LIBR 244-12
ONLINE SEARCHING
Spring 2005

Instructor: Jean Bedord
E-mail
Phone: 408-257-9221
E-mail & Telephone Appointments

 

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| Textbooks | Course Format | Assignments | Grading | Participation | General Expectations |

Reminder : Students must self-enroll for this course on Blackboard during these dates: January 26 to January 30. Your first Blackboard assignment is due January 31.

Course Description

This course focuses on learning search techniques and content for the major commercial (fee-based) online aggregators, and integrating this search expertise with Internet research. Students will learn how to select appropriate databases and formulate search strategies through exercises based on real-life research questions. Course topics include the history of the online information industry, current trends, and pricing issues in addition to searching theory.

The course is geared to students who are interested in professional techniques used to conduct online searches on behalf of others but is also valuable for those who require an awareness of the role commercial databases play in obtaining precision results quickly and efficiently.

Course Objectives

This course supports the following SLIS objectives which can be found at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/slis/mission.htm:

To support the mission of the School in teaching students the major theories, important principles, and current practice in: Information transfer, information management, including the selection, organization, storage, retrieval, dissemination and utilization of information resources.

  • Students will become familiar with the online industry and its role in providing access to information.
  • Students will develop familiarity with commercial and Web databases and learn how to transfer this knowledge to other systems
  • Students will gain experience with the basic commands needed for online searching and develop an understanding of the relationship between these commands, search techniques, database structures and the evaluation of databases and database systems.
  • Students will be exposed to issues in the implementation and management of online services and will consider how those issues may affect the use of online services in various settings.

Textbooks

Required Textbooks
Note: Order the Hock and Walker books immediately—there can be delays. Look for used copies of the Walker text—it’s been used for several years.

Additional readings will be assigned throughout the semester.

Recommended Textbooks

  • American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, D.C.: APA. This is the standard style guide used for the MLS program at SJSU....used in the required Foundation courses.
  • Tomaiuolo, Nicholas G., The Web Library: Building a World Class Personal Library with Free Web Resources, Information Today, 2004. http://books.infotoday.com/books/WebLibrary.shtml

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Course Format

Web Based Instruction
This class is taught completely online using using Blackboard. Students will need to self-enroll using the following URL: http://tigris.sjsu.edu during the first week of the session.

This Blackboard self-enrollment process is in addition to the normal course registration. In other words you must be formally registered for the class prior to doing the Blackboard self-enrollment.

You will post your assignments to Blackboard discussion board, or Digital Drop Box or via e-mail word document direct to instructor. Directions will be given with each assignment.

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 Jose 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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Assignments

Exercises
There will be four assigned exercises posted on Blackboard that will require searching online databases. Instructions will be provided for assignments, and grading will be based on the student’s search strategies, thought processes and results of the searches. More important than finding the “right” answer is the description and analysis of the process – why terms or databases were chosen (or not chosen), what the thought process was, how the search strategy was constructed, what mistakes were made, and suggested changes to the strategy if the search were to be re-run (although it is not necessary to actually re-run it). Search statements, as well as the analysis of the exercise, must be turned in for grading. It is not necessary for all results to be included, but some results are necessary for the proper evaluation of the exercise. Analysis should be brief (one or two paragraphs).

Quiz
There will be one quiz, with specifics posted on Blackboard.

Online Discussion
Since this course is conducted entirely online, participation in online discussions via Blackboard is essential. Discussion topics will be provided. Students may also propose topics for discussion or begin new discussion threads.

Discussion topics will be provided each week. Students should post (at least) two comments on each discussion topic, one an original contribution and the other a response to another student’s post. Please check in on the discussions occasionally throughout the week.

Essay

  • A formal essay, 5-10 pages in length, will be due the final week of class. This essay should follow APA style the usual rules of good grammar and syntax. Use a minimum of 5 sources for your essay (articles, book chapters, Web site materials, etc.)
  • The topic is an issue or trend involving online searching or the online industry. You will need to post the topic on BlackBoard for approval.

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Grading

Assignment

Percent of Total Points

Online Exercises

60 points

Quiz

5 points

Online Discussions & Participation

20 points

Formal Essay

15 points

Grades for late assignments will be reduced by 10 percent.

Final grades will be based on the following grading scale established for graduate students by San Jose State University:

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 69 F

Grading Policy/Papers
Everyone begins class with a grade of "B", the standard grade for graduate level work. Students who satisfactorily complete assignments on time; and actively participate in class exercises and BlackBoard discussions will receive the "B" provided the quality of written work meets the rigorous scholarly standard for the University.

Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism
All assignments submitted must be your own work. Sources in papers must be properly cited. The San Jose State University regulations governing plagiarism will be enforced. Those regulations may be found at:

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Participation

Participation in the online discussion groups is part of your grade. Check Blackboard regularly for detailed assignments and updates.

Also join the school’s electronic list, SLISADMIN, to get official or administrative messages from SLIS. Find directions at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/electroniclists.htm or choose Electronic Lists under the Computing pull-down menu on the SLIS Web site.

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General Expectations for Students

  • Have the minimal home computing environment as described at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/homecomputing.htm
  • Use a current virus protection program to scan all assignments before they are submitted electronically to Blackboard, other students and to your instructor
  • Enroll in Blackboard to receive communications from your instructor (http://tigris.sjsu.edu)
  • Submit selected assignments electronically. Use the following scheme for submitting files: [Course Number]_[Student's Last Name]_Assignment] Example: LIBR244_MyName _Exercise1 . Do not use special characters in the name—BlackBoard doesn’t tolerate them.!
  • Submit assignments by midnight of the due date. An assignment submitted after the due date is subject to a grade penalty.
  • Consistently follow the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.) for formats, citations and references
  • Avoid spelling, grammatical and syntactical errors

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This page is part of The School of Library & Information Science at San José State University.

Last updated: 01/18/05