Drexel University (Drexel University, CIST)

Librarians are increasingly called upon to manage and preserve the resources created by an array of geo-location tools. The “Geographic Information Librarianship” project (GIL) is a two-year curricular research collaboration between Drexel University and the University of Kentucky. The project’s goal is to formally integrate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into library and information science (LIS) curricula at these two schools. The project’s objectives are to create two online GIL courses, implement a recruitment plan and deliver the two online GIL courses at both institutions; use a survey validation study of the knowledge, skills, and abilities to inform LIS curricula; and increase GIS related research in LIS. The resulting GIL courses will be permanently offered by the two schools on a biannual basis.