The Pittsburgh-based Civic Switchboard team and partners from around the country are pleased to announce the schedule for the 2024 Civic Switchboard Institute. Through the support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), we will host one online and 6 regional 2-day institutes for library workers who are interested in serving as intermediaries between community members and civic data and in developing civic data roles for their libraries. Read more about the project on our introductory blog post.
The Civic Switchboard Institute Schedule
- April 18-19, 2024 : Pittsburgh, PA Institute
- May 13-14, 2024: Chapel Hill, NC Institute
- June 27-28, 2024: Boston, MA Institute
- July 11-12, 2024: Portland, OR Institute
- August 1-2, 2024: South Bend, IN Institute
- October 17-18, 2024: Houston, TX Institute
- November 7 and 14, 2024: Online Institute
There are several goals for the Civic Switchboard Institutes, including:
- To expand a community of practice focused on libraries and civic data and connect regional library workers;
- To support participants in understanding their civic data ecosystem and potential roles for their libraries;
- To connect participants with exemplars of library civic data intermediary work by featuring the work of host sites;
- To foster critical data literacies through engagement with topics in civic data that speak to power, social justice, and responsible data practices to mitigate harms.
How to Apply
There will be an Institute application process, with separate application deadlines for each Institute. We will open application submissions three months before each scheduled Institute. Each application period will be open for 1.5 months and applicants will be notified of the application decision 2 months prior to the Institute for which they applied.
The Pittsburgh application date – the first Institute – will open in early January.
Through the support from IMLS, attendees traveling to the regional Institute will be provided an honorarium toward travel.
Join the November 9 “community call”
On November 9, we will reinstitute bimonthly Civic Switchboard “community calls” for library workers and partners who are interested in growing their network and learning from libraries at different stages of their work with civic data.
At the November community call, we will introduce the Civic Switchboard Institute and discuss growing and supporting a community of practice around civic data in libraries.
Register for the November 9, 2023, 12 - 1pm Eastern call: Zoom Registration
Stay Engaged!
We hope you will join us for the Civic Switchboard Institute and community of practice programming. You can find our IMLS project proposal on the IMLS website.
Please sign up for the Civic Data Operators Discussion Group to receive email updates about the Institutes and future dates for the community calls! We can also be contacted at: civic-switchboard@pitt.edu
