Greensheet 

Schedule 

Projects & Papers

Blackboard  

lii.org Contributors' Database

Course Description:

Prerequisites: Basic computer literacy and extremely rudimentary HTML. (If you can vaguely recognize a basic HTML tag such as <a href>, you will do fine. You will even pass a quiz!)

Course Objectives:

This course supports the following SLIS objectives:

• 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; and
• Advocacy and leadership for citizen access to information and knowledge resources.

Technical Environment and Requirements:

• You do not need to be a Tech God or Goddess to do well in this course, but you must be technically savvy enough to navigate a heterogenous assortment of technologies well enough to get your work done (much as you will be expected to do in real library work). This course uses Blackboard, e-mail discussion lists, the lii.org student database, chat rooms, audio files, theWeb, and any other technologies I can shovel into our framework.
  
• I will create accounts for the lii.org student database using your Blackboard usernames (as a convenience to you, so you won't have another username to remember), and add you to the student discussion list. I'll let you know when this has been done.
  
• You will need to create an AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) account, which will be used for one-on-one communication with the instructor as well as classroom chats. (This is addressed in Blackboard, Week 1 Assignments.) It's what we use in lii.org, and it is more reliable than the Blackboard chat software, plus it provides numerous opportunities for interacting during the semester..)

Recommended Text(s):

None (to purchase).

Note: Required readings and texts are detailed in the class schedule.

Course Grading

These are based on the following system. If a student receives an "A" on a course requirement worth 40% of the course, the "A" grade will equal 4 (40%) times 4, for a total course grade on that area of 16. The other assignments are added up like this (letter grade multipled by percentile), and the class total is then divided by 10 to yield the grade for the course.

• Attendance at class (January 31 or February 14) (10%)
• Class participation: there are scheduled chats, and in some cases audiocasts; your attendance and your "netiquette" (online behavior) will be tracked and recorded. (20%)
• Small project or paper (20%)
• Quizzes on the readings and lectures (10%)
• Large project or paper (40%)

N.b. (That's Latin for "nota bene," or "take note." N.b.: we would never use such an arcane acronym in an lii.org description. You'll learn more about effective Web style in this class.) See the section Projects & Papers for information about--guess what--projects and papers.

Assignment Due Dates, and The Relationship to Assignment Grades

Assignments are due Sunday at midnight. In other words, the quiz you take for Week 3 is "due" to be completed by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, February 2. (Note: I am usually asleep before midnight. A truly clever student will figure out when I first log in on Mondays.)

Unexcused late assignments will be dropped half a grade for every day they are late. However, if you have a problem that interferes with turning in an assignment, please work with me. Let me know what the problem is, and unless it's outlandish (e.g., you felt like working on your tan), we will establish a new due date without penalty to your grade.

Chat, List, and Other Electronic Communication Manners  

Chat sessions are conducted according to a protocol that ensures everyone who wishes to participates in the session. Having said that, a conversation requires listening as well as contributing. If your best contribution to a discussion is to listen, then please do so, and do not feel this will be held against you. Attendance, polite behavior, and the occasional astute observation will carry you far.

For those who do speak up--and I encourage but do not require all of you to do so at some point or another--please observe these following rules:

• Use the phrase "hand" when you want to speak. This is the equivalent of raising your hand.
• If you feel overlooked or ignored, type "hand hand."
• Take turns. If you don't take turns, I'll give you a warning, and if you violate the rules again, I'll bounce you from the chat session and record a note in my student roster.
• Be respectful. Don't insult your peers or the instructor, don't swear, and don't make assumptions about other students' points of view.
• Expect typos from others, and overlook these. It's a live discussion, not a penmanship test.

Chat sessions are biased toward the keyboard-literate and those with strong, flexible wrists and fingers. Those of you who wish to contribute but feel slow typing is an obstacle may either contribute questions or comments ahead of time, recruit an abler friend or relative to type for you, and/or "type ahead" when you see an interesting topic--that is, write your comments in a simple text editor such as Notepad and then paste them in as appropriate. Do not fear typos, typing all in lower case, or fragment sentences.

Feel free to use chat jargon (for example, "brb" means be right back, in case the stimulating discussion makes you hungry, and you have to run to the fridge). If someone asks what a term means, practice good librarianship and explain the term without judgement and in a friendly manner.

Students are expected to monitor the Blackboard site regularly for announcements and discussion postings.