Multicultural Professional Issues
	Multicultural LIS Education
	Cultures Worldwide
	Diversity in the U.S.
	Cultural Diversity at UCLA IS

Explore Cultural Diversity - An Integral Component of IS

Dedicated to educating information professionals concerned about equity in information services. Interaction with subject experts. Rich Research Resources. Pertinent courses. The Department of Information Studies Policy Subject & Research Expertise Curriculum Financial Support Campus Resources Los Angeles City & County Resources Contact Information The Department of Information Studies The Department of Information Studies at UCLA offers students unique opportunities to study cultural diversity issues related to library and information science at both master's and doctoral levels. Situated in one of the most culturally rich regions in the country, UCLA enables students to gain first hand experience in understanding the dynamics of multiculturalism. Students can also take advantage of the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies's many resources, including the Department of Education's faculty and courses. The IS faculty is dedicated to educating leaders in the information profession. Students learn to design and deliver user-driven information services by effectively incorporating the latest in theory, technology, and methodology. They will have opportunities to tackle questions concerning equity in information service, social and professional responsibility, equity in access to technology, cross-cultural communication, and much more. IS offers an intellectual climate for the analysis and discussion of critical issues generated by culturally diverse communities. Professional and community service are critical components in the promotion of cultural diversity. The IS faculty and staff actively participate in cultural diversity initiatives of the general UCLA campus, provide students with professional experience, and work with the library profession and information industry to ensure successful recruitment and graduation of ethnic students. More specifically, IS works closely with ethnic professional organizations in the Los Angeles area to recruit and to retain students from diverse groups. For example, mentor programs by REFORMA/UCLA and California Librarians Black Caucus--Los Angeles offer students individualized guidance from practitioners as well as supportive environments in which they can learn and grow. Policy DLIS's commitment to diversity is central to its function as described in its policy on cultural diversity. Its efforts are three-fold: recruit and educate students from diverse groups; hire faculty and staff from diverse groups; and promote understanding of diversity through course and content and programs. Subject & Research Expertise The faculty of IS has a strong interest in conducting research on racial and cultural factors in information service. Following is a sample of their research interests and expertise. Clara M. Chu: Information services in culturally diverse communities; multicultural IS education and research; information-seeking behavior of ethnic groups; information for diaspora studies Michele V. Cloonan: Cultural patrimony and preservation Leah A. Lievrouw: Social impacts of information and communication technologies; information equity issues; telecommunication and information policy Gregory Leazer: Collection development and organization of African and African diaspora materials Beverly P. Lynch: Libraries serving the historically black colleges and universities Mary N. Maack: Comparative librarianship with special emphasis on France, U.S., and Africa; gender issues; library history Anne Gilliland-Swetland: Cultural information systems; digital heritage management John V. Richardson, Jr.: Multicultural IS education and research Virginia Walter: Information needs of children Our companion Department of Education also has a faculty with significant research interests and expertise in fields relevant to cultural diversity and information services. Among these areas are: Construction of instructional processes for minority students in urban schools Acquisition of academic literacy for language minority students bilingualism Development of pedagogical theory and practice based on critical multiculturalism Educational access and persistence of underrepresented minority groups in the U.S. Educational policy issues pertaining to the politics of race and culture Intercultural and comparative education issues The Department of Education's Center X is committed to working on problems that low-income, minority, and immigrant students face, such as discrimination, poverty, and hopelessness. It brings together leading research and educational programs, resources, and expertise to forge changes in schools and teaching, to help schools to become rich, rigorous, socially just, and caring learning communities where all children learn extraordinarily well. Curriculum IS faculty is committed to incorporating both theoretical and applied issues of cultural diversity into its curriculum. Every IS course has undergone review and the Department has adopted a three-tier curricular model, thereby offering courses with a primary emphasis, a distributed focus, or an elective focus on cultural diversity. Over 200 internship sites, many in multicultural environments, have been established to provide students opportunities to explore and learn about information services. In addition, directed individual study and research assistantship enable students to conduct specialized inquiry under the guidance of leading researchers. Financial Support IS students are encouraged to take advantage of the wealth of financial resources available, both general and for minority groups. Merit-based awards are available from a variety of sources: professional associations, state and federal governments, UCLA, and IS. Students also have the opportunity to work as teaching and research assistants, as consultants in the IS Multimedia and Information Technology Laboratory or as assistants in campus and local libraries and information centers. UCLA Campus Resources UCLA is internationally recognized for its outstanding academic research and resources. It offers a rich collection of library and multimedia resources. IS students can take advantage of UCLA's many extra-departmental courses and expertise on ethnic and racial issues. In addition, UCLA has four ethnic research centers, each with its own library, faculty, and educational program: American Indian Studies Center, Asian American Studies Center, Center for African American Studies, and Chicano Studies Research Center. These highly recognized and respected centers offer valuable study and research opportunities. Los Angeles City & County Resources Southern California is a gateway to the Pacific Rim and a dynamic region enriched by world cultures. This coexistence of diverse traditions makes the city and county of Los Angeles an excellent laboratory for the study and understanding of cultural diversity. In Los Angeles live people from more than one hundred forty countries; children in the Los Angeles school system speak more than one hundred different languages; and more than fifty foreign language newspapers are published in the county. There is a wealth of cultural institutions, museums, archives, ethnic resource centers, and ethnic communities, and many of the educational and informational institutions make excellent sites for research and internships. Contact Information Office of Student Services Graduate School of Education & Information Studies 1009 Moore Hall, Box 951521 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1521 http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/oss.html Susan Abler, Student Affairs Officer (310) 206-9368 abler@gseis.ucla.edu Clara M. Chu, Assistant Professor (310) 206-9368 http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/facpage/chu.html Diversity and Libraries Web Page http://scow.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/cchu/diversity/index.html IS Web Page http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/   For information about this page contact Dr. Clara M. Chu, UCLA IS, at: cchu@ucla.edu.