INLS 110-037 - CIRCULATING INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM

A required textbook is:

• Sue Myburgh The New Information Professional. Oxford: Chandos, 2005. Paper. ISBN: 1-84334-087-9.

Other reading material will be made available to you either in SILS Reserve or as pdf's or links on the Blackboard site for the class.

Some important professional journals you will want to investigate during the semester are listed below. Current print copies are available in the SILS Library; all are also available in e-journal format and available through the UNC library (www.lib.unc.edu). Plan to select at least three to become familiar with.

A list of web sites, books and journal articles is being prepared for the class. As you find new and interesting material on the web, please post the URL on the discussion board and I will add it to the page.

In this class, we will investigate current issues and trends in the library and information science field looking comparatively across three (or more) countries with an emphasis on what is currently in the headlines in the United States. Some of our topics will include Copyright and intellectual freedom, Knowledge management, Digitization of information and/or Digital libraries, New information professional roles, Records management and archival activities, Information and IT literacy, Information ethics, Open access, Wireless networking, New information technologies, Information use in various environments,and possibly other topics.

Each week I will post some "Getting Ready" guidelines in Blackboard linked to the schedule for the week's sessions. Classes will be a combination of lecture and discussion plus some visits to local libraries and information service agencies. A day-long trip to attend a national conference (ASIST) in Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina, is also planned.

Class policies that you should be aware of:

• All assignment deadlines will be posted in advance. In the event a deadline adjustment is announced in class, you are responsible for knowing about it.

• Assistance to one another is encouraged in the class. If you work as a team, all members of the team will receive the same grade unless there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

• We observe the University Honor Code. This Code states:
  • The university community, including faculty and students, share a commitment to the pursuit of truth, and the dissemination of knowledge to succeeding generations of citizens devoted to the high ideals of personal honor and respect for the rights of others.

  • These goals can only be achieved in a setting in which intellectual honesty and personal integrity are highly valued; other individuals are trusted, respected, and fairly treated; and the responsibility for articulating and maintaining high standards is widely shared.

  • Both students and faculty must play active roles in fostering a culture in which honor is prized and act to remedy violations of community norms relating to academic misconduct, injuries to members of the University community, and conduct that adversely affect University operations and resources.

• Attendance at every class is expected. If you have an unavoidable absence, please let me know ahead of time and propose a substitute (usually a write-up of relevant articles on the class topic but it's negotiable).

After a mutual interview assignment at the beginning of class, the main assignment will be to become a class expert on a particular topic. This will mean contributing your knowledge as it develops about the topic to class discussions. You will be asked to make one formal class presentation on your topic and to lead a class discussion. The final assignment will be a term paper on your topic. Please note that it is my policy to alter the assignments if a student has a compelling reason to pursue an alternative. Please contact me if you wish to do something different.

The weights for the assignments are as follows: