Research Guide for Library Faculty: Community Engagement

Community Engagement

Community engagement, and the field of community-engaged scholarship (CES), refer to scholarship that involves community partners at all phases of the research process, is designed to be of mutual benefit to all parties involved, and that prioritizes community knowledge, needs, and feedback on the project.

The U Sask Office of Community Engagement and Outreach offers several grants to facilitate this type of research.

Identifying "Community"

• Who is included when you talk about a community? Who is not included?
• How do community members describe or define their community? Does your project fit with the way community members understand their own community?
• How do you plan to balance conflicting, nebulous, or changing definitions of community within your project?

Accessibility

• Is information about all stages of the project accessible across the community?
• That is, is information available in the formats that community members are most likely to engage with? How will you find out what those formats are?
• Do information and the opportunity to participate/give feedback extend equally to all members of the community (not just those in leadership positions)? Is this communicated clearly?
• How will communities retain agency/control within the project, even after it ends?

Power, Privilege, and Authority

• How do race, class, and gender affect your relationships with the community? How do they affect relationships among community members? How do they shape the type of information that is shared with you?
• What strategies do you have for ensuring that a broad range of community members' perspectives are present in your project? Are there perspectives that may not be as easily heard? How will you ensure their inclusion?
• What strategies do you have for sharing authority with community members in your project? That is, how will you communicate how community members' expertise has shaped the project?

Managing Expectations for Researchers and Communities

• What are your goals for the project (practically, professionally, personally)? What are community members' goals?
• Do these goals match each other? Or, alternatively, can you and community members all look forward to an outcome that meets your respective needs?
• What are some likely areas where misunderstanding or delays could occur? What are your contingency plans? Are community members aware of these possibilities?
• Are you and community members in agreement about how much time and funds you are all able to devote to this work?
• What will happen to data, information, research products, equipment, etc. if the project is delayed, doesn't go according to plan, or is cancelled?
• What mechanisms are in place for community members to state concerns, offer feedback, and ask questions? Are these accessible according to the criteria discussed above? Whom can they speak to if for some reason they are not comfortable speaking with you?