LIBR 200
Information and Society
Spring 2005

Robert Wagers
(408) 924-2502
E-mail

Office Hrs:
1430-1600 PM
Feb 7, Mar 7, Apr 11, May 9

0900-1000 AM
Feb 5, Mar 5, Apr 9, May 7
virtual and by appointment

GREENSHEET

| Texbooks | Other Requirements | Grading |
Accommodation of Disabilities | Course Content |

Course Description:

An introduction to the roles 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:

Rubin, Richard E. (2004) Foundations of Library and Information Science. NY, NY:Neal-Schumann. Available from Amazon.com and other vendors.

Recommended Texbooks:

Eberhart, G. M. (2000). The whole library handbook 3: Current data, professional advice, and curiosa about libraries and library services. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

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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 such as Internet Explorer and to access 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.

Read the SJSU Academic Integrity Policy
http://www2.sjsu.edu/senate/S04-12.pdf

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Grading:

Grading philosophy: Completing all assignments accurately and on time will earn a grade of B. To raise this grade, you will need to demonstrate above average creativity, imagination, analysis, and scholarship. Unexcused late assignments will receive a grade of C or lower. Reading late assignments is at the instructor's discretion. 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.

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Reasonable Accommodation of Disabilities

Students who need accommodation due to a disability must register with SJSU's Disability Resource Center (DRC) during the first three weeks of the semester. The Center will work with the students to determine the disability, document it, and determine the services and accommodations necessary for student success. Then, the DRC will contact the faculty member to determine the types of consideration necessary.

Students attending the Fullerton campus should first contact the Disability Resource Center in San Jose since they are SJSU students. The DRC will then direct the students to supporting resources on the Fullerton campus.

The DRC Web site: http://www.drc.sjsu.edu/

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Course Content:

Information and information transfer in society

Roles of information professionals
Information products
The information society
Communication and its technologies
Information literacy

Resources in library and information science

Sociology of knowledge

What are data, information and knowledge
Production and distribution of knowledge

Information agencies as social institutions

The communities we serve
Functions of information agencies
Professional philosophies and values
Social responsibility & leadership

Information economics

Value
Access and utilization
Protection

Information policy issues

Federal information policy/NII
International policy/GII
Copyright
Intellectual freedom

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