LIBR 210-12
Reference & Information Services
Fall 2005

Dr. Renée N. Jefferson
E-mail
Office hours: Blackboard, by appointment

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Course Materials | Course Requirements

The course will be available on the Blackboard site on Monday, August 15th. The instructor will enroll you in the course by Monday, August 15th and you will be able to access the course on Blackboard.

Course Description

The course is designed to present an overview of concepts, components, and current developments in reference and information services provided in various types of libraries.

The major topics are:

1. an understanding of concepts/definitions and models/types of reference and information services;
2. a survey of reference sources in various types of formats;
3. a study of the evaluation, selection, and use of general reference sources by type of material;
4. theoretical frameworks and techniques supporting the practices of reference and information services; and
5. issues in information technology and its impact on the provision of reference and information services and on current models for the delivery of reference and information services to remote users, such as e-mail based and world wide Web-based service models and other mechanisms that apply network technology.

Course Objectives

At the completion of the course, the student should be able to perform the following:

1. demonstrate familiarity with a number of basic reference sources in various types of formats by efficiently and independently providing answers to sample questions designed to utilize those sources;
2. identify the various types of reference sources, including their characteristics and functions;
3. comprehend theoretical concepts and techniques that support the provision of reference and information services;
4. apply theory-into-practice approaches to provide basic reference and information services; and
5. identify state-of-the-art information technology and current models for the delivery of reference and information services.

The course supports the following School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) objectives:

The student will be able to understand the major theories and important principles of the foundation of information services, and in addition will demonstrate knowledge of current practices in (1) information transfer, (2) information management, including the selection, organization, storage, retrieval, dissemination and utilization of information resources, and the application of diverse technologies to information services.

Course Materials

Required Textbook
Katz, W. A. (2002). Introduction to reference work. Volume I Basic Information Services. 8th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. [The textbook is available from Amazon at www.amazon.com and Barnes and Noble at www.bn.com.]

Additional Materials
Additional course materials will be available in Blackboard.

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Course Requirements

Course Format
This is a Web-based course. There is one MANDATORY weekend class session:

• Friday, September 23rd (9am – 5pm) and
• Saturday, September 24th (9am – 5pm)

The weekend class session will be held at California State University, Fullerton in Pollack Library South, Room 68.  

Blackboard
Blackboard will be used for the majority of the course activities.

• The course will be available on the Blackboard site on Monday, August 15th.
• The instructor will enroll you in the course by Monday, August 15th and you will be able to access the course on Blackboard.
• Follow the instructions posted in the Announcements’ section.

Office Hours
I will not set specific online hours. I will be available to answer questions Monday through Friday. You should have a response to your questions within 48 hours. You may also make an appointment to meet with me in the chat room that is available in Blackboard, or you may schedule a time for me to telephone you.

Instructor Expectations
Students are expected to adhere to the following:

1. Check e-mail and Blackboard daily for messages and announcements. Communication in an online course is essential.
2. Submit all assignments by the specified due date and time. Instructions for each assignment are posted under the Assignments section of Blackboard. Points will be deducted for failure to follow directions. Any assignment submitted after the due date, without the permission of the instructor, will have its total score reduced by 10%. [Note: You must have permission from the instructor to submit your assignment late PRIOR to the due date.]   Any assignment submitted more than one week after the deadline will not be accepted for grading, and a failing grade will be recorded; that is, unless a student has received an extension from the instructor. This is only fair to students who work to submit their assignments on time.
3. Submit assignments that are free of spelling and grammatical errors. All sources must be correctly cited using the APA style manual.
4. All assignments must be your own work. Sources must be properly cited in papers. The San Jose State University codes and rules governing plagiarism are in effect. Please refer to the following sites for specific information.
   •  "Academic Dishonesty Procedures", SJSU Class Schedule http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/soc-spring/soc-spring-273.html    
   • University Policy F88-10: http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/f88-10.htm
   • S98-1 (amends F88-10): http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/s98-1.htm
   • S02-4 (amends S98-1): http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/S02-4.htm.
   • SJSU Academic Integrity Policy: http://www2.sjsu.edu/senate/S04-12.pdf
5. Work cooperatively on group assignments. Group work is an important component of this course. If a member of a group is not contributing his or her fair share, please inform the instructor as soon as possible.
6. Be an active participant in class discussions and activities. Class discussions and activities are integral components of the course.
7. Identify a local academic library, preferably a CSU library, with a sizable reference collection. Plan to visit that library frequently throughout the course. Although the course is conducted online, not all reference sources are readily available online.
8. Know how to use Blackboard.  See the Blackboard Tutorials and Resources for SLIS Instructors and Students located at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/blackboard/.
9. It is the responsibility of the student to maintain a copy of all graded and returned materials for use as evidence in any question that might arise regarding the final grade in the course.
10. Incompletes will be assigned only in cases of medical or family emergency. Medical or other proof will be required.

Assignments
Students are required to complete the following assignments:

Reference Collection
This assignment is designed to assist you in becoming familiar with a variety of information sources and their uses. You will develop a reference collection for a specific type of library. There are three (3) parts to this assignment. The assignment contributes 300 points toward your final course grade (Part I—60 points, Part II—120 points, and Part III—120 points). This is a group assignment. Since each group will focus on different types of sources, you will be asked to post a copy of your un-graded assignment to a discussion forum. This will give other students the opportunity to view sources for different types of reference environments.

Groups. The reference collection assignments are group assignments. The number of students assigned to a group will depend on the number of students enrolled in the course.  Participation in the group is mandatory. Group members may terminate the membership of a student who does not participate in the activities defined by the group (e.g., meetings, tasks). The instructor must be notified immediately if a group member is terminated. If a student is terminated from a group, he/she WILL NOT receive credit for the assignment. No make-up or extra-credit assignment will be permitted for a terminated group member.

Reference Issues
The purpose of the reference issues assignment is to give you an opportunity to review and critique literature related to traditional and contemporary reference services. Discussions will take place in the Blackboard’s Discussion Forum and at the site visits. There are two (2) discussion activities. These activities will contribute 150 points toward your final course grade, each activity contributing 75 points. These are individual activities.

Reference Query
For this assignment, you are required to participate in a reference librarian-library user query interaction. You will have an opportunity to play the role of the reference librarian and the library user. The assignment will take place in a discussion forum, and will span two weeks. [Note: If you play the role of the library user the first week, you will play the role of the librarian the second week.]   The reference query contributes 250 points toward your final course grade.  Although you will be working with a partner, this is an individually graded assignment.

Virtual Instruction Session
The instruction session is designed to assist you in identifying and describing information sources generally located in reference departments. It will also assist you in comprehending and applying library instruction concepts. You will design and develop instructional materials for a specific library user group. The materials will be used for your instruction session presentation. You will be required to post a PowerPoint presentation and a copy of your instructional materials to the Virtual Instruction discussion board. The instructional materials contribute 100 points toward your final course grade, and the presentation contributes 200 points.  You will be evaluated by the instructor and your classmates. This is an individual assignment.

Evaluation
The assignments will be evaluated as follows:

Grading Scale
All graded assignments will be marked using one of the following letter grades.

Reasonable Accommodation of Disabilities
Students who need accommodation due to a disability must register with SJSU's Disability Resource Center (DRC) during the first three weeks of the semester. The Center will work with the students to determine the disability, document it, and determine the services and accommodations necessary for student success. Then, the DRC will contact the faculty member to determine the types of consideration necessary.

Students attending the Fullerton campus should first contact the Disability Resource Center in San José since they are SJSU students. The DRC will then direct the students to supporting resources on the Fullerton campus.

The DRC Web site: http://www.drc.sjsu.edu/

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