Leigh Stewart
Estabrook
Professor and Dean Emerita
5 Litchfield Lane
Champaign, IL 61820
217.359.9466 (home)
leighe@uiuc.edu
Vita |
 |
Current activities:
User Satisfaction with Access to Government Information and
Services
at Public Libraries and Public Access Computing Centers, funded by the
Institute
of Museum and Library Services (2005-2008). Principle
Investigator
with Lee Raine (Director Pew Internet and American Life Project).
$500,000.
Information
Searches that Solve Problems (report of national survey jointly
conducted with Pew Internet in American Life Project, the University of
Illinois and Princeton Research Associates, December, 2007)
The
survey results challenge the assumption that libraries are losing
relevance in the internet age. Libraries drew visits by more than half
of Americans (53%) in the past year for all kinds of purposes, not just
the problems mentioned in this survey. And it was the young adults in
tech-loving Generation Y (age 18-30) who led the pack. Compared to
their elders, Gen Y members were the most likely to use libraries for
problem-solving information and in general patronage for any purpose.
Furthermore, it is young adults who
are the most likely to say they
will use libraries in the future when they encounter problems: 40% of
Gen Y said they would do that, compared with 20% of those above age 30
who say they would go to a library.
Recent Reearch:
Digital Libraries and the Humanities
The
Book as a Gold Standard for Tenure
Libraries and the USA Patriot Act
Public Libraries and
Civil
Liberties (January 2003).
The 911 Survey: (Summer
2002)
Brief bio
Leigh
Estabrook is a retired professor of library and information science,
and
former professor of sociology and director of the Library Research
Center
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She currently
serves as President of the A.K.
Rice Institute. From 1986-2001 she was
Dean of the University of Illinois Graduate
School of Library and Information Science. During that time
GSLIS was ranked first among LIS
schools in the United States and the School began its award-winning
distance
education offering of its professional master's degree program.
Professor
Emerita Estabrook is the author of almost 50 journal articles.
She
is a frequent consultant to library vendors, academic and public
libraries
in the U.S. and internationally. Among her recent grant funded
projects
is a study of User Satisfaction with Access to Government Information
and
Services at Public Libraries and Public Access Computing Centers,
funded
by the Institute of Museum and Library
Services (2005-2008). Principle
Investigator with Lee Raine (Director Pew Internet and American
Life Project).
$500,000. Dr. Estabrook received her Ph.D. from Boston University
in
sociology, her M.S. in library science from Simmons College and her
A.B.
in history from Northwestern University. In 2002 she received the Beta
Phi
Mu Award from the American Library Association for "distinguished
service
to education for librarianship." In 2003 she was awarded the
Association
for Library and Information Science Award for professional
contributions
to library and information science education.
Teaching:
In the summer 2008 I will teach LIS502 )--Libraries,
Information
and Society [ Explores major issues in the library and
information science professions as they involve their communities of
users and sponsors.
Analyzes specific situations that reflect the professional agenda of
these
fields, including intellectual freedom, community service, professional
ethics,
social responsibilities, intellectual property, literacy, historical
and
international models, the socio-cultural role of libraries and
information
agencies and professionalism in general, focusing in particular on the
interrelationships
among these issues. Required M.S. degree core course.]
Thought pieces
A Virtuous
Profession
(2004)
"Rethinking
Specializations" [may be lost--am trying to find]
An
Op-ed
on Chief Illiniwek [Daliy Illini archives are also lost--also trying to
find]
"Salary Negotiation Workshop" -- an audio recording that provides
suggestions
and strategies for negotiating salaries.
Other concerns, interests and activities
A.K. Rice Institute ,
Group
Relations Conferences--useful learning about unconscious processes in
groups
and systems of organizations. I am currently President of the
Institute.
St. Jude Catholic
Worker
House in Champaign, Illinois, serving the homeless and the
hungry--always
needing volunteers. Further information about the Catholic Worker
movement
may be found at http://www.catholicworker.org
/
My family--Carl (see some of his writings at Counterpunch.org); John (research
programmer;
Dan (an artist); Susan
(home cleaning
business and two great kids); Annie (librarian--librarian at Chicago Public Library --and
singer);
Helen (creative executive, Hard-C Production Company, Los Angeles, most
recently
producing Juno)--AND
grandchildren: Caleb
Adam Estabrook and
Abigail Johnson
My labrador retriever, Ellie;
The
Boston
Red Sox
Knitting:
There is a wonderful knit shop in Champaign, Illinois called Needleworks
Recent travel
Kytrygzstan--October, 2007
Italy--November, 2006
The Gates in NYC--February 19-21, 2005
Various other recent trips--Armenia, Georgia, Scotland, China,
