School of Information and Library Science
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

INLS 887, Seminar in Theory Development
Spring 2013

Syllabus

Schedule (today) / Assignments / Sakai site for class

 

Instructor: Barbara Wildemuth

Email: wildemuth@unc.edu

 
 

Office: 109 Manning Hall

Phone: 962-8072 (office), 968-3018 (home)

 
 

Class meetings: Friday, 9:00-11:45; 304 Manning Hall


Course Description

This seminar is intended for SILS doctoral students or advanced master's students. It will examine the use of theory from two perspectives. First, it will consider the use of existing theories for developing the plans for a research study. Examples from information science, as well as other disciplines, will be examined in detail. Second, the seminar will consider the process of developing grounded theory. Discussion and critique of the structural components and processes of theory development will undergird both aspects of the seminar's work.

Prerequisites: doctoral or advanced master's student status.

Resources

For the first sections of the course, we will rely heavily on a variety of readings, available through the UNC libraries. In some cases, the entire class will be reading a particular work; in other cases, only one or a few members of the class will be reading a work.

For the final section of the course, we will work with a textbook: Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis. London: Sage Publications. Copies should be available through UNC Student Stores early in the semester. One copy will also be put on reserve in the SILS Library.

Assignments and Evaluation

The assignments for the seminar aim to support your exploration of important theories in information and library science and related disciplines, as well as develop your ability to develop grounded theory. They include:

Honor Code

The Honor Code, which prohibits giving or receiving unauthorized aid in the completion of assignments, is in effect in this class. Please familiarize yourself with the UNC-CH Instrument of Student Governance.


Schedule / Assignments / Sakai site for class

The INLS887 website, UNC-CH, 2010, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Address all comments and questions to Barbara M. Wildemuth at wildemuth@unc.edu. This page was last modified on January 17, 2013, by Barbara M. Wildemuth.