Dear Colleagues:

It's been a doozy of a few years for public libraries, and I bet you have had a project simmering on the back burner while you worked to address issues that became unexpectedly urgent over the last few years. Meanwhile, we need real-world projects for our students to work on -- perhaps we can help you get closer to your goal!

On behalf of our school's Engaged Learning Office, I am writing to share an opportunity for your organization to have University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI) work on a project for your organization.

***TL;DR -- Don't hesitate to reach out to our office (details below) if you think our students might be able to help -- it's always worth asking! ***

Submit your project idea, and the UMSI Engaged Learning Office will assist you in developing and scoping a full project proposal for a team of students to work on in the 2022-2023 academic year. The ideal deadline to submit is August 9, though project ideas will be accepted after that date.

Students can enhance the work for your organization by working on projects in the following ways:

• SI 547: Engaging with Communities: Students will research and create a community profile based on an information need stated by your organization.  Let our students research your community’s Census, demographic, consumer, and economic data, conduct some interviews, and deliver results to you.  We are specifically looking for cities, libraries, or non-profits in communities under 25,000 people. The students must be able to do research based on a community with a defined geographic area (defined by zip codes, census data, etc). We have had many public library clients for this in the past, and we've been able to ask questions of your community that might be awkward for you to ask!
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• SI 633: Assessment in Cultural Institutions: Students will work on an assessment project for a service, tool, product, or collection for a cultural institution. Students can analyze data already collected via a survey or can create an assessment tool to deploy. Students can also interview patrons to collect data. Students will then assess the data to provide recommendations.

• SI 501: Contextual Inquiry and Consulting Foundations: Students offer recommendations for a process or workflow that needs improvement or repair by conducting 6-10 interviews with those involved in the process, and performing qualitative analysis.

• Civic Tech for Libraries: Students work with libraries to build information tools and services that help residents engage with their community and local government. This is a great way for libraries to explore new opportunities to support civic engagement. Limited funding is available for students working on these projects.

The School of Information also seeks clients to submit projects for a variety of other client-based courses including library and archives projects, website redesign, and data analysis.

View our full call for projects, and feel free to share either of these messages widely. For questions about other opportunities, please email  umsi.client.engagement@umich.edu. 

Additional resources:

• See tips for project ideas before you submit your idea

• Visit our website umsi.info/clientopportunities

• Submit a project idea umsi.info/clientregister

• View our full call for projects to learn more or share broadly