retrieving & analyzing
information

Course Schedule

Date Topic / Class Activities Required Readings, Viewings and Assignments
Jan 10 Welcome

Overview of course

Jan 15 The concept / construct of information

  • Case, D.O. (2012). Information behavior: An introduction. In Looking for information: A survey of research on information seeking, needs, and behavior (3rd ed.) (pp. 3-14). London: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
  • Bohannon, J. (2011). Searching for the Google effect on people's memory. Science, 333, 277.
Jan 17 Information Seeking in Real Life

  • Case, D.O. (2012). Common examples of information behavior. In Looking for information: A survey of research on information seeking, needs, and behavior (3rd ed.) (pp. 20-42). London: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Jan 22 Information Organization: Categorization
Jan 24 Info Tools: Academic Search Complete - a general bibliographic database
Jan 29 Scientific and scholarly research publications
  • Neuman, W.L. (2009). Understanding research. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. Read part of chapter 1: What is Empirical Social Research, pages 8-22

    • In class we will read:

  • Stein, J. (2010). Does menu labeling affect diners? Study: It's inconclusive whether displayed nutritional facts change diners' habits. Los Angeles Times, Feb 22, 2010
Jan 31 Analyzing scholarly research publications
  • Neuman, W.L. (2009). Understanding research. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. Read all of chapter 2: Planning a Study, pages 25-59
Feb 5 Info Tools: General reference and background info DUE: Brief analysis (1-page) of the menu-labeling article assigned to your group in class using the format and questions provided in the Reading and Analyzing a Research Article guide.
Feb 7 Using large data sets

Descriptive statistics overview

  • Lecture slides [pptx]
  • Overview of the General Social Survey
  • What is it and who compiles it? Data collection method; Variables, topics and themes
  • Begin to form project groups
Feb 12 GSS Lab
  • SPSS Lab with Dr.Cathy Zimmer
    MEET IN ODUM COMPUTER LAB
    Manning Hall, Room 01 (in the basement)
    Call Rachael's cell if you have trouble finding it: 714.926.1098
Feb 14 Data to Story Project Work
  • Debrief of GSS lab; project discussion
  • Burke, S.K. (2010). Social tolerance and racial materials in public libraries. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 49(4), 369-379.
    [This is an example of a study that uses GSS data]
Feb 19 Info Tools: Background information
  • Lecture slides [pptx]
  • CQ Researcher
  • Issues and Controversies on File
  • Gale Virtual Reference Library
  • Oxford Reference Online
 Project Teams [docx]
Feb 21 Class Cancelled
Feb 26 Info Tools: Specialized literature databases
  • Lecture slides [pptx]
  • PsycInfo
  • Sociological Abstracts
  • Communication & Mass Media Complete
  • Education Full Text
  • Business Source Complete
 Mid-term exam [.docx] distributed in class - Due by March 7 at 5:00 pm

In-class team work on group projects

Feb 28 Info Tools: Statistics and demographic information
  • Statistical Abstract of the United States
  • Statista
 Student status reports distributed

In-class team work on group projects

Mar 5 Citation Indexes: Web of Science
  • Lecture slides [pptx]
  • In-class exercise with WOS: bring your laptop
  • In-class team work on group projects
 DATA TO STORY PROJECT: DESCRIPTION DUE

Watch: Yale Medical Library tutorials:

  • Citation Analysis with the Web of Science #1: Introduction (3:10 min)

  • Citation Analysis with the Web of Science #2: Finding Citing Articles for a Known Article (5:57 min)

  • Citation Analysis with the Web of Science #3: Citation Analysis for a Known Author (5:19 min)

These short videos provide a nice overview of citation analysis for our in-class discussion today. Please contribute your thoughts/questions to our class discussion board on Sakai.
Mar 7 No class Mid-term exam due by 5:00 pm
Mar 12 Spring Break relax, no class!
Mar 14 Spring Break relax, no class!
Mar 19 Literature searching lab Guest speakers from the Undergraduate Library:

Jonathan McMichael, Undergraduate Experience Librarian and Ellie Boote, Research Services Librarian

Mar 21 Bias in Information Seeking Guest speaker: Earl Bailey, PhD Student, SILS

Required viewing before class: Cognitive Biases: What They Are and Why They're Important

This video podcast presented by Dr. Kevin deLaplante provides a nice overview for our in-class discussion today. Please contribute your thoughts/questions to our class discussion board on Sakai.

Mar 26 GSS/SPSS Work Lab
  • SPSS Lab with Dr.Cathy Zimmer
    MEET IN ODUM COMPUTER LAB
    Manning Hall, Room 01 (in the basement)
    Call Rachael's cell if you have trouble finding it: 714.926.1098
Mar 28 Online privacy and identity
  • Clemmitt, M. (2013). Social media explosion. CQ Researcher, 23(4): 81-104.

  • Singer, N. (2012). Your online attention, bought in an instant. The New York Times.
Ap 2 Info Tools: Primary Sources Please spend some time exploring these digital archives and collections and post your observations and questions on our discussion board in Sakai.

  • UNC's Documenting the American South
    digital publishing initiative that provides Internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. Currently DocSouth includes sixteen thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs

  • Duke Digital Collections

  • Folkstreams
    Amazing collection of documentary films relating to all kinds of American culture and people

  • National Archives
    Many people know the National Archives as the keeper of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. But they also hold in trust for the public the records of ordinary citizens for example, military records of the brave men and women who have fought for our country, naturalization records of the immigrants whose dreams have shaped our nation, and even the canceled check from the purchase of Alaska.

April 4 Archives and special collections
  • Fieldtrip to University Archives
    MEET IN READING ROOM ON SECOND FLOOR OF WILSON LIBRARY
After an introduction to the special collections at Wilson Library, we will be handling and reading documents from the Federal Writers' Project Papers, 1936-1940. This collection contains the life histories of about 1,200 individuals, written by about 60 members of the project after one or more interviews with the subjects. Persons interviewed, many of them African Americans, described life in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Matt Turi, Manuscripts and Archives Research and Instruction Librarian, will be our host.

Ap 9 Ethics in information use

Using APA style

Using citation management tools

  • EndNote
  • RefWorks
  • Zotero
Ap 11 Citation JEOPARDY! DATA TO STORY PROJECT: SEARCH LOG DUE
April 16 Human Information Behavior

Special presentation in Wilson Library

How "Community" Matters: Uncovering the Social Dynamics of Health Information Behavior in Everyday Life by Dr. Tiffany Veinot

  • 11:00am - 12:15pm
  • Location: Pleasants Family Assemby Room, Wilson Library
 DATA TO STORY PROJECT: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE

  • Julien, H. (2009). 'Students' Information Needs and Behavior', Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, Third Edition, 1: 1, 5059 - 5064.
April 18 Class Wrap-up and preparation for group presentations Distribute Final Exam [docx] due via email to Rachael by Sat May 4 at 3:00 pm
April 23 Data to Story Projects: PechaKucha Presentations
  • Group 1:
  • Group 2:
  • Group 3:
  • Group 4:
  • Group 5:
April 25 Data to Story Projects: PechaKucha Presentations
  • Group 6
  • Group 7:
  • Group 8:
  • Group 9:
  • Group 10:
May 4
 Final Exam due by 3:00 pm