Show familiarity with some of the major theories in the library/information science field and be able to state in your own words a reasonable summary of their ideas Describe how research on information seeking behavior has been undertaken including important methodologies that have been used Compare the differences between novice and expert in information searching and be able to comment on the implications for the design of information systems and services Describe the scholarly communication process and knowledge flow in science Articulate the ways in which library information science (LIS) is a design profession Identify key ongoing issues surrounding the access to and delivery of information in various contexts and forms Contribute to the development of an active online intellectual learning community.

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There is no textbook required for this course. The assigned readings are listed on the schedule and on the bibliography. The readings are available online or on reserve in the SILS Library.

In addition, you are encouraged to select one professional journal in the area of your interest and examine issues of it throughout the semester for articles and other material relevant to the topics we will be examining. You are required to post comments, questions, applications, opinions and the like to one of the discussion forums each week. You may find some information to share from your selected journal.

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An underlying assumption of the course is that students learn best and retain the most through active participation in the learning process. The weekly assigned readings form much of the structure of the course. Access to these readings will be through the e-reserves or the e-journals found through www.lib.unc.edu on the web. For those with access to SILS library paper copies of the articles or books in which relevant chapters occur are often available in the 500 class reserves.

Each week's readings will be discussed in a web-based Discussion session through the Blackboard course management system. Your participation in these discussions is essential and your assiduity in posting questions and comments will make a significant contribution to the course and to your own deeper understanding of the field. This student-centered learning approach relies heavily on your having prepared for the discussion session by careful reading and prompt posting of questions, applications and comments about the readings. My role as instructor is to guide you through the literature, integrate the topics raised in the discussion sessions, and provide feedback on the various writing assignments you are given.

I will provide some notes each week about the topic and the assigned readings. Our week will begin on a Tuesday. You are expected to make your first posting for the week on or before Friday and two or three subsequent postings in response to your classmates on or before the following Monday. A calendar/schedule will be provided for you showing the topics for each week plus holidays and breaks as well as dates that assignments are due.

Spirited discussion is encouraged on the discussion forums. It is always more interesting when there are differences of opinions plus it is a useful skill to learn how to disagree respectfully and with care for another's feelings. Students who have taken this course in the past or other online courses have reported that a major benefit of a virtual course format is that they have learned to disagree politely and to write fluent opinions about professional matters without spending a lot of time thinking and choosing modes of expression. For some, commitment to a stated position is difficult at first, but that will soon pass.

Class policies that you should be aware of:

• All assignment deadlines will be posted in advance. In the event a deadline adjustment is made, I will make an announcement to that effect on Blackboard. In fact, I will make an announcement each time new material is added to Blackboard.

• Assistance to one another is encouraged throughout the course. One semester-long assignment with several deliverables is a team project; the others are individual. You will be assigned to a group of three or four people on the basis of common interest (insofar as possible) for the team project. For the project, all members of the team will receive the same grade unless there is overwhelming evidence why it should be otherwise.

• Your presence on the discussion forums is expected each week. If you encounter personal problems and are unable to meet this committment, please let me know as soon as possible so that we can figure out a workaround. Each week's participation will be graded and averaged for an overall grade; the two lowest weekly grades will be dropped in the final calculation of the discussion grade.

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There are four assignments in addition to your participation in the discussion forums. The weights for all assignments are as follows:

• Group Team Project -- Focus on a Selected User Group - 35% for all four parts
  1. Literature review and behavior description of group - 10%
  2. Recommendations for professional practice and information systems/services design - 10%
  3. Power Point summary of (1) and (2) - 5%
  4. Proposed research plan - 10%
• Individual Assn. 1: Description of an Information Seeking Event, or Information Discovery (Incidental Info Acquisition) - 15%
• Individual Assn. 2: Communicating Scholarly information - 15%
• Individual Assn. 3: Paper or annotated bibliography on an issue, a role or the design of a system or service - 15%
• Discussion Board Participation - 20%

An additional bonus of 1-5% for good class citizenship may be added to your grade at the end at the discretion of the instructor.

A summary of each of the non discussion board assignments is provided below; a more detailed description will be given in Blackboard when the assignment is set.

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Group Team Project. In groups of 3-4, each team will select an identifiable group; review any published research on the information behavior of this group; apply models, principles and concepts from the course to create a formalized description of the characteristics of information behaviors for this group and the kinds of information that providers wish them to consume. You are to draw conclusions about how professional practice might respond and how information systems and services might be designed or redesigned to support the information needs of your group. You may also wish to address important information policy issues that affect or could affect members of your group, such as privacy, intellectual freedom, ethical concerns, social capital and the like. In addition, you are to identify a question or problem relating to the information behavior of your group and design a way to investigate it [Note: you will not have to do the actual research, only the plan for it]. Several deliverables are required - (1)the literature review and a behavioral description of your group,(2) recommendations for professional practice and for information systems/services design, and (3)the proposed research plan. These four papers are to be submitted through the Assignment Manager on Blackboard at defined points during the semester. You are also asked to prepare (4) a Power Point slide set or Web page summarizing your findings and recommendations to share with the class as a posting on a discussion forum.

Individual Assignment I: Choose either a or b.
I.a. Information-Seeking Event. You are to choose a product, service, or company that you believe has produced a particularly successful marketing campaign that has caught your attention, taught you something you didn't know, or inspired you to try something your would not have tried. Your task is to analyze the campaign and describe what made (or makes) it so successful. The final product is a 3-5 page paper analyzing the media used (print, audio, video, etc.), the message, the targeted audience, the features that caught your attention, and the reasons why it was attractive to you.
    or
I.b. Information Discovery. In a brief 3-5 page paper, you are to describe an event where you discovered information that you were not looking for and learned something you may not have known. Your description should include information about the setting as well as the information itself. Try to analyze what caught your eye and held your interest. Can you generalize from the experience and your readings to suggest some ways that a general user can discover and access resources that may be valuable for them? What are the barriers to information discovery? Include your conclusions to these questions in your paper.

Individual Assignment II:
Communicating Scholarly Information to Others. You are to review and reflect on someone else's attempt to communicate information to others in a published article by pursuing the citations to the paper. You are to select an article on a topic of relevance to the class and of particular interest to you. It can be one of the assigned articles, an article cited in one of them or a different one (perhaps one of the optional readings). Choose an article written between 1960-2000 that is considered significant. Using online citation indexes (e.g., ISI Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, the ACM Portal), determine the number of times your article has been cited, who cited it, under what circumstances, and in what fields. In a brief 3-5 page paper, write your personal impressions of the paper with respect to the citations. Has the paper received the attention it deserves? Has it reached its intended audience? If not, why not? If it has received more than it deserves, why might this have happened? Include in your paper what you found useful, what you liked about the paper, what its deficiencies or limitations are and how the article may have influenced your thinking about the field or about practice.

Individual Assignment III:
Paper on a Topic of your Choice. This last paper is intended to reflect the design portion of the course. You are asked to select a topic related to the role of the information intermediary in some context or to the design or redesign of an information system or to the design and delivery of an information service. You may treat your topic technically, organizationally, professionally and personally as is comfortable for you. Pick a topic that interests you and use the paper as a time to reflect on the subject as it relates to your future career. The paper doesn't have to be long (5-7 pages); it should include some current citations. An alternative to a paper is an annotated bibliography on your topic. If you choose this alternative, you will be asked to describe the scope and search strategy you used, a brief summary of each item included and your evaluative comments about it. For the bibliography alternative, you should include a minimum of 15 relevant citations.

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Graduate students may receive the following grades: H, P+, P, P-, L, F. Although pluses and minuses are used in the internal grades awarded by the school, only H, P, L, and F will appear on the official transcript. Pluses and minuses on the internal record are used to determine class rank and Beta Phi Mu candidacy. The SILS grading policy is based on the University Grading Policy. SILS uses the graduate grading scale, which is defined as follows:

H - Clear excellence
P - Entirely satisfactory
L - Low passing
F - Failed
IN - Work incomplete

To provide some additional guidelines for this course, here is my interpretation of the grading scale for INLS 500.

• P = Satisfactory work at the graduate level. Student performance meets designated course expectations, demonstrates understanding of the course materials, and performs at an acceptable level. In INLS 500, this means the student demonstrates understanding of issues through active participation throughout the semester showing familiarity with the assigned readings and course notes. The student participates regularly in online discussions with relevant comments. Written assignments are thoughtful and adhere to the stated requirements.

• P+ = Excellent achievement. Student performance demonstrates deep knowledge of the course materials and exceeds course expectations by completing all requirements in a superior manner. In INLS 500, this means the student shows command of the concepts in the readings and discussions and demonstrates this through forum discussions and in written assignments. The student participates in issues discussions and shares ideas with classmates.

• P- = Marginal work. Student performance demonstrates incomplete understanding of course materials. In INLS 500, this means the student may have read the required materials, but fails to provide meaningful discussion and fails to raise questions of merit or to think beyond personal experiences and needs. Basic requirements for the written assignments are met, but there are few signs of critical thought or creative vision. The student may have unexplained periods of limited activity.

• H = Outstanding achievement. Student performance demonstrates full command of the course materials and evinces a high level of originality and/or creativity that surpasses course expectations. In INLS 500, this means the student has contributed on a regular basis to the discussion forums with insightful and critical comments supported by professional literature beyond that provided by the basic required readings. Command and understanding of the literature is shown in major written assignments and is documented clearly. The H student initiates issue discussions, leads in summary and conclusions,and shares knowledge with classmates. Leadership and initiative are demonstrated throughout the semester.

• L = Unsatisfactory work. Student performance demonstrates incomplete and inadequate understanding of course materials and/or is frequently absent from forum discussions.

• F = Failing. Student may continue in the program only with permission of the dean.

• IN = Incomplete. A grade of incomplete may be taken only because of illness or special circumstances and only by prior arrangement with the instructor.

I will use a 100 point scale to grade your work in INLS 500, as follows:

95-100 = H
90-94 = P+
80-89 = P
73-79 = P-
60-72 = L
Below 60 = F

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Revised 8/16/2007.
Evelyn Daniel, Instructor