LIBR 204-04
LIBR 204-05
Information Organizations and Management
Spring 2008 Greensheet
Joe Matthews
E-mail
Phone: (760)930-9223
Office Hours: There are no regularly scheduled office hours. You may reach the instructor anytime using email or the telephone. I usually check my email several times a day.
| Greensheet Links Textbooks and Readings Course Requirements |
Resources Blackboard Blackboard Tutorials SLIS eBookstore |
Students must self-enroll for this course on Blackboard. You will be required to use a password access code which will be provided to you via the MySJSU Messaging system.
Course Description
Theory and practice for the management of library and information centers are presented and discussed. Emphasis is placed on examining the distinguishing characteristics, cultures, and relationships in information organizations.
A course prerequisite is demonstrated computer literacy demonstrated via completion of the New Student Technology Course, a mandatory short- self-paced online course on blackboard. For more information, see http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/slis/blackboardintro.htm
Course Objectives
The objectives of the course are:
- To develop personal managerial skills and a philosophy about management;
- To understand the management task within an organizational setting;
- To appreciate the complexities of organizational life and the role of the professional within an organization;
- To become familiar with management literature in library and information science, business, and related fields;
- To learn about the creative activities of managers and the central roles they play in promoting group activities and innovation in an organizational context;
- To examine issues related to managing information staffs and services in a diverse society.
- To demonstrate good collaborative skills in working with classmates and instructor in this course to make it an effective and efficient learning environment.
LIBR 204 supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:
- apply the fundamental principles of planning, management and marketing/advocacy;
- design training programs based on appropriate learning principles and theories;
- demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations;
- evaluate programs and services on specified criteria.
The Statement of Core Competencies for graduates of the Master of Library and Information Science program at SLIS may be found at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/slis/competencies.htm
Textbooks and Readings
Readings and Required Text
Readings are assigned throughout the class. They are in either the required text, from the King library or from other online sources. The required text may be purchased online at the SLIS e-bookstore: http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/courses/books/index.php. Funds generated by the sale of textbooks support SLIS scholarship funds.
- Robert Stueart and Barbara Moran. Library and Information Center Management. Westport, CN: Libraries Unlimited, 2007.
- Joseph R. Matthews. Strategic Planning and Management for Library Managers. Westport, CN: Libraries Unlimited, 2005.
Course Requirements
Complete the New Student Technology Workshop
This is a mandatory short, self-paced online workshop 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
Technology Literacy Requirement
All students must meet the Technology Literacy Requirement, available at:
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/admissions/tech.htm
Home Computing Requirement
All students must meet the Home Computing Requirement , available at: http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/homecomputing.htm
Blackboard
The course will be conducted using the SLISWEB Blackboard (BB) course management system. You are required to participate in online discussions on BB several times a week.
Assignments are to be posted to the Assignment Manager feature of BB. You will often be asked to post a summary of an assignment to a discussion forum for your class colleagues to share and comment on. If an assignment is sensitive for any reason, you may request that it be held confidential by the instructor.
Questions about the class or procedures should be posted on the BB “Office Hours” discussion forum so that other students may see the question and the answer. Chances are your question is one that others have as well.
All papers should follow APA style using The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. Please see http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/resources/apa.htm for a list of sources providing assistance.
Grading
Everyone begins the class with a grade of “C”, the standard grade for acceptable graduate level work. Students who complete the assignments in timely manner and participate at least three times a week in the discussions will receive a C provided that the quality of written work meets the standard for the University. Self-assessment and peer assessment is encouraged; however, in the last analysis, you should be the best judge of your work.
Above standard work is defined as work that clearly displays one or more of the following criteria:
- Originality in the approach to the assignment
- Exceptional depth of analysis
- Critical comparison of readings, course material, discussions, experiences, etc.
- Evidence of excellent preparation
- Ability to synthesize, evaluate, and relate work to a larger picture
Assignment Submission
Rules for submission of assignments:
- All pages should be consecutively numbered with the student’s name and the name of the assignment and date in the footer of each page
- All submitted work should be keyed using Microsoft Word, single-spaced, 12-point font, double-spaced between paragraphs.
- Spelling, grammatical and syntactical errors will affect the evaluation negatively
- Work cited should include complete bibliographical information and conform in format to the APA style manual
- Assignments submitted after the due date may be subject to a grade penalty
- Assignments must be your own or the collaborative work of your group. Academic honesty and ethical standards relative to other’s work are highly valued. See the SJSU Academic Integrity Policy – http://www2.sjsu.edu/senate/S04-12.pdf
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.
Assignments
Below are the assignments for the course; some are graded and some are not but all are required. Several assignments are group tasks and are so noted. The weight for each graded assignment is given in parentheses. A brief description of each assignment is provided below. A more detailed description of each assignment with a rubric for evaluation and a due date will be provided to you on the Assignments tab on the Blackboard Web. Assignments are due by midnight on the date shown on the class schedule. As you can see from the long list, you will be expected to complete some kind of written assignment each week in addition to your reading and discussion postings.
- Student Biography (Ungraded)
Add an introductory message to the “Getting to Know You” discussion forum and attach a small picture, if you want. Include information about your undergraduate degree, where you currently work, whether you have ever worked in a library, where you live, hobbies, etc. - Weekly Discussion of the Course Topics (20%)
Questions and suggested activities will be posted each week. Please share your
thoughts on the questions and on the readings. Your engagement with the topics
and with your fellow students will deepen your knowledge. Some ways of
demonstrating engagement include:- Identifying an aspect of the topic as significant to you with your explanation of why you see it as significant
- Evaluating an argument critically, logically and comparatively
- Providing an effective synthesis of multiple resources, arguments, or
points of view - Taking an existing discussion in a new direction
- Bringing “real life” experience into class discussions
- Provide citations and/or links to related and relevant resources
- Helping to create a learning community by inclusive remarks and
questions and by bringing fellow students into the discussion.
- Strategic Planning I: Organizational Description Paper (10%)
Select a library or information agency that you are somewhat familiar with and describe it in 5 double-spaced pages. See if you can identify how the library is organized, who its funding decision makers are, and how well it relates to its customers. - Strategic Planning II: Evaluation of Library Management (10%)
Select a library or information agency and based on your observations, and describe in a 5 page paper the type of management philosophy practiced in that library. Is it hierarchical or participative? What are the consequences of the management approach practiced in this library? - Strategic Planning III: Strategic Plan – Group Project (30%)
Select a library and prepare a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis for this library. Then create a strategic plan for the library that has clearly articulated strategies that will result in better services for the library’s customers. In addition to a written report, you will prepare a presentation of your plan to share with your classmates. The presentation might be a brochure, a PowerPoint, and so forth. - Strategic Planning IV: Operational Plan (20%)
For the organization you described and analyzed, describe how you would position the organization for future success and then develop an operational plan. The operational plan might be a marketing plan, technology plan, facilities plan, training plan, HR recruiting plan and so forth. - Analysis of Group Process – Individual Exercise (10%)
You will work in a group to prepare a strategic plan. For this assignment, you are to evaluate your experience in this group. Write an analysis of the experiences identifying factors that contribute to group success and factors that impede it. Did each team member contribute equally? How were problems addressed and resolved? Conclude your paper with some suggestions for actions that you might take in a future group to make it work more effectively.
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/
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.
Final Comments
As with most things in life, you will get out of this course what you put into it. You will have to write a lot in this course as I will be unable to hear you talking about the class concepts or to see you nodding and smiling, as I would in a face-to-face class.
As your instructor, I pledge to be available to you usually within 48 hours of a direct email and at least 3-4 times a week reading and posting on Blackboard. I will do my best to return your assignments within 7 days after receiving them. I will try to provide useful feedback to help you improve your future performance.
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Phone: 408-924-2490
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