Abstract:

In the background of rising popularity of mobile technologies, organizations are increasingly investing in mobile applications and technologies to serve their patrons effectively and efficiently. As a result, there is a growing demand for experts in developing and managing mobile applications and technologies (MAT). Project MISSILE (Mobile Information Skills and Solutions in Library Education) proposes an interdisciplinary curriculum for training library and information science (LIS) students to serve as mobile technology consultants (MTCs) for libraries and not-for-profit organizations. We have assessed the feasibility and utility of the proposed curriculum with input from the:
(a) Project MISSILE’s advisory board, consisting of researchers and practitioners from libraries and information technology (IT) industry,
(b) attendees at the ALISE 2018 Conference.

We present a sample curriculum that resulted from the assessment to seek feedback from the EDULEARN 18 Conference attendees, further strengthening this curriculum with the following clusters:
CLUSTER 1. IT AND PROGRAMMING (9 Credits): We are developing a new 3-credit course titled “Mobile Application Development” which is based on hybrid mobile app development techniques. MISSILE students will also complete INSC 580 Information Technologies and INSC 598 Web Design, two of our existing courses.
CLUSTER 2. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & MANAGEMENT (12 Credits): Since MISSILE students would work as MTCs for libraries and not-for-profit organizations, we would like them to take the following courses in public administration and management: POLS 553 Non-Profit Management, focusing on consulting practices, project management, planning, and leadership; and POLS 560 Public Financial Administration, with topics such as budget preparation, risk management, economic forecasting, and cash management. Two of our existing courses (e.g., INSC 542 and INSC 550) will also equip students for managing MAT for libraries. The INSC 542 Social Informatics course equips and requires students to serve as information consultants for small businesses and not-for-profit organizations. The INSC 550 Management of Information Organizations course covers management and leadership concepts, strategies, and techniques applicable to information professionals.
CLUSTER 3. HCI (3 Credits): INSC 588 Human-Computer Interaction: This course introduces human and technological factors of importance to design of usable information systems. Basic phenomena of human perception, cognition, memory, and problem solving, and relationship to user-centered design are studied.
CLUSTER 4. INFORMATION SCIENCE (18 Credits): These courses include: INSC 504 Research Methods for Information Professionals, INSC 510 Information Environment, INSC 520 Information Representation and Organization, INSC 530 Information Access and Retrieval, INSC 559 Grant Writing, and INSC 562 Digital (Data) Curation.

Acknowledgement:
The authors wish to thank IMLS for funding this project.

Keywords:

Libraries, Mobile technology consultants, Not-for-profit organizations, Mobile app development, Administration, Management, HCI, Information science.