LIBR 200-02
Information and Society
Spring 2003

Robert Wagers
rwagers@wahoo.sjsu.edu
(408) 924-2502
Office: Module E 122
Office Hrs: 1400-1700 M
Feb 3-4, Mar 3-4, Apr 6-7, May 5-6,
virtual and by appointment

Course Links

Greensheet

Schedule

Assignments

GREENSHEET

Course Description:

An introduction to the role of information in society. Political, economic, social, cultural, and philosophical aspects of information creation, dissemination, and use will be discussed. Students are encouraged to develop their personal philosophies of information service based upon their experiences in information organizations and reading in the professional literature.

Course Objectives:

At the completion of the course, the student will be able to:

1. describe the role of information in society from historical, current, and future perspectives;

2. identify the various information sectors within the environment and the roles for information professionals.

3. describe and evaluate the issues involved in the creation and dissemination of information and knowledge in
society;

4. understand the role of libraries and their relationships to other information providers;

5. identify and discuss the major values associated with the information professions;

6. describe the role of information professionals in meeting the needs of diverse populations of users.

This course addresses the second objective of the School's teaching goal by introducing students to the foundations of information services and the first objective of the research and scholarship goal by encouraging students to evaluate and utilize relevant research from a variety of disciplines.

Required Texbooks:

Harris, Michael A. and Hannah, Stan A. (1993). Into the future: The foundations of library and information services in the post-industrial era. Norwood, NJ; Ablex Publishing.
This text is available in the School's restricted readings
REFERRED TO IN THE COURSE OUTLINE AS: HARRIS & HANNAH

Rubin, Richard E. Foundations of Library and Information Science. Neal-Schumann, 2000. Available from Amazon.com and other vendors.

Subscribe to CURRENT CITES, send this message:
sub cites <your name>
to: listserv@library.berkeley.edu
Also archives can be found at: http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/

Other Requirements:

Students must have email accounts and access to the Internet, including the ability to view the World Wide Web with a graphical browser (e.g. Netscape or Internet Explorer) and PDF files. For the purposes of submitting some assignments and contributing to class discussions, you should create an account on Blackboard (http://tigris.sjsu.edu) and register for this course. You may also access Blackboard from the SLIS web site (http://slisweb.sjsu.edu) under the Computing pull-down menu. After registering for the course, post in the Personal Profile discussion forum a basic profile with information on your background. Include your undergraduate and graduate degrees, experience in the field, present employment, and reasons for taking a course of study in library and information science.

Grading:

Grading philosophy: Completing all work accurately and on time will earn a grade of A. Unexcused late assignments will receive a grade of B- or lower. Illness and emergencies are usually the only good excuses. Don't even try the following:

1. I'm too busy at work.
2. I'm too busy in the rest of my classes.
3. I have to go on vacation (especially if it's a nice place the instructor can't go!)
4. My parents were in town, the dog was sick, my kids are driving me crazy, my husband/boyfriend/wife/girlfriend is driving me crazy, my efforts to solve the problem of world hunger and peace prevented me from finishing the assignment.

Information and information transfer in society

Sociology of knowledge

Information agencies as social institutions

Information economics

Information policy issues