Professor Durrance teaches
and conducts research in information needs and use in community settings,
community information systems, the evaluation of information services,
and the professional practice of librarians. She is the co-principal
investigator of an IMLS grant entitled “Approaches for understanding
community information use: A framework for identifying and applying
knowledge of information behavior in public libraries." See Information
Behavior
in Everyday Contexts.
Dr. Durrance has written several books, most recently How Libraries and Librarians Help (with Karen Fisher); as well as numerous articles. Her research on the professional practice of librarians earned her ALA's Isadore Gilbert Mudge--R.R. Bowker Award for distinguished contribution to reference librarianship. She has conducted evaluations of several major projects including the NEH funded "Let's Talk About It" reading and discussion programs in public libraries and the Kellogg funded Job & Career Information Centers.
photo: John Lacy
Prof. Durrance has served the American Library Association, Public Library Association, the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE), and KALIPER (a Kellogg-funded examination of changes in library and information science education). She was one of the developers of the Association for Community Networking (ACFN). Prof. Durrance's undergraduate degree, cum laude, is from the University of Florida. She has an MS in Library Science from the University of North Carolina (where she has been honored as a Distinguished Alumna), a Specialist Certificate from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
Joan C. Durrance
Margaret Mann Collegiate Professor
School of Information, University
of Michigan
3084 West Hall Connector
550 E. University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1092
Phone: 734.763.1569
Fax: 734.764.2475
Email: durrance at umich dot edu
© University of Michigan, School of Information, 2005