LIBR 202-01
LIBR 202-12
Information Retrieval
Spring 2008 Greensheet
Dr. Kristen Radsliff Clark
E-mail
Office: SJSU SLIS in Fullerton (PLS 67a)
Office Hours: By appointment.
| Greensheet Links Textbooks and Readings Course Requirements Course Calendar |
Resources Blackboard Blackboard Tutorials |
LIBR 202 Resources Online Resource Supplemental Readings Inmagic Download |
This is an online-only class using Blackboard. Students must self-enroll for the course on Blackboard between January 21st and January 25th. The required password access enrollment code will be provided in an email via the MySJSU Messaging system.
The course begins via Blackboard on Wednesday, January 23rd.
Course Description
Principles of information retrieval and their application to information systems and services. Emphasizing models of user information seeking behavior, human information processing, and their relationship to retrieval models in information systems. Class activities will be carried out in Blackboard, video, and audio formats. Enrollment in the Blackboard class is mandatory.
Course Prerequisites
Demonstrated computer literacy. Students need to know how to download software, zip and unzip files, work with folders, and elementary computer trouble shooting. Students need to know how to download software, zip and unzip files, work with folders, and elementary computer trouble shooting. Students must also have completed 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 the first day of classes. The access code for this course will be sent to new students via MySJSU. 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
Course Objectives
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Students will be able to design, query, and evaluate a database information retrieval system, using an appropriate user model.
- Students will be able to articulate fundamental concepts of information-seeking behavior and employ them in the design and evaluation of systems.
- Students will be able to define a set of terms reflecting fundamental concepts of information retrieval and use them in discussions of their projects for the class.
- Students will understand metadata, both structure and representation, and be aware of dominant models such as the MARC record, LC Classification, Dublin Core, and NISO 39-19.
- Students will understand principles of good interface design and be able to evaluate interfaces using those principles.
LIBR 202 supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:
- Design, query and evaluate information retrieval systems.
- Understand the system of standards and methods used to control and create information structures and apply basic principles involved in the organization and representation of knowledge.
- Describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behavior.
Textbooks and Readings
Readings and documents
- ***All readings can be accessed online via Blackboard.***
- Narrated video presentations and handouts will be available via Blackboard as needed.
Course Requirements
Help! How do I …?
I will create a discussion forum in Blackboard for general questions regarding due-dates, structure of assignments, and clarification of concepts. Please post your general questions here so that all students may benefit. Feel free to contact me via email. Placing the words: 202 question and your section number in the subject field will guarantee that your email will get to my high priority folder so that I can get back to you promptly (usually within 24 to 48 hours).
Assignments and Exams
In addition to 12 weekly summaries of readings and 2 weeks of extended Blackboard participation, students will complete a short introduction of themselves via Blackboard, two (2) database-based assignments, and (2) exams for this class: a midterm and a final. More specific information regarding all assignments and exams will be made available on the Blackboard course website.
| ASSIGNMENT | POINTS |
| Introductions/Short Biography via Blackboard | 3 |
| Weekly Summaries of Readings - 12 total | 12 |
| Blackboard Participation – 1st Assigned Week | 10 |
| Blackboard Participation – 2nd Assigned Week | 10 |
| Assignment #1 | 15 |
| Assignment #2 | 15 |
| Midterm | 15 |
| Comprehensive Final | 20 |
| TOTAL POINTS | 100 |
Weekly Summaries & Blackboard Participation
All students will send weekly summaries of readings to me via Blackboard. These will be graded on a submitted/not submitted basis. You will also post your summaries and engage in extended discussion during 2 additional weeks according to your placement in a group. These responses will be graded according to the quality of your engagement in discussion. See the “Notes on Weekly Summaries” and “Discussion via Blackboard” handouts. **Part of participation in discussion includes listening well to others and engaging with opposing viewpoints. You are expected to be respectful and thoughtful in responding to each other and in responding to the course materials.
Academic Integrity
Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San José State University, and the University's Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The policy on academic integrity can be found at http://sa.sjsu.edu/student_conduct.
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/
Grading Scale
The standard SJSU SLIS Grading Scale is utilized for all SLIS courses:
| 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 67 | F |
In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:
- C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
- B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
- A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.
Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0.
Course Calendar
Subject to change with fair notice
Week 1 – Introduction and Representation (1/23-2/1)
 Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: Norman “The Power of Representation”; Star & Bowker “To Classify is Human.” |
 To Do(Assignments): |
By Saturday (2/2) of this week: Brief introduction via Plone. Please edit your homepage. By Saturday (2/2) of this week: Weekly Summaries. Please upload via Blackboard. By Thursday (1/31) of this week: GROUP #1 ONLY. Post summaries in the Blackboard “Week 1” discussion folder. Post comments and responses to questions. Discussion ends next Thursday. |
Week 2 – Information Retrieval and Database Systems (2/3-2/9)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: Rijsbergen “Introduction”; Meadows “The Representation of Information.” |
| To Do (Assignments): |
By Saturday (2/9) of this week: Weekly Summaries. Please upload via Blackboard. By Thursday (2/7) of this week: GROUP #2 ONLY. Post summaries in the Blackboard “Week 2” discussion folder. Post comments and responses to questions. Discussion ends next Thursday. |
Week 3 – Data Attributes and Relationships (2/10 – 2/16)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: Wikipedia Entries on Relational Database Design; DB/Textworks “Online Resources”. Assignment #1: Receive handout (due 3/8). |
| To Do (Assignments): |
By Saturday (2/16) of this week: Weekly Summaries. Please upload via Blackboard. By Thursday (2/15) of this week: GROUP #3 ONLY Post summaries in the Blackboard “Week 3” discussion folder. Post comments and responses to questions. Discussion ends next Thursday. |
Week 4 – Descriptive and Subject Metadata (2/17 – 2/23)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: Hubbard “Metadata”; Coyle “Understanding Metadata and Its Purpose.” Exam: Midterm handed out (due 3/30 – Monday after Spring Break/Midterm Week). |
| To Do (Assignments): |
By Saturday (2/23) of this week: Weekly Summaries. Please upload via Blackboard. By Thursday (2/21) of this week: GROUP #4 ONLY. Post summaries in the Blackboard “Week 4” discussion folder. Post comments and responses to questions. Discussion ends next Thursday. |
Week 5 – Controlled Vocabularies (2/24 – 3/1)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: Svenonius “Unanswered Questions in the Design of Controlled Vocabularies.” |
| To Do (Assignments): |
By Saturday (3/1) of this week: Weekly Summaries. Please upload via Blackboard. By Thursday (2/28) of this week: GROUP #5 ONLY. Post summaries in the Blackboard “Week 5” discussion folder. Post comments and responses to questions. Discussion ends next Thursday. |
Week 6 – Classification and Folksonomies (3/2 – 3/8)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: Mathes “Folksonomies” |
| To Do (Assignments): |
By Saturday (3/8) of this week: Weekly Summaries. Please upload via Blackboard. By Saturday (3/8) of this week: Send completed Assignment #1 to me via Blackboard. By Thursday (3/6) of this week: GROUP #6 ONLY. Post summaries in the Blackboard “Week 6” discussion folder. Post comments and responses to questions. Discussion ends next Thursday. |
Week 7 – Classification and Power (3/9 – 3/15)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: Star & Bowker “Classification and Its Consequences: Chapter 6.” |
| To Do (Assignments): |
By Saturday (3/15) of this week: Weekly Summaries. Please upload via Blackboard. By Thursday (3/13) of this week: GROUP #1 ONLY. Post summaries in the Blackboard “Week 7” discussion folder. Post comments and responses to questions. Discussion ends next Thursday. |
Week 8 – Querying IR Systems (3/16 – 3/22)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: Meadow “Querying the Information Retrieval System.” |
| To Do (Assignments): |
By Saturday (3/22) of this week: Weekly Summaries. Please upload via Blackboard. By Thursday (3/20) of this week: GROUP #2 ONLY. Post summaries in the Blackboard “Week 9” discussion folder. Post comments and responses to questions. Discussion ends next Thursday. |
Week 9 – MIDTERM/SPRING BREAK WEEK (3/23 – 3/29)
| Read |
Documents: Assignment #2: Receive handout (due 4/12). Readings: NO READINGS THIS WEEK |
| To Do (Assignments): |
Catch-up, review, and write your midterm! |
Week 10 – Information Seeking Behavior (3/30 – 4/5)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: Marchionini “Information Seekers and Electronic Environments” & “Information-Seeking Perspective and Framework.” |
| To Do (Assignments): |
By Sunday (3/30) of this week: Send completed midterm to me via Blackboard. By Saturday (4/5) of this week: Weekly Summaries. Please upload via Blackboard. By Thursday (4/3) of this week: GROUP #3 ONLY Post summaries in the Blackboard “Week 10” discussion folder. Post comments and responses to questions. Discussion ends next Thursday. |
Week 11 – Information Seeking Behavior (4/6 – 4/12)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: Kuhlthau “Zones of Intervention in the Process of Information Seeking.” |
| To Do (Assignments): |
By Saturday (4/12) of this week: Weekly Summaries. Please upload via Blackboard. By Saturday (4/12) of this week: Send completed Assignment #2 to me via Blackboard. By Thursday (4/10) of this week: GROUP #4 ONLY. Post summaries in the Blackboard “Week 11” discussion folder. Post comments and responses to questions. Discussion ends next Thursday. |
Week 12 – Design as a Professional Activity (4/13 – 4/19)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: Norman “Psychopathology of Everyday Things.” |
| To Do (Assignments): |
By Saturday (4/19) of this week: Weekly Summaries. Please upload via Blackboard. By Thursday (4/17) of this week: GROUP #5 ONLY. Post summaries in the Blackboard “Week 12” discussion folder. Post comments and responses to questions. Discussion ends next Thursday. |
Week 13 – Usability & Evaluation (4/20 – 4/26)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: Tufte “PowerPoint is Evil.” & Norman “In Defense of PowerPoint.” Exam: Comprehensive Final handed out (due 5/13 – Final Day of Instruction). |
| To Do (Assignments): |
By Saturday (4/26) of this week: Weekly Summaries. Please upload via Blackboard. By Thursday (4/24) of this week: GROUP #6 ONLY Post summaries in the Blackboard “Week 13” discussion folder. Post comments and responses to questions. Discussion ends next Thursday. |
Week 14 – Catch-up & Review (4/26 – 5/3)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: NO READINGS THIS WEEK. |
| To Do (Assignments): |
Catch-up, review, and write your final exam! |
Week 15 – Wrap-Up (5/4 – 5/13)
| Read |
Documents: Greensheet, “Discussion via Blackboard,” “Notes on Weekly Summaries,” This Week’s Videos & Notes. Readings: NO READINGS THIS WEEK. |
| To Do (Assignments): |
By Tuesday 5/13 of this week: Send completed final to me via Blackboard. |
Academic Calendar
| Jan. 23, 2008 | Spring 2008 Semester: First day of instruction |
| Feb. 4, 2008 | Last day to drop courses without an entry on student's permanent record |
| Feb. 11, 2008 | Last day to add courses |
| Mar. 24-28, 2008 | Spring Recess |
| Mar. 31, 2008 | Cesar Chavez Day observed - campus closed |
| Mar. 31, 2008 | Application for Admissions for Fall 2008 deadline |
| May 13, 2008 | Last day of instruction |
| May 17, 2008 | Convocation San José (North Campus), 1:00 p.m. |
| May 18, 2008 | Convocation Fullerton (South Campus) |
| May 24, 2008 | SJSU Commencement |
| May 26, 2008 | Memorial Day - campus closed |
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