LIBR 204-14
Information Organizations and Management
Spring 2008 Greensheet
Brian Reynolds
E-mail
Work Phone: (802)781-5785
Office Hours: Virtual Office hours are: 5pm to 6pm on Tuesday evenings using the telephone (individuals) or Elluminate software (groups). Face to face and phone meetings by appointment. Come visit me in lovely San Luis Obispo! :-)
| Greensheet Links Textbooks and Readings Course Requirements |
Resources Blackboard Blackboard Tutorials SLIS eBookstore |
The content for the course is managed through Blackboard. Students must self-enroll for this course on Blackboard between January 7 and January 21, 2008. You will be required to use a password access code. The code will be provided to you via the MySJSU Messaging system.
Course Description
Identifying distinguishing characteristics, culture, and relationships of information organizations. Emphasizes theories examining the interaction between human beings and the organizations in which they work.
Course Prerequisites: Students will have completed the new student technology workshop and have the specified minimum hardware and software plus a high speed Internet connection to participate fully in the course.
Course Objectives
Student Learning Outcomes
- To increase your understanding of the roles and activities of leaders and managers in libraries, especially public libraries;
- To develop your disposition for leadership, regardless of job title, in the work environment;
- To develop your understanding and skills of group dynamics and processes and working in teams;
- To promote your understanding of the theory, principles, and practices of management in libraries;
To introduce analytical and strategic planning processes and skills; - To know the professional and research literature of management;
- To develop your skills in the preparation and presentation of oral and written reports;
- To increase your self-evaluation skills, particularly with respect to the ability to be aware of what you are doing, critically and non-defensively.
- To better understand the balance between leadership and management in a public library environment, using the perspective of a public library director.
- Design, implement, and evaluate an individual and group project researching leadership/management issues in an actual library 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.
In addition, this section supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:
- Understand the nature of research, research methods and research findings, retrieve, evaluate and synthesize scholarly and professional literature for informed decision-making by specific client groups.
See the competencies at:
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/slis/competencies.htm
Textbooks and Readings
The textbook is available for purchase online at the SLIS eBookstore or directly from the publisher. Funds generated by the sale of textbooks support SLIS scholarship funds.
Required Text and Readings
- Evans, G. Edward, Ward, Patricia L., (2007). Management Basics for Information Professionals, 2nd ed. New York: Neal-Schuman.
- Reynolds, Brian A. Public Library Funding: Issues, Trends, and Resources. In Advances in Librarianship, vol. 18, 1994, pp. 159-187. Academic Press.*
- Reynolds, Brian A. A Psychological Approach to Creating Stronger Public Libraries. In Advances in Librarianship, vol. 23, 2000, pp. 117-143. Academic Press.*
*Both of these articles have been scanned and will be uploaded to Blackboard.
Readings are assigned throughout the class. They are either in the required Evans text or from online sources.
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
Assignments
These are the general assignments for the course. Please see course outline each week and the assignments tab on the Blackboard Web page for specific assignment details, including due dates. Each assignment has a rubric and it is found on the Blackboard Web page under the assignments tab. The total number of points for the course is 400.
| Number | Assignment | % of Points |
| 1 | Introduction and Résumé Pre-class Survey |
2.5 |
| 2 | “Changing Role of Libraries” essay | 5 |
| 3 | “Dos and Don’ts of Leading a Work Team” essay | 5 |
| 4 | New Service Proposal essay | 5 |
| 5 | New Service Proposal Plan, including Goals & Objectives | 5 |
| 6 | New Service Proposal Plan Budget exercise: allocate $100k to the Plan | 10 |
| 7 | TEAM PROJECT: Design two outreach projects to two target customer groups based upon two New Service Proposal Plans | 20 |
| 8 | Secret Shopper Exercise: Research a local library and critique it for customer service | 2.5 |
| 9 | “Books and Bytes”: Strengths & weaknesses of books, computer, and other technologies | 5 |
| 10 | “Dare to Discipline” essay | 5 |
| 11 | “Difficult People/Staff Safety” essay | 5 |
| 12 | Live Elluminate Session | 5 |
| 13 | “New Ideas” essay #1 | 10 |
| 14 | “New Ideas” essay #2 | 10 |
Course Calendar
The first formal week of this online class will begin Monday, January 21, 2008. I’d like you to submit your own self-introduction/résumé and complete the class survey by Friday, January 25, 2008. One synchronous Elluminate session will be scheduled during the semester, with the day and time set once I become acquainted with your schedules and time zones.
The general topics to be covered in the lectures (created with PowerPoint and my voiceover on Elluminate and loaded onto Blackboard) will include:
- A brief history of libraries, especially public libraries in recent times
- Leadership vs. Management: Working in Teams and with Others
- Working with Peers and Subordinate Staff
- Working with Stakeholder Groups: Customers, Support Groups, and Governing Bodies
- Budgeting and Fiscal Issues
- Strategic & Tactical Planning
- Building Design, Maintenance, Remodel, & Repair
- Collection Technologies (Books, Audiovisual, Electronic, etc.)
- Outreach: Marketing, Publicity, Advertising, Selling
- Employee performance evaluation and discipline
- Working with difficult people (staff & customers) as it affects staff morale and safety
- New Ideas/Trends in Library Service
Assignment Due Dates
Assignment due dates are found in the course Blackboard. All assignments are due by midnight of the due date. All coursework to be completed by Tuesday, May 13, 2008.
Late or Missed Assignments
Penalty for late or missed work – Automatic 5% deduction
Grading
Everyone begins the class with a grade of “B,” the standard grade for graduate level work. Students who complete the assignments, use the class Blackboard site, participate in the Elluminate session, in group discussions, and in the team project will receive the B provided the quality of written work meets the standard of scholarly work for the University. Above standard work is defined as clearly displaying one or more of the following criteria:
- Originality in the approach to the assignment
- Greater depth of analysis than expected
- Critical evaluation of readings by comparing them to other authors, sources, or your own experience
- Clear, concise explanation of the issues in an assignment
Penalties are also assessed in the following situations:
- Errors in spelling, grammar, and syntax will be subject to a grade penalty
- Evidence of plagiarism will result in a grade of F for the course.
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.
Other Relevant Information
Participation in online assignments and discussion (individual and group, written and verbal) is crucial. Reading/viewing/listening to required materials and discussions will enhance your ability to participate in these discussions. Check Blackboard regularly for updates.
I bring to this class almost forty years in librarianship and twenty-five as a public library director. However, I am relatively new at online teaching and know that online work (vs. face-to-face classroom work) is more difficult. I want each and every one of you to succeed in this class and in your chosen profession. Thus, I will minimize readings and group work. In your responses to others’ work, please be courteous and complete, but concise. If an issue is something only I can answer or help you with, please copy only me with that correspondence. E-mail histories and discussions will be limited to 3-4 responses. The preferred method of submitting assignment essays will be via the Blackboard “View/Complete” function. If that method occasionally becomes a problem, essays can be submitted as e-mail attachments.
General Expectations
All students must:
- Have the minimal home computing environment as described at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/communication/homecomputing.htm
- Enroll in the course in Blackboard to receive communications from the instructor by the first day of the term.
- Complete the online survey after enrolling in the class.
- Submit all assignments electronically. The following scheme is required for the submittal of assignment essays: [Course Number]…[Student’s Last Name]…[Assignment Number]. Example, if the student’s last name is Smith, use 204_Smith_assignment1.doc. Failure to utilize this format results in point deductions.
- Consecutively number pages of assignments with the student’s name and the name of the assignment in the footer of each page. Type or key coursework using Microsoft Word, double-spaced in 12 point font. Use a current virus protection to scan all assignments before they are submitted electronically to Blackboard and to the instructor. When in doubt, use the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Assn., Fifth Edition, as the official style manual for formats, citations, and bibliography. Assignments may be completed in advance but not submitted until the appropriate time window.
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
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