SC&I Receives Prestigious OCLC Research Grant

Take a look at Fox’s new story on SC&I’s recipiency of a library grant, which can be read in full here.

2/7/2017

The Online Computer Center (OCLC) in conjunction with The Association for Library and Information Science Educationalt (ALISE) awarded Assistant Professor Charles Senteio and Part-Time Lecturer Nancy Kranich the Library and Information Science Research Grant for 2017 in the amount of $24,913. The goal of this grant is, “to promote independent research that contributes to a better understanding of the information environment and user expectations and behaviors.”

Their proposal “Investigating Engagement of Public, Academic, and Medical Libraries with Community-Based Health and Wellness Activities in Diverse Urban Communities,” outlines their plan to work with local libraries in the New Brunswick area to assess and make recommendations on their engagement efforts with health and wellness related information services. The goal of the study is to help better align the community’s needs with the information services local libraries provide, such as informing the public about issues pertaining to national and state healthcare and insurance.

Senteio and Kranich plan on using the funds from the grant to incentivize community members’ participation in the study and hire a research assistant to collect data and to do analysis.

Beyond the financial award, receiving a grant from OCLC/ALISE, “helps the school and specifically the department, because OCLC/ALISE is well-known and prestigious,” according to Senteio.

Kranich attended the ALISE 2017 conference last month in Atlanta where, beyond accepting the grant, she, “presented a paper, and attended and participated in very instructive panels and made a contact conducting a similar study in Oklahoma.”

The pair’s study was one of three out of 36 proposals to receive funding from OCLC/ALISE and there is a one-year time deadline to spend the grant.

Charles Senteio, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Library and Information Science at SC&I whose research aims to enhance the collection and use of health information to identify and address barriers to care in order to improve health outcomes and reduce cost of care.

Nancy Kranich, Ph.D., teaches the course Community and Engagement in the SC&I’s Masters of Information program and is a library leader committed to advancing intellectual freedom, civic and community engagement, and effective information policies to enable citizens to thrive in a 21st century democracy.