INLS 781, Fall 2018, section 003
Tuesday and Thursday, 11:00am - 12:15m, 304 Manning Hall
School of Information and Library Science

Course Outline, Objectives and Materials
Class Policies and Grading
Schedule 
Class Notes 
Resources
Class Work

Course Outline, Objective, Materials

Outline

1. Understanding Research Process and Research Proposals
2. Identifying Your Research Question
3. Performing a Literature review
4. Identify and Consult Faculty Adviser
5. Develop Research Plan and appropriate Methods and Data Analysis
6. Understanding IRB and Ethics issues
7. Complete Final Proposal

Objectives

Be able to understand the research process, how to develop a research plan, choose appropriate research methods and analysis, do a thorough literature review, and write a well-structured, well-planned, and doable research proposal that you will conduct for your masters thesis.

Materials
There are two required textbooks for this course. You should have them with you the first day of class.

1. Developing Effective Research Proposals, Keith F Punch, 2nd Edition (or later)
2. Applications of Social Research Methods to Questions in Information and Library Science, Barbara M. Wildemuth

Class Policies and Grading

Class Policies and General Instructions

1. I will always be prepared for class and will start class on time. If unforeseeable circumstances prevent this for any reason, I will try to notify you beforehand if at all possible. I expect the same of my students: be prepared for class, be ready to start class on time, and try to let me know by email if you can't be there.

2. My classroom is intended to be a place where you are encouraged to share your thoughts, think critically, and feel safe in expressing your views. I always welcome your viewpoint, and will be respectful of your opinion. Similarly, I ask that you are respectiveful of your classmates.

3. Class notes and most materials, as well as the class syllabus, policies, and schedule are available on the web (via the top of this page). The class notes are available so that you don't have to write down the basic information presented during class, hopefully allowing you to concentrate on the discussions and additional information presented in class.

4. You are expected to bring your laptop to every class. We will use them to research information, access class materials, work exercises, and present our work during class.

5. Assignments should be completed and turned in two hours before the start of the class on which they are due. So if class starts at 11:00am any work turned in 9:01am and later is late. Follow direction on where to post your work--in most cases it goes on our class work pages.

6. Late assignments. Any assignment received after it is due, will be considered late. Late assignments can still be turned in for credit, and I strongly encourage turning an assignment in late rather than not at all. See grading section below for more details.

7. You are expected and encouraged to participate in discussions and exercises in class. I will ask students to explain portions of what was to be read in preparation for a class. You will be asked to present your or your groups work on exercises and assignments. Part of your grade will be determined by the quality of your participation and your willingness to participate.

8. Add yourself to the Class Roster BEFORE the first class. I need this information (particularly your google account), so I can add you to the class work and resources pages. You'll need access to do Exercise 1 in first class.

9. Please be sure to subscribe to the class listserv. Click here to join the INLS 781 Class Listserv. On the form just fill in your email address; leave the other fields set to their defaults, then click Save to add yourself to the list. To send a message to the listserv, you send it to "inls700@listserv.unc.edu", and it will be distributed to everyone in the class. Sign up for the listserv immediately after the first class! If you have troubles, read these instructions.

10. You will be expected place your work in our class work page, which is open to the class (but no one else). Be sure to post your work to the page 2 hours before class starts. This gives me time to review everyone's work so I can give you fedback in class.

11. Reading assignments should be done before the class for which they are assigned so you can ask questions and participate in discussions.

12. If there is something you don't understand, please ask about it! If you don't want to ask during class, you may ask me during office hours, come see me at some other time, post your question to the listserv, or ask me over email.

13. Honor Code: The principles of academic honesty, integrity, and responsible citizenship govern the performance of all academic work and student conduct at the University as they have during the long life of this institution. Your acceptance of enrollment in the University presupposes a commitment to the principles embodied in the Code of Student Conduct and a respect for this most significant Carolina tradition. Your reward is in the practice of these principles. Your participation in this course comes with the expectation that your work will be completed in full observance of the Honor Code. Academic dishonesty in any form is unacceptable, because any breach in academic integrity, however small, strikes destructively at the University's life and work. (From the 8/1/1992 letter to the faculty, signed by Paul Hardin, Chancellor, and John Moody, Student Body President.)

14. Resources: I make every attempt to use high quality, current, freely available resources for our class. This allows you to always have convenient access to a resource, and saves trees :-). There may be times that I utilize a resource or material from the SILS library or lab during the course of the semester. In those situations, please remember that many of your fellow students also need to use the same material. Follow the proper checkout procedures and return materials promptly to be a good SILS citizen.

Grading

All assignments and your final grade will be graded on the following scale:

Late Assignments/Work

Resources
The INLS 781 Resources
is now used to maintain an ongoing collection of information about resources related to the INLS class.

This page was last modified on August 2018 Bradley Hemminger. Address questions and comments about this page to him at bmh@ils.unc.edu
© Bradley M. Hemminger