Publications and Research
Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
Summer 6-24-2011
Abstract
The proposed presentation will focus on a successful cross-cultural and cross-institutional collaborative model, involving four institutions, that was developed to create digital library collections of research-based information generated in the Monteverde Zone in Costa Rica. Addressing a need for the Monteverde community to have easy access to locally-produced research-based information, the digital collections contain unpublished research documents produced by area international study programs focusing on local sustainable community development, community health, and tropical ecology.
Each summer, since 2008, LIS graduate student interns from Syracuse University have spent 5-6 weeks on site at the Monteverde Institute in Costa Rica, working to create these collections. For the interns, who have all been concurrently pursuing an Advanced Certificate in Digital Librarianship, it has been a unique opportunity to apply the principles and practice of digital librarianship on a grassroots level, within the larger context of understanding information issues and challenges in the Global South. In so doing, the projects have contributed to greater information access and equity on both a local and global scale, and for all involved, it has been a transformational educational experience.