LIBR 200-05
Information and Society
Spring 2006 Greensheet
Marva L. DeLoach
E-mail
| Course Links Greensheet Schedule Assignments Outline |
Resources Blackboard Blackboard Tutorials |
Textbooks and Resources | Course Requirements
REMINDER: Students must self-enroll for this course on Blackboard. You will be required to use a password access code which I will provide using the MYSJSU Messaging system.
Course Description
A class designed to explore the complex social, historical, philosophical, political, economic, electronic and technological developments that influence the impact of information on society. The mission, values and ethics of information professionals are analyzed and students are encouraged to develop personal philosophies of information services. This course provides a foundation for thinking critically about information professions and the roles of information professionals.
Course Goals and Objectives
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Describe the role of information from historical, current and future perspectives;
- Identify various information sectors within the environment and information related professions;
- Describe and evaluate issues involved in the creation and dissemination of information and knowledge in society, with particular attention to information literacy;
- Demonstrate an understanding of the roles of libraries and their relationships to other information providers;
- Identify and discuss major values and codes of ethics associated with the information professions;
- Describe the impact of cultural diversity on the provision of user services by libraries and other information providers;
- Describe and discuss important economic and policy issues related to the creation and dissemination of information; and
- Write essays demonstrating critical thinking that are appropriate for presenting to targeted audiences in a variety of settings
This course addresses two of the SLIS goals and objectives:
- Introducing students to the foundations of information services and advocating citizen access to information and knowledge
- Requiring students to evaluate and utilize relevant research studies from a variety of disciplines.
SLIS goals and objectives can be found at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/slis/mission.htm
Textbooks and Resources
Readings are assigned throughout the class. They are either in the required text or online. Students will be given addresses, user ids and passwords to access online resources. There are several suggested or supplemental texts. Formats, citations and references must consistently follow the American Psychological Association (2001) Publication manual.
Texts may be obtained from publishers or vendors such as Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com or half.com and oftentimes from former students.
Required Texts
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author (http://www.apa.org). The APA Web site (http://www.apastyle.org) lists the latest updates to the APA manual, especially for electronic documents. (NOTE: You will use APA throughout your SLIS career.)
Rubin, Richard E. (2004). Foundations of library and information science (2nd ed.). New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers (http://www.neal-schuman.com) is the required text for this class.
Supplemental Texts/Resources
Several recommended or supplemental texts are
- Eberhart, George M. (2000). The whole library handbook 3: Current data, professional advice, and curiosa about libraries and library services. Chicago: American Library Association (http://alastore.ala.org) (referred to as Eberhart; much of title is online)
- Fourie, Denise K. and Dowell, David R. (2002). Libraries in the information age: An introduction and career exploration. Greenwood Village, CO: Libraries Unlimited (http://www.lu.com).
- Harris, Michael A., Hannah, Stan A. and Harris, Pamela C. (1998). Into the future: The foundations of library and information services in the post-industrial era (2nd ed.). Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing. (referred to as Harris, Hannah, Harris; most of title is online)
- Lester, June and Koehler, Wallace C. (2003). Fundamentals of information studies: Understanding information and its environment. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers (http://www.neal-schuman.com).
Other Supplemental Resources
Other supplemental resources may be added throughout the semester. Some of these resources may be available in the SJSU libraries or at libraries near students’ homes or workplaces
Course Requirements
Class Meetings
Class meets Mondays, 7:00-9:45 pm.
The semester runs from January 30, 2006 to May 8, 2006.
Complete the New Student Technology Course
This is a mandatory short, self-paced online course on Blackboard that must be completed by all new SLIS students before orientation. The access code for this course will be sent to new students via MySJSU by June 27. If you have questions about this course, e-mail Debbie Faires or Dale David.
For more information, see http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/slis/blackboardintro.htm
Attendance/Participation
Regular attendance is vital to success in this course because a number of cooperative learning/group activities will occur in class and a great deal of material will be covered during each class session. Virtual classroom sessions (TBD) may be conducted also. Participation in online group projects, in class and in Blackboard discussion forums is crucial. Reading/viewing/listening to required materials will enhance your ability to participate in these discussions. Check Blackboard regularly for updates.
General Expectations
All students must:
- Have the minimal home computing environment as described at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/homecomputing.htm
- Use a current virus protection program to scan all assignments before they are submitted electronically to Blackboard, other students and to your instructor
- Create an account in Blackboard and enroll in the class site for this course to receive communications from your instructor (http://tigris.sjsu.edu)
- Submit selected assignments electronically. Use the following scheme for submitting files: [Course Number]_[Student’s Last Name]_[Assignment Name] Example: 200_DeLoach_CriticalNotes
- Submit assignments as specified during class or online before midnight of the due date. An assignment submitted after the due date may be subjected to a grade penalty.
- Type or key all work using Microsoft Word and double space in no more than a 12-point font
- Consistently follow the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.) for formats, citations and references
- Avoid spelling, grammatical and syntactical errors
Other requirements
Students must have e-mail accounts and access to the Internet, including the ability to view the World Wide Web with a graphical browser (e.g., Internet Explorer) and PDF files; and the ability to listen to RealOne Player lectures. Students may access Blackboard directly at http://tigris.sjsu.edu or from the SLIS Web site (http://slisweb.sjsu.edu) under the Computing pull-down menu.
If necessary, you may download Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe’s Web site at http://www.Adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html Go to http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/realplayer.htm to download RealOne Player.
Also join the school’s electronic list, SLISADMIN, to get official or administrative messages from SLIS. Find directions at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/electroniclists.htm or choose Electronic Lists under the Computing pull-down menu on the SLIS Web site.
See Blackboard for detailed assignments and other information about this class.
General Assignments
These are the general assignments for the course. Please see each module and the assignments tab on the class Web page for specific assignment details. The total points for the class are 400. The percentage following each assignment indicates the percentage of the total points for the assignment. The maximum points are the most points that you can obtain for the assignment.
Some assignments will be group projects.
| Assignment | % of Final Grade |
Maximum Points |
| Analysis of LIS Professional Literature | ||
| Journals Group Report | 5 |
20 |
| Individual e-discussion list and Web site | 5 |
20 |
| Attendance/Participation | 10 |
40 |
| Critical Notes | 5 |
20 |
| Introduction of Speaker/Luminary | 10 |
40 |
| Major/Issues Paper | 30 |
120 |
| Professional Associations Group Report | 5 |
20 |
| Special Populations Plan | 10 |
40 |
| Valuing Information Professionals Paper | 20 |
80 |
Grading Policy/Papers
Everyone begins class with a grade of “B”, the standard grade for graduate level work. Students who satisfactorily complete assignments on time; regularly attend classes; and actively participate in class exercises and discussions (in class and in Blackboard discussion forums) will receive the “B” provided the quality of written work meets the rigorous scholarly standard for the University.
In general, graduate work should exhibit clarity and be well written in a logical, coherent fashion. Above standard work is defined as clearly displaying one or more of the following criteria:
- Originality in the approach to the assignment
- Greater depth of analysis than the written assignment expects
- Critical evaluation of readings comparing authors, sources or different viewpoints
- Ability to organize information for oneself and others plus create tools for lifelong learning and knowledge retrieval
Grading Scale
The following scale will be used for final grades:
| 97-100 | A |
| 94-96 | A- |
| 91-93 | B+ |
| 88-90 | B |
| 85-87 | B- |
| 82-84 | C+ |
| 79-81 | C |
| 76-78 | C- |
| 73-75 | D+ |
| 70-72 | D |
| 67-69 | D- |
| Below 69 | F |
Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism
Academic dishonesty is a serious infraction. Assignments must be the student’s own work and sources must be properly cited. SJSU codes governing plagiarism can be found at http://www2.sjsu.edu/senate/S04-12.pdf . All students should read this policy.
Reasonable Accommodation of Disabilities
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability,
please e-mail me as soon as possible. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires
that students with disabilities register with the Disability Resource Center
(DRC) to establish record of their disability.
No matter where students reside, they should contact the SJSU DRC to register. The DRC Web site: http://www.drc.sjsu.edu/
1/2006
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Phone: 408-924-2490
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