Service-Research Partnerships: Research Projects That Help Bridge the Digital Divide

Abstract

The concept of service-research is described in this chapter. Service-research is the integration of community service with faculty research. It can benefit the researcher as well as community agencies. For organizations, such as non-profit agencies and schools, service-research can help provide free training, documentation, and help with systems development or management. For the researcher, service-research can provide inexpensive access to research subjects or data. This chapter discusses the data collection techniques that can be used with service-research, and how service-research can help bridge the digital divide, as well as the usability divide. Possible applications of service-research are presented, including user training, documentation, information systems management, systems design methodologies, and policy awareness. Two case studies of service-research are also discussed.