LIBR 266
Collection Development
Spring 2003 Special Session

Andrew B. Wertheimer
andrew_noriko@hotmail.com
(please note underscore not dash)
(402) 435-3228 (see note on office hours)
1981 Park Ave., Lincoln NE 68502
http://slisweb.lis.wisc.edu/~wertheimer


Course Links

Assignments

 

 

GREENSHEET


Instructor: Andrew B. Wertheimer (Just call me Andrew)
MLS (Indiana University, 1995), ABD (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2001)

Registration Problems? Call SLIS SJSU @ 714/ 278-2064

COURSE SCHEDULE:
INTERNET-BASED SESSIONS: Every other Sunday 4:00-5:30 PM (CA); FEB 2, FEB 16, MAR 2, (SAT 15 Mar on campus), MAR 30, APR 13 (alt day to be arranged), APR 27 (alt. day to be arranged if required).
CAMPUS SESSION AT SJSU: Sat., 15 March 2003 9 AM - 5 PM (CA TIME)


Course Objectives:
1. To identify and assess accurately the needs for library materials and resources demonstrated by understanding users and nonusers of libraries, as well as the universe of knowledge.
2. To become familiar with the general organization and practices of the publishing and information industries and the book trade, broadly conceived, as they relate to libraries.
3. To learn to apply appropriate principles and standards in the selection of library resources.
4. To evaluate library collections and to recommend alternatives for specific situations.
5. To gain an overview and a working knowledge of the processes of acquisition of library resources

This course supports the SLIS goals and objectives by 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;
  • The application of diverse technologies to information management;
  • One or more specialized aspects of information management;
  • Advocacy and leadership for citizen access to information and knowledge
    resources;
It would be impossible to learn everything there is to know about collection / development / management (CM) in one semester. It is even more difficult to forecast the skills needed to manage collections in the future as technologies and markets change. CM is made up of a series of skills that are learned over a lifetime of reading and experience. This course though may be your only formal instruction on the topic. With that in mind I hope that when you complete this course you will feel confident about your ability to actually do practical CM. I also hope the class will leave you with some theoretical concerns related to CM that will guide you throughout your professional career.


Teaching/ Learning Methods:
1. Readings--assigned and unassigned
2. Class discussions of issues and problems
3. Examination of selection and acquisition aids
4. Written and oral assignments
5. Field experiences and exercises
6. Reaction Journal exercises
7. Final exam
8. Practice public speaking


Required Textbook:
Evans, G. Edward. Developing Library and Information Center Collections. 4th ed. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000 (621 pp.). ISBN 1-56308-832-0
PB $49.50 retail.

Additional readings will be assigned, but will be available virtually from SJSU. For your CM project you will likely need to spend some time in a good library to examine reviews.


OFFICE HOURS
If you have a question that is not answered by the syllabus, you may reach me via e-mail or phone at the information listed at the top of the page. Please remember that I live in the Chicago time zone, so please limit your calls to 07:00-19:00 California time (09:00-21:00 my time). If I am not home please leave a detailed message with your full name and full telephone number and when I should call you back. Personally, I prefer e-mail for short-answer questions and phone calls for more complex issues.


GRADING
I hope that you will focus more on learning and experience than your grade in this course.
I am confident that any SLIS student can achieve a B in this class if he/she makes a sincere effort on the assignments, actively participates in each class session and hands in all assignments in time. It truly is my pleasure though to recognize superior performance with grades above this. Your grade will be determined on the following basis.

CM Project
50%
Final Exam 15%
Journals
10%
Participation and Attendance
10%
Journal on Shadowing a CM Professional
10%
CM Project Presentation 5%

 

Late assignments will be docked by 5% per calendar day late.

Attendance is required both on-line and on-site. If you miss the campus day you will loose perhaps 20% of your semester grade since we will do a presentation that day.

You will be allowed one unexcused absence from the internet-based-instruction days. Absences beyond that will be docked by 5%. Please remember that 10% of your semester grade is dependent on attendance and participation. Participation is defined as sharing your thoughts -- which means having done the readings and being ready to comment on them. Classroom participation also means treating your co-students with respect and also not monopolizing discussion.

Please e-mail me ASAP if you will be unable to attend either of the last two classes because of Palm Sunday or Eastern Orthodox Easter. Please e-mail me with alternative days/ times you could meet on-line for an alternative session.

There will be at least two options for extra-credit projects (book reviewing or "Testing Nisonger's Theory of Research Collection Strength.") More information to come.

My honest goal is to help facilitate your individual learning, so I welcome specific or even rough proposals for alternatives to assignments. Of course, I have the right to reject them or make counterproposals, but I encourage you to consider contacting me about this. You should contact me well in advance of the deadline of the assignment you want to replace.

If you chose / need to take an Incomplete in this course you will probably have to (re-register and) retake the course under a different instructor, as I am only an adjunct instructor.

Please inform me in the first week of class if you have any learning or other disabilities that require modifications to this syllabus.

Plagiarism, if caught, will result in a failing the class, and will be reported to the school for appropriate action. Please don't do it.

Please use 12-point Times font and double-space your journals and other writings.

 


This page is part of The School of Library & Information Science at San José State University.
It is maintained by slisweb@wahoo.sjsu.edu.
It was last updated on December 6, 2002 by DF.