary service programs within the University Library and recommend how these relationships can be further developed to support robust information services to international and area studies
  4. Draw upon the expertise of team members affiliated with the Library to develop a space program that builds upon the aforementioned service profile. This process should engage and involve faculty and staff of the proposed unit
  5. Develop a model  for the staffing and organizational structure of the new International and Area Studies Library
  6. Identify opportunities for collaborative collection development both within the new unit and in coordination with other library units
  7. Collaborate with the NSM coordinator to develop timelines and schedules for IAS Library implementation, including specific steps needed to implement the proposed service profile, a timeline for implementing these steps, a table of staffing and resource needs that identifies ideal and alternate models for meeting identified service needs

 

The group should produce a report for the University Library by March 19, 2010.

 

MEMBERS

 

Faculty from relevant units

  • Teresa Barnes (Associate Professor, History; African Studies and Women's Studies)
  • Anna Marie Escobar (Associate Professor, Spanish, Italian & Portuguese; Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies - Linguistics)
  • Diane Koenker (Professor, History; Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center)
  • Andrew Orta (Associate Professor of Anthropology; Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies) -- served on the Fall 2008 International and Area Studies Team
  • Elizabeth Oyler (Assistant Professor, East Asian Languages & Cultures; Program in Medieval Studies -- Japanese literature)
  • John Randolph (Associate Professor of Russian History; Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center) - on leave, will review documents by email

Library faculty:

  • Nancy O'Brien (Education and Social Science Library), Team Leader
  • Shuyong Jiang (Asian Library) -- served on the Fall 2008 International and Area Studies Team
  • Lynne Rudasill (Center for Global Studies, Political Science, EU Center) -- served on the Fall 2008 International and Area Studies Team
  • Yoo-Seong Song (Business and Economics Library, Labor and Employee Relations)
  • Marek Sroka (Slavic Library and CAM - Polish) -- served on the Fall 2008 International and Area Studies Team
  • Karen Wei (Asian Library)
  • Tom Teper (Associate University Librarian for Collections), Administrative Liaison

Library staff:

  • Helen Sullivan, Slavic

 

Submitted to the Executive Committee for consideration:  August 2009

Approved by the Executive Committee:  September 3, 2009