LIBR 230-01
Issues in Academic Libraries
Fall 2010 Greensheet

Lorraine Busby
E-mail
Phone:  (709) 864-6901 Fax: (709) 864-2153
Office Hours: Virtual office hours scheduled upon request

This is an online course with all course materials delivered via the class Angel site.  You will be able to self-enroll in LIBR 230 Angel class between August 23 and August 30.  You will need an access code which will be sent to all registered students through MYSJSU messaging system on August 23.

Each weekly class begins on Wednesday and runs through to the following Tuesday.  The first day of class is Wednesday August 25. 

Course Description

This course explores current issues, trends, challenges and opportunities that impact academic libraries today and tomorrow.  Institutional settings are considered in context with various user populations within the academic community.  Topics covered include:  the academic library in context; information seeking behavior of users; scholarly communication; collections; services to users; management issues such as staffing, finances, fund raising and performance measures.

Course Prerequisites: LIBR 200, 202, 204 required.

Course Objectives

Student Learning Outcomes

• To explore strategic issues, trends, challenges and opportunities that are specific to today's academic library and understand how these issues will impact the future of libraries in post secondary institutions.
• Analyze and evaluate the information needs of various user populations within the academic community.
• Apply critical thinking and analytical methods to the solution of problems related to academic libraries.

LIBR 230 supports the following MLIS Core Competencies:

• compare the environments and organizational settings in which library and information professionals practice;
• recognize the social, cultural and economic dimensions of information use;
• use service concepts, principles and techniques that facilitate information access, relevance, and accuracy for individuals or groups of users.
• describe the fundamental concepts of information seeking behaviors
• evaluate programs and services on specified criteria

Course Requirements

Course Work
Each week students are resonsible for the course content posted within Angel.  A lesson may include readings, lectures, activities, examples, and discussions.

Assignments
The following assignments are to be completed as part of the course requirements:

• 5 exercises that provide an opportunity to explore and apply key concepts related to the theme of the lesson under consideration.  One of the exercises will be assessed through peer review
• student article/discussion:  students will post an article and supply 2-3 questions about the article for discussion.  Dates and topics will be posted for students to select from.  At the end of the week, the student responsbile for the discussion will summarize the comments.  Throughout the course students must respond to 12 questions with a thoughtful response.
• Site Visit Report: each student is required to complete a site visit to an academic library, approved in advance by the course instructor, and to submit a written report on the experience.  An academic library specializing in supporting distance education with virtual services that can be explored in tandem with other research effort may qualify as a "site" visit.

Assignments are due on Sunday evenings by 11:59 pm, subject to change with fair notice.  Late submissions will be reduced by 20% of the total possible points for that assignment.

Course Grading

Textbooks and Readings

Supplementary readings, available through the King Library or freely available on the web, will be identified for each lesson.

Required Textbook:

• Bell, S.J., & Shank, J.D. (2007). Academic librarianship by design: A blended librarian's guide to the tools and techniques. ALA. Available through Amazon: 0838909396

• Budd, J. M. (2005). The changing academic library: Operations, culture, environments (ACRL publications in librarianship). ALA. Available through Amazon: 0838983189.

Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation.  You must repeat the class the following semester. If -on the second attempt- you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

General Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities of the Student

As members of the academic community, students accept both the rights and responsibilities incumbent upon all members of the institution. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with SJSU's policies and practices pertaining to the procedures to follow if and when questions or concerns about a class arises. See University Policy S90-5 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S90-5.pdf. More detailed information on a variety of related topics is available in the SJSU catalog at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/LIS.html. In general, it is recommended that students begin by seeking clarification or discussing concerns with their instructor. If such conversation is not possible, or if it does not serve to address the issue, it is recommended that the student contact the Department Chair as a next step.

Dropping and Adding

Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the current semester's Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be found on the current academic year calendars document on the Academic Calendars webpage at http://www.sjsu.edu/provost/services/academic_calendars/. The Late Drop Policy is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for dropping classes.

Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/.

Consent for Recording of Class and Public Sharing of Instructor Material

University Policy S12-7, http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S12-7.pdf, requires students to obtain instructor's permission to record the course and the following items to be included in the syllabus:

• "Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her. You must obtain the instructor's permission to make audio or video recordings in this class. Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only. The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material."
  • It is suggested that the syllabus include the instructor's process for granting permission, whether in writing or orally and whether for the whole semester or on a class by class basis.
  • In classes where active participation of students or guests may be on the recording, permission of those students or guests should be obtained as well.
• "Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval. You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent."

Academic integrity

Your commitment, as a student, to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University Academic Integrity Policy F15-7 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F15-7.pdf requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 at http://www.sjsu.edu/president/docs/directives/PD_1997-03.pdf requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) at http://www.sjsu.edu/aec to establish a record of their disability.

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