LIBR 204
Information Organizations and Management
Fall 2004

Instructor: Daniel F. Duran, Ph.D.
E-mail
Phone : 562.907.4931
Cell: 213.369.2368
Fax: 562.907.4956 or 562.698-1005

GREENSHEET

PLEASE NOTE THAT I RECEIVE A LARGE NUMBER OF E-MAILS DAILY SO I WILL ONLY RESPOND TO YOUR E-MAILS BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 1PM-4PM ON MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND FRIDAY; ANY E-MAILS RECEIVED ON OTHER DAYS WILL NOT BE RESPONDED TO UNTIL THE NEXT SCHEDULED DAY. YOU ARE WELCOME TO CALL ME IF IT IS IMPORTANT AND AN E-MAIL WILL NOT SUFFICE.

Course Description

This class is concerned with theory and practice of the management of Library and Information Centers as applied to existing organizations as well as their current direction and future development.

The central theme of this course is on a planned approach to developing and managing Library and Information Centers, whether they be public libraries in large urban centers or rural areas, special libraries and information centers in business and government arenas, libraries and learning/media centers in elementary schools and higher education institutions, academic and research centers, or other library and information center venues.

In short, the overarching goal of this course it help you identify and apply the strategic planning skills, management tools, and resource management strategies necessary for your professional success and the progress of our noble profession. At the conclusion of this course you should have a good understanding of the core functions of libraries, their institutional and organizational characteristics, and the relationships between library/information science professionals and their constituencies and user groups in library and information organizations.

The objectives of the course are:

To provide you with an understanding of external environment issues impacting the management of LIS ( Library and Information Service) organizations, management theory, and practice with a view to changing existing organizations to meeting emerging and future needs

• To introduce the student to diverse sources of management thinking and literature
• To introduce research issues and challenge students to think about how best to develop services for our diverse society
• To acquaint students with the basic management functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling, and evaluating Library and Information Centers
• To present tools you will hopefully use and improve upon as you progress through your career as professional practitioners in LIS organizations

The course supports the following SLIS objectives:

• Acquiring knowledge of the principles and practices of management as specifically applied to information environments
• Learning to evaluate and apply relevant research studies from a variety of disciplines and resources to support management activities

Be sure to see course requirements to understand the format of the course.

I made the decision this semester to have a required text rather than to rely solely on articles and other materials available either from our MLK library or via my Blackboard (BB) course page.

The required text is: Evans, G.E., Ward, P.L. & Rugass, B (2000). Management Basics for Information Professionals. New York : Neal-Schuman. The text can be found via the publisher at: http://www.Neal-schuman.com

I have chosen this text because it covers a broad range of topics and would be a good first addition to your professional book shelf.

Grading Policy

Everyone starts the class with a grade of "B", the standard grade for graduate level work. Students who complete the assignments, monitor and respond to the Announcements and communications posted in Blackboard and actively participate in the discussions will receive the B provided that the quality of written work meets the standard for the University. Above standard work is defined as work that clearly displays one or more of the following criteria:

• Originality in the approach to the assignment
• Greater depth of analysis than the written assignment calls for (particularly in comparing articles or viewpoints across the literature)
• Critical evaluation of readings by comparing them to other authors or sources
• The ability to develop and implement your own knowledge management structure by creating tools for lifelong learning and knowledge retrieval

Assignments will be posted in Blackboard and typically must include an Abstract, Thesis Statement/Paragraph, and Bibliography or Resource Listing.

I will score and respond to all Assignments. At the end of the semester I will compile the scores and assign grades based on the following scale:

94% or above = A
86-93%= B
80-85%= C
75-79%= D
74% or below = F

EXPECTATIONS

It is expected that:

-- You MUST keep your virus software up-to-date or otherwise run the risk of taking us ALL down; you are required to submit ALL assignments before the Due Date in PDF format via the Assignment link in Blackboard (BB)

--All students must enroll in the course in Blackboard (BB) to receive communications from the instructor by the FIRST DATE OF THE TERM

--Assignments are due by the midnight of the due date; all assignments submitted after the due date will be subjected to a grade penalty unless arrangements are made with me beforehand

-- All assignments will be submitted electronically to me via BB and some of the submitted assignments may be shared (with the students permission) with fellow students via BB; Students will be allowed to use the Digital Drop Box to submit Assignments only if there are problems submitting the Assignment via the Assignment link at the bottom of each Assignment

--All pages will be consecutively numbered in each assignment with the student's name and the name of the assignment in the footer of each page

--Spelling, grammatical, and syntactical errors do not reflect graduate level work and will have a negative impact on your grade

--All work cited should be in full complete citation format and conform to the The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth edition

--All assignments will be submitted electronically using the Digital Drop Box and/or Assignment/Gradebook capabilities of BB

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING TO MAKE THIS COURSE FLOW FOR YOU AND ME

--All assignments MUST have your name (last, first), course information, assignment # or name, in the subject line of the email and the first line on attachments; Example:
Duran, Daniel SLIS 204-11 Assignment #1: My Story

-- As I receive scores of e-mails each day from students and others please NOTE THAT I WILL TRY TO RESPOND TO YOUR E-MAILED QUESTIONS OR NON-ASSIGNMENT SPECIFIC CONCERS WITHIN 48 HOURS OF RECEIPT

--To keep the volume of student e-mail manageable, I will post commonly asked questions on Blackboard

--I will post a weekly “Announcement” that will provide an overview of the readings, assignment(s), and any other pertinent information

-- All students will be assigned to a Discussion Group after submission of the first Assignment “My Story”; check the Blackboard Assignment Section and/or Group Discussion section(s) to determine your study group.

--All assignments submitted must be your own work

--Sources must be properly cited in papers as specified in class

The San Jose State University regulations governing plagiarism will be enforced. Those regulations may be found at: http://info.sjsu.edu search option: Academic Dishonesty. Evidence of plagiarism will result in a grade of F for the course.

If you need any special consideration due to a disability, you need to register with the SJSU Disability Resource Center and notify the instructor by the second week of classes.

Contribution Areas and Assignments

The maximum number of points you can earn in this class is 250 with 220 of these points associated with Assignments 1-7 detailed below and 30 points maximum for your Discussion Group (DG) Team Assignment and group participation (Assignment 8).

This is a brief summary of your assignments and contribution areas; more detailed information can be found on the Blackboard Assignments section. Please check the Assignments tab on the Blackboard page which provides specific assignment details. Each assignment has a rubric and is found at the Assignments tab. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DUE DATES FOR THESE ASSIGNMENTS MAY CHANGE SO PLEASE CONFIRM BOTH THE ASSIGNMENT AND THE DUE DATE ON BLACKBOARD.

Assignment 1: Introduction to Search Techniques (20 points) due September 1, 2004 11:59 pm

Assignment 2: My Story: Today and Tomorrow ( 10 points) due September 8, 2004 11:59 pm

You will share your story with me and members of your Discussion Group (DG ). It should be approximately 1 page, single spaced. This assignment will allow me to know you a little and also help you appreciate your virtual class mates in your designated DG. Everyone has a story and your goal is to share it succinctly and honestly -- where you come from, where you have been, who you are, and where are you going. You should also include in your story how and where you perceive yourself to be 5 years out past completion of your SLIS studies. This assignment will scored on three criteria: Did you share, was is at least one full page, and was it grammatically and structurally sound?

Assignment 3: You and the Library at Alexandria ( 30 points) due September 22, 2004 at 11:59 pm

You are a new member of the Alexandria Library during its glory time. Your assignment focuses on your role, status, and situation and requires you to perform some advanced bibliographic and Internet research. Check the assignments page for more details.

Assignments 4-7: Analytical Essays ( Total of 160 Points)

There will be three analytical essays due for this class. They should demonstrate what you have learned in the class to the point of submittal and they should be cumulative. The last one should summarize the key concepts and applications covered during the semester.

Each essay should cover the sources you have located, analysis of the writings, comparison of the materials, and application of your own knowledge and experiences. It should reflect your synthesis of what you have learned in a clear, cogent report to the instructor. I expect you to connect the dots. Each essay will have an Abstract, Thesis Statement/Paragraph, and Summary. The main body of each essay, excluding Abstract and Bibliography/Resources must be 8 pages or less.

The essays must be submitted via the Assignment link and MUST be in PDF format. Full descriptions of the Assignments will be found in BB; their due dates and point values are provided below.

Assignment 4 (“Mission) will be due October 10, 2004 at 11:59 pm (30 points)

Assignment 5 (“ISB) will be due October 24 at 11:59 pm (40 points)

Assignment 6 (“KM”)will be due November 7 at 11:59 pm (40 points)

Assignment 7 (“Strategy”) will be due November 24 at 11:59 pm (50 points)

Assignment 8: In addition to the aforementioned individual Assignments you will also have a Discussion Group Team Assignment worth 30 points that will be due December 5 th at 11:59 pm .

You are expected to share resources, pose questions and raise issues for each of the four analytical essays as well as the DG team paper that focuses on a community analysis/change management plan. Please share your thoughts during the few weeks that each topic is posted.

You will be assigned to a DG where you will be able to make contributions. Your DG participation will be evaluated in relation to the frequency (quantitative) of communication and participation and, more importantly, the value (quality) of your input. For example, frequent postings of "Yeah" and "Way to Go" will not earn many, if any, points. Conversely, a few substantiating contributions regarding bibliographic and other resources or help resolving a problem or other Knowledge Manager (KM) contributions will be well received by all and credited accordingly. DO NOT WAIT until the semester is winding down to make your mark in your DG. Get into the swing now.

Course Requirements

1. You MUST have the minimal home computing environment as described at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/homecomputing.htm
and have Internet Access, including the ability to:

--Send and receive email: When attachments are used, please send in PDF format using MS Word.

--View the WWW with a graphical browser

--Create and view PDF files: Check Blackboard instructions for how to download and create PDF files.

2. Enroll in SLISWEB Blackboard to receive assignments and communications from the instructor by the first day of class: DO SO NOW!!!

3. Send homework to the instructor via BB using the Assignment links at the bottom of every Assignment. You should identify every assignment to me by including your last name, first name, course number, and assignment number/title. When sending PDF or other attachments, remember to provide your last name, first name, course number and the assignment #/title on the first line on the attached document (in case the attachments becomes separated from its associated email).

4. Other communications via e-mail to me must follow this format in the subject line:

--FOR QUESTIONS: Your last name, first name, course number, "Question"

--FOR COMMENTS: Your last name, first name, course number, "Comment"

By following the aforementioned procedures I can easily identify Assignment submission and sort and respond to your e-mail.

5. Finally, a note on Adobe Acrobat Reader, for PDF files

PDF stands for Portable Document Format. Any document created by any software can be converted to a PDF file, preserving its original content, layout, and color. These files are viewable with the Adobe Acrobat Reader. You will need version 3.0 or higher to view some of the files on this site.

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