Assignments

Click here for chronological listing of assignments.

⊕Table 1: List of required course tasks with grade breakdown

Participation

60 points total, 20% of final grade

tl;dr: Come to class; Be prepared; Speak up; Share resources

Attendance

25 points

Attendance is mandatory. Absences will negatively impact your participation grade. You are expected to be on time and to use electronic devices responsibly in class.

tl;dr: Attendance is mandatory.

Evaluation criteria: Your attendance will be evaluated out of 25 sessions. There are actually 28 total sessions. This means that you have some wiggle room in case you miss a day. You will still be fully responsible for the content on any days you miss. You will earn one point per session.

Discussion

25 points

You will be expected to prepare for class by reading the assigned materials. You are also expected to actively participate in class discussions and take part in classroom-based activities that are designed to deeped your understand of information science research and help orient you within the field.

tl;dr: Take part in class discussions and activities.

Evaluation criteria: Evaluation of in-class discussion will be based on the quantity and quality of your contributions in class during a given session. You will earn 1 point per session.

Online discussions

10 points

You are responsible for engaging in out-of-class discussions via the class forums on Sakai. Some of these will be instructor-driven, others student driven.

tl;dr: Sakai discussion forums

Evaluation criteria: You will receive one point for engaging on a board or topic. You are responsible for engaging in at least 10 discussions.

In-class reflections

10 points total, 10% of final grade

tl;dr: Reading and understanding research and theory

Summary notes

10 points

From time to time, we will conduct a rapid-reading exercise in small groups in class. This activity is designed to help you learn to read scientific research and extract salient information in an efficient and effective manner. I will give you a handout on these days and you will turn it in at the end of class.

tl;dr: Structured, in-class note-taking and summarizing

Evaluation criteria: Your notes and reflection will be evaluated based on how well you describe and demonstrate understanding of evidence and the conclusions of the study you are reading in the short time alotted. You will still be responsible for this activity if you miss class on one of these days. It is your responsibility to make it up. These are worth 2 points each.

What is my information science?

30 points total, 5% of final grade

Record and post 2 audio or video recordings responding to the question: "What does information science mean to you?"

You will post one recording on Sakai at the beginning of the semester and one on the the public forum (a blog, discussion board, etc.) or social media platform (Twitter, YouTube, etc.) of your choice and post the link in the assignment page on Sakai. Each recording should be 2-3 minutes in duration.

Post a bulleted summary of your response along with the file or link to your recording.

tl;dr: Create a recorded statement about your engagement with information science as a field and as part of your professional discipline

Intermediate deliverables:

1. Draft audio
   (15 points, due: 31 Aug, skill: Articulating goals and interests)
   
   
   1. Give your own definition of information science.
   2. Describe the field as you understand it, and your subfield/area of interest specifically, as it fits into the larger context of information science.
   3. Discuss your professional interests, how they fit into the field, and also what you hope to learn in this class in service of them.

Final deliverables:

1. Final audio
   (15 points, due: 7 Dec, skill: Articulating intellectual context)
   
   
   1. Define information science.
   2. Describe the field as you understand it, and your subfield/area of interest specifically, as it fits into the larger context of information science. Describe 2-3 theories that you find most relevant to your practice of information science.
   3. Discuss your professional interests, how they fit into the field, and also how the theories that you have selected might inform your future practice.

Observation and analysis

40 points total, 20% of final grade

In this assignment, you will work with a partner to each observe an exploratory search event. Each of you will conduct an exploratory search for the topic you have selected for your system/service proposal assignment that we will start in a few weeks. You will use the think-aloud protocol to observe your partner's search.

You will take notes on your partner's actions and their narrative description of what they are thinking and feeling during their search. Then you will then analyze their behaviors using your notes and connect it to the theoretical literature we have been reading and discussing in class.

tl;dr: Understanding the information seeking research process

Evaluation criteria: Grades for the final deliverable of this assignment are based on the depth of your analysis of the experience you observed. You will need: a description of the information need, the motivations behind the search, obstacles experienced, sources used, tasks performed, and the results obtained from the searches. A large part of your grade will be based on demonstrating your ability to apply multiple concepts, theories, and models, as well as to use the terminology covered in the course. Your notes and description will be attached as an appendix, so you should not spend much space in the analysis retelling the narrative of the search event. You will use APA style and include citations to the literature where appropriate.

Intermediate deliverables:

1. Choose partner / topic
   (5 points, due: 12 Sep, skill: Planning ahead)
   
   

   1. Find a classmate to collaborate with. If you do not wish to choose a partner, the instructor will choose someone for you. In the case that we have an odd number of people in the class, we will have one group of three.
   2. Choose a topic for your system/service proposal (see below for description of the goals for that assignment). You will not be locked into this, but keep in mind that this is an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and get your exploratory search out of the way. This topic should be somewhat specific: think about a group of people with a specific information problem. This is your topic for exploratory search.
   3. Choose a date for your data collection event. The exploratory search should take between 30-45 minutes for each partner. You may want to record the think-aloud or use screen capture software so that you can refer to it later. All of this, plus your notes will become your data for this assignment.
   
   
   Use this form to submit your information for this intermediate deliverable: https://goo.gl/forms/85JUyqL9ZUrSLXwm2

2. Description
   (15 points, due: 3 Oct, skill: Descriptive writing)
   
   This deliverable should consist of:

   1. a summary description of the information seeking event you observed, and
   2. any data files you collected in the process of your observation.
   
   
   Write a description of the information seeking event you observe. Your data consistes of: detailed notes on your partner's behavior and think-aloud narrative, possibly a timeline, summary, any recordings you might create, and anything else that you might want to collect to help you contextualize your observation. You will turn all this in after you have collected your data.

Final deliverables:

1. Analysis
   (20 points, due: 17 Oct, skill: Expository/Analytical writing)
   
   Analyze the exploratory search that you observed. Consider which, if any, of the information seeking and use models we have discussed in class apply to your partner's situation. Think about your partner's motivations, information seeking process, how they used and handled the information they were finding. Think about cognitive and affective aspects of their experience.
   
   Write a brief report (3-4 single-spaced pages, approx. 1500 words). Interpret the observed experience. Focus on applying the models and theories discussed in class instead of the narrative description of the event. The goal of this assignment is to demonstrate that you can use the terminology and apply concepts, theory, and models we are discussing in class to analyze and understand observable information behaviors. Cite literature from class in your report appropriately.
   
   Consider these questions:
   • What search strategies did your partner use? Did they work? How did they deal with successful and failed strategies?
   • What information behaviors did your partner exhibit during their search?
   • Where did your partner search? What resources did they consult? Why?
   • What barriers or surprises did they encounter while searching?
   • Was the exploratory search successful or unsuccessful? How do ou decide what what makes an exploratory search successful or not?

System/Service proposal

50 points total, 25% of final grade

In this assignment you will work by yourself to evaluate an information need and propose an information system or service designed to address that need. This will include identifying the need (or needs), as well as the population most affected by that need and the context. You will also conduct a literature search and review on that population/context. You will incorporate all of this into a memo, supported by your findings, that outlines the proposal as for a potential funder. You might consider an actual funder, such as UNC's Community Engagement Fellowship, which would allow you to use this work to propose a project to be funded in the near future. If you go this route, you will need to go through the process of mandatory ethics training and Intermediate deliverables:

1. Plagiarism tutorial
   (2 points, due: 19 Sep, skill: Understanding and avoiding plagiarism)
   
   As we get into starting writing assignments for this semester, it is important that we all have an understanding of what is require of us in creating original work. In pursuit of this, as part of outlining your project, I would like you to take UNC's plagiarism tutorial. You can find it on the web here: http://guides.lib.unc.edu/plagiarism/purpose
   
   The deliverable for this assignment will be to forward me the email that you receive at the end of the plagiarism tutorial.

2. Context and population
   (3 points, due: 21 Sep, skill: Descriptive/expository writing (frst two paragraphs) in support of persuasive writing (last paragraph))
   
   You will give a brief description that outlines your intended setting/context, the population affected, and the organization to which you are writing your final memo to propose the project. This intermediate deliverable should comprise three paragraphs:

   1. One paragraph describing the setting you have chosen, and the name/description of the organization (real or fictional) to which the proposal will be pitched.
   2. A paragraph describing the intended client group for your system/service (based on your current knowledge).
   3. A final paragraph about why you selected this setting and client group. You should use this paragraph to try to convince your instructor about why this matters.

3. Preliminary search plan and bibliography
   (5 points, due: 26 Sep, skill: Systematic search)
   
   You will need to have a search plan beyond the scope of your initial exploratory search. This part of the assignment is intended to help you develop a systematic search plan. The deliverable should include:

   1. the databases you intend to search with brief explanation as to why for each;
   2. search terms, inclusion/exclusion criteria (including dates), and operators for each database;
   3. elements/factors you will use to judge the relevance of the information you find (1-3 sentences per element/factor;
   4. a VERY brief bibliography (5-10 sources at most) of some of the salient sources your found in your exploratory search that will lead you to other sources (through citation chaining, etc.).

4. Preliminary population data
   (10 points, due: 31 Oct, skill: Analysis and conceptual organization)
   
   Provide a detailed outline, a concept map/matrix, or a similar sketch of what you've learned about the population. Include the preliminary list of references (30+) to the articles you are citing as evidence. Use APA style.

5. Description of system/service
   (10 points, due: 2 Nov, skill: Descriptive writing)
   
   Provide a 1-2 paragraph description of your proposed system or service. Briefly describe your solution and how it meets the needs of your population.

Final deliverables:

1. Proposal memo and appendices
   (20 points, due: 21 Nov, skill: Crafting a proposal)
   
   The final deliverable for this assignment will consist of several parts:
   1. Memo: a (2-page/750-word, single-spaced) memo addressed to the relevant parties (leader, committee, etc) of your chosen organization, presenting your proposal and providing arguments for its adoption.
   2. Client population analysis: A description (4-6 pages/1500-2000-word, single-spaced) of the client population and analysis of its information needs, based on your knowledge aqcuired through your literature review. The analysis should be evidence-based: each major idea or concept should be supported by evidence from the literature that you gathered and evaluated. This appendix to the memo should include your full reference list. However, this is not just a list of all the literature that you looked at. This should be a list of references to citations in your analysis. You should aim at using 30+ references to support your analysis. The strength and depth of this analysis will provide the bulk of your grade.
   3. Search strategies: you should include, as an appendix, your search strategies refined from the earlier intermediate deliverable. This should take the form of a list or an outline, rather than a narrative. There is no limit on its length, but I would expect it to be about 1-3 pages in length.

Analysis of scholarly communication

40 points total, 20% of final grade

This is ostensibly a short term paper in the form of a bibliographic analysis, written collaboratively. It will involve:

1. in-depth descriptive analysis of a piece of published scholarly communication,
2. a synthesis of that analysis with those written by others in your group,
3. a contextual analysis of the scholarly topic that you have chosen,
4. a bibliography of related literature.

tl;dr: Understanding research and theory in and outside the field

Evaluation criteria: A good analysis will evaluate literature based on the questions below and generate others that can be addressed. APA style should be followed throughout this assignment as well, and particularly in this part as this is where the most citations will occur. This entire assignment will be evaluated based on how well-formatted it is (using APA6 style guide) and whether it includes relevant or irrelevant literature. The entire paper will be no more than 4000 words (10 pages single-spaced), not including the bibliography and any appendices.

This should be a synthesis. It should read as if it were written by a single mind (or hive mind). This is difficult, but not impossible. You will NOT simply each analyze an article and then copy-paste the results together. This will result in a much, much lower grade on the assignment.

All of this will be rolled together into a final product that looks like a term paper, with an introduction and conclusion that give context to the analysis you have conducted as a group.

Intermediate deliverables:

1. Topic selection
   (1 points, due: 2 Nov, skill: project/team organization)
   
   Take the questionnaire sent via email in order to select your topic of interest and be assigned to a group. If you have other team members you wish to work with, please indicate that in the questionnaire.
   
   You will be able to rank your preference for topics from the following areas. Your groups will be structured based on that choice:

   1. Information poverty (Elfreda Chatman)
   2. Information Search Process (Carol Kulthau)
   3. Anomalous States of Knowledge (Nick Belkin)
   4. Relevance (Tefko Saracevic)
   5. Information intents (Ross Todd)
   6. Sensemaking (Brenda Dervin)
   7. Serendipity (Sandra Erdelez)
   8. Everyday Life Information Seeking (Reijo Savolainen)
   9. Task-based information retrieval (Perti Vakkari)
   10. Browsing and berrypicking (Marcia Bates)
   11. Distributed cognition (James Hollan)

2. Search parameters (in class)
   (1 points, due: 16 Nov, skill: search strategy formation )
   
   Similar to the search for the system/service proposal, define the strategies that you use (parameters, keywords, operators, and what sources) to actually seek the literature for this topic. We will do this in groups in class.

3. Preliminary bibliography (in class)
   (1 points, due: 16 Nov, skill: compiling bibliography and annotation)
   
   List the article that sit at the core of your chosen project topic. There will be one for each member of the group. We will do this in groups in class.

4. Preliminary analysis of articles
   (2 points, due: 30 Nov, skill: summarizing/extracting salient features)
   
   A summary breakdown using the rubric that you are familiar with from reading in class, linked here.

Final deliverables:

1. Organizing elements
   (5 points, due: 16 Dec, skill: organizing group writing tasks)
   
   This whole assignment is like a term paper written by a group. You will each conduct parts of the analysis and writing, but you will have to collectively bring it all together. These organizing elements are important. You will need to write an introduction that briefly describes the topic as well as a discussion about the development of the conceptual area that you have chosen to investigate to conclude the paper. The entire final deliverable will include the following elements, listed below:

   1. bibliographic analysis of articles
   2. analysis of scholarly context
   3. final bibliography
   
   They are broken out below ONLY to help you understand how the grading is broken down, but they are not individual separate assignments. They are simply parts of a whole.
   
   In addition to this you will submit a group and self-evaluation through a questionnaire that I will send out via email.

2. Bibliographic analysis of articles
   (5 points, due: 16 Dec, skill: synthesis and analytical writing)
   
   You will write a descriptive outline of the articles in your core group. You may all do this together or each take an article and then synthesize the results. Think about these questions:

   1. What are the attributes of the articles (style, structure, headings, etc)?
   2. What kind of journal or other work are they published in?
   3. How many references are used in the article?

3. Analysis of scholarly context
   (10 points, due: 16 Dec, skill: contextual analysis and analytical writing)
   
   This should be an overview of what this topic looks like in the literature. This might also include a concept matrix or network diagram demonstrating connections withing the literature. Consider the following questions:

   1. What are the trends (geographic, chronolgical, bibliographic, and conceptual) in your core articles and related bibliography?
   2. Where is research on this topic typically published and why?
   3. Who is citing this work?
   4. What do the titles suggest about the conceptual/theoretical development of the topic?
   5. What related topics exist in the literature?
   
   If your bibliography is too expansive, you may need to examine only a subset.

4. Final bibliography
   (5 points, due: 16 Dec, skill: formatting a bibliography)
   
   Formatted (possibly annotated) bibliography of literature related to your core articles used to contextualize your analysis. You should have between 20-30 sources to draw from.

5. Self-evaluation
   (10 points, due: 16 Dec, skill: self-assessment, project/team management and evaluation)
   
   Evaluate your own and your group members' contributions to this project. This will be submitted through a questionnaire link that I will send out.