LIBR 234-10
SEMINAR ON INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM
Fall 2005

Carrie Gardner
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Textbooks | Course Requirements

Please check MySJSU Messaging for information about Blackboard enrollment.

Course Description

Focuses on current intellectual freedom issues and the centrality of intellectual freedom to librarianship.

Course Goals and Objectives

At the end of this course, the student will:

• Understand the idea of patron privacy and be familiar with state privacy laws.
• Know the role and parts of a patron privacy policy.
• Understand how the First Amendment and numerous laws relate to Libraries.
• Know the difference between legal and illegal information.
• Know the definition of Intellectual Freedom.
• Understand how Intellectual Freedom influences a library program.
• Explore the ideas of censorship.
• Explore the ideas of selection vs. censorship.
• Know some of the major players who try to influence libraries.
• Understand the role policy plays in collection development.
• Know the Librarians Code of Ethics.
• Understand the purpose of the Library Bill of Rights and it’s Interpretations.
• Understand the issues surrounding providing Internet access.
• Know how filter products work and their effect on access to information.
• Know the purpose and sections of a resource selection policy.
• Know how to handle a resource challenge.
• Be aware of banned books week and other promotional materials.

The Objectives of this course that relate to the SLIS Goals are:

• Teaching students the major theories, important principles, and current practice in the following areas:
  • The foundations of information services;
  • Information management, including the selection, organization, storage, retrieval, dissemination and utilization of information resources;
  • The principles and practices of management as specifically applied to information environments;
  • Advocacy and leadership for citizen access to information and knowledge resources; and
• Giving students the opportunity to take elective courses, practicum experiences, and independent studies that prepare them to contribute to the work of the library and information professions.
• Requiring students to evaluate and utilize relevant research studies from a variety of disciplines in their coursework.

Textbooks

Spinello, Richard. Editor. Readings in Cyberethics, 2nd Edition. Boston: Jones and Bartlett. ISBN: 0-7637-2410-6.This is available from amazon.com.

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Course Requirements

Blackboard
This course will be conducted using the Blackboard Software. Registration information will be posted via MySJSU Messaging.

Assignments
Detailed information about each assignment, including due dates is included in Blackboard. I reserve the right to deduct points for grammar, spelling or late work.

Grading Scale
The University Recommended Grading Scale for Graduate Students will be implemented for this course:

Academic Integrity
Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University, and the University’s Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty are required to report all infractions to the Office of Judicial Affairs

Academic integrity is essential to the mission of San José State University. As such, students are expected to perform their own work (except when collaboration is expressly permitted by the course instructor) without the use of any outside resources. Students are not permitted to use old tests, quizzes when preparing for exams, nor may they consult with students who have already taken the exam. When practiced, academic integrity ensures that all students are fairly graded. Violations to the Academic Integrity Policy undermine the educational process and will not be tolerated. It also demonstrates a lack of respect for oneself, fellow students and the course instructor and can ruin the university’s reputation and the value of the degrees it offers.

We all share the obligation to maintain an environment which practices academic integrity. Violators of the Academic Integrity Policy will be subject to failing this course and being reported to the Office of Judicial Affairs for disciplinary action   which could result in suspension or expulsion from San José State University.

Read the SJSU Academic Integrity Policy
http://www2.sjsu.edu/senate/S04-12.pdf

Cheating
At SJSU, cheating is the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for academic work through the use of any dishonest, deceptive, or fraudulent means. Cheating at SJSU includes but is not limited to:

Copying in part or in whole, from another’s test or other evaluation instrument; Submitting work previously graded in another course unless this has been approved by the course instructor or by departmental policy. Submitting work simultaneously presented in two courses, unless this has been approved by both course instructors or by departmental policy. Altering or interfering with grading or grading instructions; Sitting for an examination by a surrogate, or as a surrogate; any other act committed by a student in the course of his or her academic work which defrauds or misrepresents, including aiding or abetting in any of the actions defined above.

Plagiarism
At SJSU plagiarism is the act of representing the work of another as one’s own (without giving appropriate credit) regardless of how that work was obtained, and submitting it to fulfill academic requirements. Plagiarism at SJSU includes but is not limited to:

The act of incorporating the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, or parts thereof, or the specific substances of another’s work, without giving appropriate credit, and representing the product as one’s own work; and representing another’s artistic/scholarly works such as musical compositions, computer programs, photographs, painting, drawing, sculptures, or similar works as one’s own.

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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