Prioritizing Privacy has been conceptualized through a needs assessment undertaken through a review of the literature and reports from previous IMLS grants related to privacy. Most of these reports include suggestions of different topics that could be addressed in such training. For example: “Areas for education and dialogue include: 1) anonymity, confidentiality and privacy; 2) personally identifiable information; 3) data privacy and security; 4) opt-in and opt-out choices; 5) institutional data sharing and storage; and 6) risk mitigation practices.”1 Throughout the grant, the literature will be monitored for additional relevant publications.

A needs assessment survey will also inform the curriculum of Prioritizing Privacy. Co-PI Jones will oversee the survey, which will gather information about the kinds of training academic library practitioners need and prefer with respect to both content and delivery. The literature review plus survey will serve as the foundation for the curriculum design, which will be guided by the instructional design principles and processes in Understanding by Design,2 a methodology that PI Hinchliffe has used for more than a decade in her work. A strength of this instructional design methodology is its central focus on identifying training outcomes and developing a robust assessment plan for determining if the outcomes have been achieved.

During the design phase, individuals who are representative of the intended training participants will work through prototypes of curricular materials as well to test their effectiveness using a participatory design process. They will be recruited through personal invitations from the Project Team. Librarians at PI Hinchliffe’s institution who are aware of this grant application have already expressed interest in testing the prototypes. This kind of formative and iterative assessment process strengthens training materials by ensuring they are aligned with learner needs and background knowledge. The Advisory Board will also review the training curriculum as it is developed from their various lenses of experience and expertise.

It is anticipated that the curriculum will draw heavily upon the principles of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice, which are the underlying principles of human subjects research review as codified in the Common Rule 3 in the United States, as well as principles of privacy, quality service, etc. from the American Library Association’s Code of Ethics 4 and the foundational principles of Privacy by Design.5

Phase Two →

  1. Oakleaf, Library Integration, 2018
  2. Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe, Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1998
  3. 49 CFR Part 11: Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, 2017, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-01-19/pdf/2017-01058.pdf
  4. American Library Association, Code of Ethics, 2008, http://www.ala.org/tools/ethics
  5. Privacy by Design Centre of Excellence, The Seven Foundational Principles, https://www.ryerson.ca/pbdce/certification/seven-foundational-principles-of-privacy-by-design/