Community Inquiry Labs Chip Bruce Library & Information Science U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign VMT Project CSCL Workshop, Drexel University, June 9-11, 2004 Chip Bruce Library & Information Science U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign VMT Project CSCL Workshop, Drexel University, June 9-11, 2004

Research Questions 1) What theory adequately accounts for the complexity and diversity of (distributed) collective practice? 2) What tools are needed to mediate work on concrete tasks? 3) What is the most effective process for developing shared capacity in the form of knowledge, skills, & tools? 4) How do actual communities work to address their problems?

(1) Pragmatism “the desire to make the entire social organism democratic, to extend democracy beyond its political expression,” Jane Addams “only by extracting at each present time the full meaning of each present experience are we prepared for doing the same in the future,” John Dewey “A community of action has to work towards...(i) transforming an external situation...and (ii) allowing its members to develop mutual knowledge and identities,” Manuel Zacklad

(2) Community Inquiry Labs A place where members of a community come together to develop shared capacity and work on common problems. Community – support for collaborative activity and for creating knowledge that is connected to people's values, history, and lived experiences Inquiry – support for open-ended, democratic, participatory engagement Laboratory – a space and resources to bring theory and action together in an experimental and critical manner

Setup Bricks

(3) Development Process “improve the improvement process,” Doug Engelbart “participatory design requires a shared form of life,” Pelle Ehn Open participation in iLabs design, creation, membership, & use Accessible for low-end users => Open-source, W3C, CSS, PHP/MySQL Modifiable--brick selection, customization, development Self-documenting Use ==> Build ==> Design

Opening the process

(4) Paseo Boricua Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood Galvanizes neighborhood residents around community projects Addresses critical issues: gang violence, AIDS, social and environmental justice, literacy, and economic development

LIS 391: Literacy in the Information Age Course Website maker Bulletin board (phpBB) Syllabus tool Signup sheet (readings, class notes, computer help) Inquiry units Blog Timeline

GK-12: Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education graduate students collaborate with faculty and K-12 teachers to integrate computer-based modeling and scientific visualization into education

Ethnography of the University sponsors undergraduate research on the university and archives it in web-accessible form functions as a learning group for students, staff, and faculty interested in what it means to conduct research on universities as institutions