LIBR 244-03
Online Searching
Fall 2005

Instructor: John Hogle
E-mail
Alternate e-mail access via Blackboard
Phone: Available in Blackboard
Office Hours: Virtually by e-mail & phone.

GREENSHEET

Course Materials | Course Requirements

(Rev. July 08 - May be further revised.)

Students must enroll at the Blackboard site between August 20-30. You will be required to use a password access code which I will provide using MYSJSU Messaging system.

Course Description

Catalog 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.

My Description
This course focuses on acquiring a basic understanding of online database searching techniques appropriate to providing effective search services to customers in a variety of information-seeking environments, including K-12, public, academic, and special libraries.

Specifically, the course will introduce you to the:

• The very basics of the history, general nature, and underlying technologies of online databases.
• General theory of and the possible range of functionality in database searching.
• Techniques of searching commercial (fee-based) database products from several of the major database vendors and aggregators as well as Internet search engines.
• Selection of databases appropriate to search problems and the formulation of effective search strategies through the use of example search problems.

Basically, you learn to be a good database and Internet searcher by doing it, so the emphasis will be on searching for records that answer a variety of search problems appropriate to different subjects and library environments. You will also analyze the strategies that you used and the results of your search strategies, as reflection on what worked and what didn't work is highly useful to being a better searcher.

Course Objectives

The Formal Statement
This course supports SLIS objectives, including the preparation of "students to function effectively in libraries, information centers, schools, and other relevant institutions."

My Objectives
I expect students to come out of this class with:

• A basic understanding of databases and how to search them in a reasonably sophisticated manner.
• And, more than anything else, the confidence that they can learn to search any kind of database available to them.

This class will only give you a taste of database searching. The day you finish the class, you will not remember all of the databases you have explored nor all of the techniques of database searching that you have learned and applied. It does not matter. You will only learn to search databases efficiently and effectively when you are doing it frequently, at home or wherever you work, with whatever databases you have available to you. The latter depends on the nature of the information service environment you work in, so, in a semester class, you are only going to get a sample of what it is like to use a variety of databases.

Course Materials

Required Text (Book)
Walker, Geraldene & Joseph Janes, Online Retrieval: A Dialogue of Theory and Practice, 2nd Ed., 1999, Libraries Unlimited. http://www.greenwood.com/books/BookDetail.asp?sku=LU6573

• This book is getting old, but it is still good for the basic theory of database searching, particularly its emphasis on using Dialog, which is a large part of your grade. Buy it and mark it up.
• This is available at the SJSU Bookstore, and single print and online copies are available online through the catalog at http://www.sjlibrary.org . (You must have your SJSU ID.) Several copies are available from other libraries through Link+ (access from the SJ Library catalog.) You can also find used copies through BookFinder , Alibris , AbeBooks , BiblioFind , and other local and online vendors of new and used books. Be sure to get the 1999 edition, as the 1993 one is more-or-less pre-World Wide Web.

Online guides, tutorials, & other references provided by the various database vendors
I will specify these as we go along. Unlike software manuals, the best guides to searching databases are often from the database vendors themselves.

Online content provided by the instructor through Blackboard
Additional reading materials will be provided and/or assigned throughout the semester.

The only material that you may have to spend money on is the book by Geraldine Walker.

Recommended Text
Hock, Randolph, The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook, Information Today, February 2004.

I am not going o make any assignments from this book, but I still recommend it for a couple of reasons. More-and-more materials, including peer-reviewed scientific/academic/professional literature, are going to the Web, bypassing or duplicating what is in commercial databases. Consequently, you are going to need excellent skills in Internet research. In addition, more-and-more people of all sorts select the Web as the first place to look for information. As a librarian in many information environments, you are going to be expected to show them how to do effective Web searching.

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Course Requirements

Home Computing Environment
Required Home Computer Environment for Taking Distance Classes:

• See the School's "Home Computing Requirements" at: http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/homecomputing.htm  
• Most importantly, you will need Microsoft Word or a word processor that can read and produce MS Word-format documents.
• You must have up-to-date antivirus software to scan the documents that you send and receive.
• Also, a broadband connection (or access to one) is advisable, because you will be uploading and downloading Word-format exercises that may be in the hundreds of kilobytes.

Blackboard (http://tigris.sjsu.edu/)
This class will be conducted totally online via the "BlackBoard Learning System." Lectures, assignments, and most communications (both directions) will be conducted via Blackboard. Course information and announcements, assignments, and many documents and resources will be available through Blackboard. Discussions will be carried on through it as well.

You must enroll at the Blackboard site between August 20-30. You will be required to use a password access code which I will provide using MYSJSU Messaging system.

Enrolling in a Blackboard Course
See http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/blackboard/search_enroll/enroll.htm on how to enroll in a Blackboard class.

Assignments
You will have three types of assignments:

• Readings
  These will be required sections of the book, selected articles, database tutorials and guides, and other documents made available through Blackboard. You will demonstrate your knowledge of what you have read and studied by your contributions to online discussions and your execution of the search exercises.
• Online Discussions
  Generally, these will be on the articles that I assign each week and/or the subject of the moment. You must constructively participate in online discussions via Blackboard on, at least, a weekly basis to get full credit for the discussion part of the grade. Students have received as few as FOUR (4) points for this part, and several have dropped a grade because of the number of points they received in this part.
• Search Exercises
  These will be a series of assignments in which in which you will design, execute, and analyze online searches for sets of questions that will be posted on Blackboard. You will be provided specific guidelines for each exercise.

Remember that this is not a self-paced class. Readings, discussion contributions, and exercises will have to be done per the schedule and due dates.

Class Schedule
Still working on this. It will be up by the beginning of class in a separate file under Blackboard.

Grading
The following activities will be evaluated as follows

Grading Scale
Letter grade equivalents (SJSU recommended grading scale for graduate students.)
I will be using this scale.

Grading of the exercises is based on a combination of:

• Completing all of the assignments.
• Finding results that answer the search problems. Sometimes this will be one (1) specific article. Other times, a variety of articles may answer a search problem.
• Evidence that you are using search commands and syntax in more than a rudimentary manner.
• Demonstrating creativity, thought, thoroughness, and the application of what you have learned in class in your database selection and search strategies.
• Providing an analysis of your thoughts, strategies, and results for your searches.
• Following instructions. (No kidding. In other classes I have had students lose a substantial number of points because they did not follow the explicit instructions.)
• Submitting the exercises on time. A late exercise is automatically 10% off. Grading will start from there. For example, if an assignment is worth 10 points, a late will will be worth a maximum of 9 points. Also see the important note below.

A note on grading individual questions

• Questions will typically be worth two (2) points.
• Of that two points, a maximum of 1.5 points will awarded for a record that provides a valid answer to the search question .
• A maximum of 0.5 points will be awarded for a well-prepared search and analysis work sheet, with most of that awarded for a thorough analysis of your search experience for the individual question. A few words or a sentence in most parts of the work sheet is not sufficient for the full credit.
• See the details of the requirements on each Exercise.

Important Notes:

• I do not give letter grades for individual exercises, only points.
• Late exercises will not be accepted after I have graded and returned everyone else's assignment (usually 7-10 days). In other words, you will get zero (0) points for that assignment. Please contact the instructor if you have a medical illness (a statement from your physician will be required) or a family tragedy. I hate to be heavy duty about this, but I have had students get answers from other students before turning in their own, late exercise.
• INCOMPLETES ARE NOT ACCEPTED.

 Grading of your participation in class discussions is based on:

• Initially, posting a brief biography as well as a statement of your goals in learning database searching.
• On a weekly (or more frequently) basis, providing constructive, thoughtful contributions to the discussion of the:
  • Reading assignments.
  • Lectures.
  • Databases
  • Techniques of database searching.
  • Fellow students observations and comments.
  • Questions that I post for your consideration and debate.

Accommodation
Course accommodation refers to the instructional methods and Web site design that meets the requirements for the Americans with Disabilities Act. This course is on a Web site designed to accommodate a script reader for the visually disabled.

If you need any special consideration due to a disability, you must register with the SJSU Disability Resource Center (DRC) during the first three weeks of the semester. The Center will work with the student to determine the disability, document it, and determine the services and accommodations necessary for student success. The DRC will contact the instructor to determine the types of consideration necessary. All such information will remain confidential between the instructor and the student. The DRC Web site: http://www.drc.sjsu.edu/

Plagiarism
Students must produce their own work for all submitted assignments. Work submitted must be properly documented, and sources must be properly cited as specified in class. The San Jose State University regulations governing plagiarism will be enforced. Evidence of plagiarism may result in an "F" grade for the course and, possibly, in discipline from the college. Be sure to read the SJSU Academic Integrity Policy at http://www2.sjsu.edu/senate/S04-12.pdf.

Other Comments
Be sure to check your my.sjsu.edu accounts on a regular basis, as this is where you will get messages and other possibly important information from SJSU. It is also where you can monitor your enrollment on an on-going basis. This is particularly important because SLIS is no longer approving retroactive adds and drops because you, "Didn't know." my.sjsu.edu enables you to "know."

Having taken distance-learning classes myself, I know that online classes require more self-discipline. Consequently, I recommend that you stay up to date with the class readings and assignments. Again, INCOMPLETES ARE NOT ACCEPTED.

After all of the heavy-duty stuff above, let's get to the point of this class. The ability to effectively and efficiently search for information in online databases continues to become an ever-more vital skill, not only for information professions but for almost everyone. What I hope that you get out of this class are:

• The basic knowledge and skills to search a wide variety of databases.
• The confidence that you can learn to search any kind of databases
• And the believe that it is important that you pass this knowledge on to patrons, family, and friends. It's called "empowerment." I'll talk more about this in the introductory lectures and in e-mails and discussion topics.

Good luck and searching.

Cheers, John

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