LIBR 202-17
Information Retrieval
Fall 2008 Greensheet
Dr. Judy Weedman
E-mail
Phone: (714) 278-2295
Fax: (714)278-5841
Office Location: 55 Pollak Library South, Fullerton
Office Hours: by appointment via email, chat, Elluminate, telephone, or in person
| Course Links Greensheet Handout #1 (PDF) Handout #2 (PDF) Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Handout #3 (PDF) Part 1 Part 2 |
Resources Blackboard Blackboard Tutorials SLIS eBookstore |
LIBR 202 Resources Online Resource Supplemental Readings Inmagic Download |
Textbooks and Readings | Course Requirements
Please enroll for the Blackboard course between August 26th and 28th. The first class “meeting” is August 28th. The access enrollment code will be sent to you through my.sjsu by August 26th.
Elluminate Meetings: Two required meetings are scheduled, one for September 13th and one for November 1st. Each will last from 9:00 to 1:00 Pacific Time.
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.
Course Prerequisites: Demonstrated computer literacy
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 standards 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
These additional SLIS Core Competencies are also supported by the course:
- Use the basic concepts and principles related to the creation, evaluation, selection, acquisition, preservation, and organization of specific items or collections of information
- Demonstrate proficiency in the use of current information and communication technologies, and other related technologies, as they affect the resources and uses of libraries and other types of information providing entities
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/slis/competencies.htm
Textbooks and Readings
Required Texts and Readings
You will need the book by Morville the first week of class, and the Meadow book by about the 3rd week. Please order the two textbooks from any online bookstore. If you order from the School’s amazon.com site, http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/courses/books/index.php, the School receives a referral fee which we use for student scholarships and events.
- Morville, Peter (2005). Ambient findability. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.
- Meadow, Charles T., Boyce, Bert R., Kraft, Donald H., and Barry, C. (2007). Text information retrieval systems, 3rd ed. San Diego: Academic Press.
- Marchionini, Gary (1995). Information seeking in electronic environments. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter copies on electronic reserve; do not buy.
- “Supplemental Readings” on electronic reserve
Course Requirements
Complete LIBR 203: Online Social Networking: Technology and Tools
This is a mandatory 1 unit course that introduces students to the various e-learning tools used in the SLIS program, including Blackboard, Elluminate and Second Life. This course must be completed by all new SLIS students within the first 4 weeks of their first semester. If you have questions about this course, e-mail Debbie Faires or Dale David.
For more information, see http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/classes/coursedesc.htm
Blackboard Information
Materials for each week’s class will be available on Thursdays by 5 p.m. in the Course Documents section. Other course information about assignments, etc., may be found there as well. Please enroll for the Blackboard course between August 26th and 28th. The first class “meeting” is August 28th. By 5 p.m. that day, you’ll find a description of “how this class works” and the materials to read or view that constitute the first class. Look also at the “basic information” and “assignments” folders. The access enrollment code will be sent to you through my.sjsu by August 26th.
Elluminate Meetings
Two required meetings are scheduled, one for September 13th and one for November 1st. Each will last from 9:00 to 1:00 Pacific Time.
Assignments
The assignments are designed to provide the students to acquire and demonstrate the following skills:
- Create a user model, and based on the needs identified, design descriptive and subject metadata for a collection and create a database.
- Create a controlled vocabulary that adheres to a set of standards such as NISO Z39.19 and use it in creating records for a collection of scholarly articles.
- Search the databases created.
- Set performance criteria and, based on searches, evaluate the database.
- Evaluate one or more information retrieval interfaces.
- Describe fundamental concepts of information seeking behavior.
- Use information retrieval concepts in discussions.
The assignments are listed below along with the skills (see immediately above) that they address.
| IR system design exercises | |
| Attribute elicitation exercise | required but not graded (pre-1,7) |
| Classification exercise | required but not graded (pre-1,7) |
| Vocabulary design exercise | required but not graded (pre-2,7) |
| Assignment #1 Descriptive metadata |
350 points (1,pre-2,7) |
| Assignment #2 Vocabulary design & evaluation |
350 points (1,2,3,4,7) |
| Midterm |
150 points (1,2,7) |
| Final |
150 points (1,4,5,6,7) |
| Total Points | 1,000 |
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.
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/
One Washington Square - San José, California USA, 95192-0029
Phone: 408-924-2490
Contact the webmaster
