LIBR 244
Online Searching
Spring 2004

Instructor: Dr. Nancy Burns
nancybur@swbell.net
nburns@slis.sjsu.edu


 

 

 

GREENSHEET

 

DESCRIPTION: Techniques of searching and managing on-line search services. Includes searching strategies, evaluation of database structures, implementation and management of search services and on-line experience.
Prerequisite: LIBR 202

Topics include searching techniques and strategies, database structures, use and evaluation of database services, economic factors, applications, and management of online search services. In-depth instruction in one search system is provided.

GOALS: 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.

  • Goal A: The student becomes familiar with aspects of the online industry and its role in making information available to society in various formats.
  • Goal B: The student gains experience with the commercial and web databanks and is able to transfer this knowledge to other systems.
  • Goal C: The student gains familiarity with basic commands, and moves beyond that to an understanding of the relationship between database structure and search techniques, evaluation of databases and systems.
  • Goal D: The student considers issues in the implementation and management of online services.

SLIS Objective: 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;
;


TEXT: Walker, G. & Janes, J. (1999) Online Retrieval: A Dialogue of Theory and Practice. 2nd Ed. Libraries Unlimited [Get directly from publisher http://www.lu.com ]


COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Exercises
60 points
Quizzes
15 points
Essay
15 points
Participation in online discussion 10 points


ASSIGNMENTS:

A series of online exercises will be posted on Blackboard. You will do the searches as instructed in each exercise. Be sure to save your searches to disk. After you are finished with your search, bring it into your word processing program and critique it. Your grade will primarily be based on your critique. You need to comment on what you think you did well and what mistakes you think you made (there is no penalty for making mistakes but there may be for not recognizing your mistakes) and suggest any improvements you would make in your search if you could do it over—there is no need to do it again. Each exercise consists of more than one problem, be sure to complete all that the exercise asks you to do. For each Exercise, please email me a copy of your critiqued search, I need to see each of your search statements and the response you get from the computer but I do not need to see all of your results (just enough of a sample to see what you are getting, usually 5-10 items).

Each Exercise is worth 10 points.

Exercise 1
Due February 23
Exercise 2
Due March 8
Exercise 3
Due March 22
Exercise 4 Due April 19
Exercise 5
Due April 26
Exercise 6 Due May 3


Quizzes
Two Quizzes: Quiz 1 will be posted March 18-19 only and must be completed and returned to me at nancybur@swbell.net by 11pm March 23. Quiz 2 will be posted April 1-2 only and must be completed and returned to me at the address above by 11pm on April 12. If you have a conflict with any of those dates, please let me know in a personal email message and we will make arrangements for you. Please do not make either quiz a group project, but you can use your notes/textbook.
Worth 15 points total (Quiz 1 is worth 10 points and Quiz 2 worth 5 points.)

Essay
Prepare a formal essay following APA style and all the rules of good grammar and syntax. Pick one theme, issue, author, or technique and read at least 5 items. These can be articles or book chapters, or other materials. You can compare different authors views on a topic, can contrast two schools of thought, can trace a single author over a number of years, can trace the development of a topic over time, simply discuss a topic or any number of other possibilities. No matter what organization scheme you choose, be sure to link in your own ideas, critique, and analysis of what you read.
Worth 15 points
Due: May 3


Class Discussion Board
I expect you to be a participant on the class Discussion Board on Blackboard. Beginning the second week of classes, I will post a new discussion topic every other week on Sunday and you must post a reply of any sort—comment, question, observation, gripe, anything that you want to share with your classmates—during the two week period that ends at midnight on Saturday for each topic. You may also begin new discussion threads whenever you like and suggest topics for discussion here.

Computing Requirements
Please see the SLIS home computing requirements at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/homecomputing.htm

Lectures are in PresenterOne format and do use streaming audio. You will need the RealOne Player. Download it from http://www.real.com/realone/
Look in the upper right portion of the page and locate the small link labeled "Free RealOne Player." It is available for PCs and Macs, but Mac users must have OS X.