LIBR 220-03
Resources and Information Services in Professions and Disciplines (1 unit)
Topic: Representations of Youth in Local Media: Implications for Libraries
Spring 2007 Greensheet
Dr. Anthony Bernier
E-mail
Office Phone: (408)924-2501
Home Phone: (510)339-6880
Office Hours: by appointment
| Greensheet Links Textbooks and Readings Course Requirements |
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Mission of the School
The School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) educates professionals and develops leaders who organize, manage and enable the effective use of information and ideas in order to contribute to the well-being of our communities.
Getting Launched
SLIS utilizes a networked learning environment called Blackboard for class communications, submitting assignments, and grade records. You should enroll in our 220-03 Blackboard site on or shortly after Wednesday 10 January 2007. Enroll early so you can prepare the first assignments. You'll need, for instance, to prepare for an assignment due on Saturday 27 January. Not submitting the assignment on time forfeits grade points.
SJSU SLIS Blackboard is at http://tigris.sjsu.edu
NOTE: On 10 January 2007, I will send you the access code to enroll in our Blackboard site. You will receive the access code if you are enrolled in the class via the My.SJSU.edu messaging system.
Course Description
This 1-unit course critically examines media representations of young adults and their impacts on the library’s institutional responses. After conducting a content analysis, students will explore the ways in which to exploit their findings to improve young adult service profiles.
Prerequisites: LIRB210
Course Objectives
Core Competencies
This course will support you in developing SLIS’s professional core competencies in the following areas:
- articulate the ethics, values and foundational principles of library and information professionals and their role in the promotion of intellectual freedom;
- recognize the social, cultural and economic dimensions of information use;
- apply the fundamental principles of planning, management and marketing/advocacy
- 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;
- contribute to the cultural, economic, educational and social well-being of our communities
This particular section of SLIS 220 also supports these core competencies:
- use service concepts, principles and techniques that facilitate information access, relevance, and accuracy for individuals or groups of users;
- demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations;
Course Outcomes
Research concludes that media selectively positions its representations of young adults, resulting in the portrayal of youth overwhelmingly as social problems. This course tests that conclusion against your own content analysis of local newspaper coverage, and requires that you think through the patterns you discover and their relationships to the institutional responses of libraries. To what degree, for instance, do these representations support or deny equitable resources for young adults? You will also examine dimensions of young adult service advocacy connected to relationships with local media.
These course outcomes will help you to:
- develop and execute a content analysis of local media
- develop and demonstrate skills in scholarly and field research methods
- locate young adult library services in broader cultural and professional contexts
- develop your written expression and analysis
- improve your professional public presentations and delivery
Textbooks and Readings
Required Texts
- 3 consecutive months of a local newspaper of your choice
Additional Readings
We will be reading a variety of other materials either posted to our Blackboard site, accessible on-line through the SJSU Library, or otherwise made available. Further references for these items are forthcoming in the Course Outline.
Please do not distribute access to these materials as they are designed specifically to support you in your 2007 Spring 220 studies.
Course Requirements
This Spring 2007 course requires that you:
- complete reading and writing assignments as required in the Course Outline
- perform literature searches and produce critical written analysis
- attend the only class meeting [Saturday 7 April 2007]
- refer to our course Blackboard site frequently
- produce a 1-page analysis as detailed in the Course Outline
- prepare and deliver an in-class presentation of your final work
- produce a final project as detailed in the Course Outline
- have minimal home computing environment required by SLIS, see http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/homecomputing.htm
- access the required software downloads (free):
- Adobe Reader available at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
- RealPlayer available at: http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/realplayer.htm
Dropping the Course
The last day to drop this course without an entry on your permanent record is Monday 5 February 2006.
Course Schedule
| Date | Location | Time |
| Saturday 7 April 2007 | Clark Hall 316 | 10am-6pm |
Assignments
This course is an “inquiry-based exploration,” which means that some of our topics will grow from collaboration between faculty and student interests, as opposed to engaging pre-determined content and material. Thus, assignments will be linked closely to the more fine-tuned topics negotiated together throughout class, often over Blackboard Discussion Forums.
| Student Deliverables | Grade Weight |
Due Date |
| Participation in Blackboard course | 5 points |
24 January – 7 April |
| 1 100-word writing assignment | 5 points |
10 March |
| 1-page analysis of Youth Media Council Report | 10 points |
24 March |
| A final 5-7 page content analysis | 65 points |
6 April |
| In class presentation and participation | 15 points |
7 April |
Total: 100 |
All of your submitted work will receive written analytical comments from me. I will also render and post what I call “AB’s Overall Comments” for the final paper to give you my assessments of the entire classes’ performance. These comments are designed to help strengthen your skills and build your confidence to perform and deliver developmentally-appropriate services at a professional level.
As detailed in the Course Outline, and except for the Final Project, all assignments and student deliverables are to be completed and submitted by midnight on the Saturday of the week in which they are due. For instance, the written assignments due Week 7 must be submitted by midnight, Saturday 10 March via Blackboard (which will not accept assignments after that time). Late submissions will not be accepted, read, or receive comments.
Assignment Changes
As an inquiry-based course of study, the instructor reserves the right to alter assignments with fair notice.
Attendance/Participation
Our course convenes in class meetings only once (see date/times/location above). As a graduate student you are expected to attend this session, as well as participate in our on-line experience.
Incompletes
You should avail yourself of the policy for uncompleted coursework on the School’s website under “Registration.”
Late Assignments
As this is a graduate school program designed to prepare you for professional success and leadership, and because administering late assignments detract from attention to the success of the entire class, no late assignments will be accepted, read, or receive comments.
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 |
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.
School of Library & Information Science
One Washington Square - San José, California USA, 95192-0029
Phone: 408-924-2490
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