LIBR 246-11
Information Technology Tools and Applications - Advanced
Topic: Web 2.0
Summer 2008 Greensheet
Ellyssa Kroski
E-mail
Phone: 802-485-2168
IM: AIM ellyssakroski
Office hours: via e-mail, IM, and in the website chat room on Thursday evenings 6-8pm PST
| Greensheet Links Textbooks and Readings Course Requirements |
Course Links Class Web Site |
Resources
SLIS eBookstore |
The course will take place within a social networking website specifically designed for the class using the Drupal content management software. Students will follow the instructions on the website in order to register for an account. The website will be available on May 26th and will be located at http://www.infosherpas.com/LIBR246-11
Course Description
With the advent of Web 2.0, an explosion of new social software tools has emerged enabling users to create, organize, share, and collaborate in an online space. Today’s Web users are organizing their favorite bookmarks, collaborating on shared documents, cataloging their personal collections, and sharing their information with others. This course will explore the features and functionality of Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, RSS, social bookmarking, media sharing, tagging, folksonomies and more. We will look at how libraries are implementing these various tools as well as their potential uses.
Course Prerequisites: Prior experience and comfort with using the Web necessary.
Course Objectives
- Students will comprehend major Web 2.0 concepts and theories.
- Students will learn how to utilize major Web 2.0 technologies and will participate in their use throughout the course including creating and maintaining a blog, subscribing to RSS feeds, participating in the course social network, sharing bookmarks and social media, utilizing a course tag across multiple social software applications, participating in social networking communities, creating social search tools, communicating via IM, etc.
- Students will gain an understanding about the current and potential uses of these new and emerging Web technologies in libraries.
- Students will learn about Web 2.0 best practices and develop skills which will help them evaluate these technologies in order to make solution decisions appropriate for their library.
This course supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:
- design, query and evaluate information retrieval systems;
- understand the system of standards and methods used to control and create information structures and apply basic principles involved in the organization and representation of knowledge;
- demonstrate proficiency in the use of current information and communication technologies, and other related technologies, as they affect the resources and uses of libraries and other types of information providing entities.
Textbooks and Readings
Required Text
Kroski, Ellyssa (2008). Web 2.0 for Librarians and Information Professionals. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishers.
Go to SLIS e-Bookstore.
Course Requirements
Elluminate
There will be one Elluminate session during the course, be sure you have access to a computer with speakers at the minimum so that you can at least hear the session. And make sure to take an Elluminate training session or have taken a tutorial. For more information, see the Student Guide at: http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/software/elluminate/students/
Technology Requirements
You will need a current and fast internet connection like DSL, Cable, or FIOS. Please see the home computing environment requirements at:
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/homecomputing.htm
You will also need to be able to access sites like Facebook and MySpace and so must have access to a computer that doesn't block popular social networking sites.
Class Format
Each week, a technology or technologies will be discussed and demonstrated in a lecture. Students will be assigned an exercise or exercises which utilize that technology. Students will be expected to complete the assignment(s) by the next week and be prepared to share their work with the class through their blogs. They will be expected to blog weekly about the technology they are learning about and/or about its implementation in libraries, as well as to discuss challenges they discovered when working with the technology.
Topics
(Subject to change with fair notice)
- Week 1 - What is Web 2.0?
- Week 2 - Blogs & Blogging
- Week 3 - RSS & Newsreaders
- Week 4 - RSS Remixing & Start Pages
- Week 5 - Content Collaboration Tools – Wikis and Online Office Applications
- Week 6 - Social Bookmarking, Tagging, and Folksonomies
- Week 7 - Media Sharing Applications
- Week 8 - Social Networking Software
- Week 9 - Social Cataloging and Social Search – Group Projects Due
- Week 10 - Virtual Worlds
Grading & Assignments
Grading for the course will be based on participation level with the Web 2.0 tools, completion of the weekly activities as assigned, as well as the completion of assignments including:
- Participation in weekly exercises – 40%
- Weekly blogging, commenting, and participation on the class website – 35%
- Group Projects – 20%
- Scheduled group chat via IM – 5%
Group Projects
Students will divide into groups of 3 or 4 to create a prototype for an actual library service or product using Web 2.0 technology which will enhance a library program, solve a specific problem, or offer a new service. Along with the finished prototype, students will craft a brief overview (1 page) describing their new service, what it is, what type of library it is designed for, what need it fills, etc. , as well as what their role was in designing it and some takeaways from the assignment. Some suggestions for projects include, but are not limited to:
- An internal staff blog
- A staff intranet using a wiki
- A video tour of a library hosted on a video-sharing website
- An instructional webcast hosted on a video-sharing website
- A library vlog embedded into a library website or blog
- A library building or service in Second Life
- An historical photo collection on a photo sharing website
- A teen social network
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 |
In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:
- C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
- B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
- A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.
Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0.
Late Assignments
Weekly assignments or blog posts which are late will be marked down a grade, i.e. an A becomes an A-. Assignments more than 2 weeks late will not be accepted. Final group projects will not be accepted late. If you have an extenuating circumstance, please contact me asap to discuss.
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.
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/
One Washington Square - San José, California USA, 95192-0029
Phone: 408-924-2490
Contact the webmaster
