LIBR 204-15
Information Organizations and Management
Fall 2009 Greensheet

Mary M. Somerville, MLS, MA, PhD
E-mail
Phone: 253-229-8816 (cell)
Office Hours: (Optional) TBD

Mission of the School
The School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at San José State University educates professionals and develops leaders who organize, manage, and enable the effective use of information and ideas in order to contribute to the well-being of our communities.

Getting Started
SLIS utilizes a content management system named ANGEL for class communications, assignments, and grade records. The direct link for ANGEL login is https://liffey.sjsu.edu. The direct link for ANGEL tutorials for both faculty and students is ischool.sjsu.edu/angel/index.html.

Students should enroll in the 204-19 site before class commences on January 25th using a password access code sent via the MySJSU e-mail messaging system prior to the first day of class.

Course Description

This course examines distinguishing characteristics of information organizations, including culture(s) and relationships, with emphasis on the potential of managers and leaders to orchestrate forward thinking movement toward strategic organizational goals.

Course Prerequisites:
Complete LIBR 203: Online Social Networking: Technology and Tools. This is a mandatory 1 unit course that introduces students to the various e-learning tools in the SLIS program, including Angel, Elluminate, and Second Life. This course must be completed by all new SLIS students within the first 4 weeks of their first semester.

Course Goal
This 3 unit course offers a survey of management and leadership responsibilities and issues for library, information, and knowledge organizations. Course activities aim to further participants’ understanding of theory and application in a variety of areas, including organizational design, culture, and communication.Course Objectives

Course Objectives

The course prepares students to work effectively within an organization, to assume managerial responsibilities, and to develop leadership aspirations. Therefore, learning activities focus on three major facets:

• Internal factors, including managers’ classic functions of planning, decision-making, organizing, staffing, controlling, and evaluating;
• External factors, such as the larger political and organizational context(s) within which libraries operate;
• Personal factors, such as preferred communication, management, and leadership styles, and their effect on individual and team performance.

Toward these ends, learning activities aspire to:

• Develop understanding of the theories, principles, and practices of management;
• Increase appreciation for the basic management functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling and evaluating;
• Examine issues related to managing staff and services in a diverse workplace environment, amidst changing internal and external factors;
• Exercise team work skills that further collaboration, innovation, and responsiveness;
• Increase knowledge and usage of the professional and research literature of management and leadership; and
• Advance self-evaluation skills and pre-professional planning through resume preparation.

Student Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Compare management and leadership theories, principles and practices;
• Discuss organizational communication, decision making, and strategic planning systems and processes;
• Describe the experience and value of team work and group dynamics;
• Identify diversity issues and implications within the workplace;
• Prepare a resume and use the services of the SJSU Career Center; and
• Review and interpret the professional organizational development literature.

LIBR 204 supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:

• Acquire knowledge of principles/practices of management in information environments;
• Evaluate/utilize relevant research studies from a variety of disciplines; and
• Demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations.

Top of Page

Course Requirements

Course Schedule
The course design enables participants to develop an overview of the topic through reading a textbook, supplemented by reading an organizational case study. Course assignments aim to develop theoretical and practical understanding. Assignments are completed during a week which begins on a Sunday and concludes on a Saturday. This schedule intends to accommodate students with a variety of work schedules and personal circumstances. In addition, it permits the instructor to respond on a daily basis to participants’ messages before assuming her (Monday through Friday) work day and then, over the weekend, respond more substantively to students’ work.

Toward these ends, the course schedule is as follows:

• Week 1 – January 25 – January 30th - Organizational Opportunities and Challenges
  Read: Somerville, chapters 1 - 4
• Week 2 – January 31st – February 6th – Organizational (Re)Design and Leadership
  Read: Somerville, chapters 5 - 6
  Attend Elluminate ‘class introductions’ session, February 2nd, 5 p.m. – 6 p.m. PST, present self introduction
  Assignment: Submit ‘introduction to classmates’ post on discussion forum
• Week 3 – February 7th to February 13th – Management and Leadership Basics
  Read: Evans & Ward, chapters 1-3 and chapter 14 and read Collins paper (go to: http://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/good-to-great.html)
  Assignment Submit question, citation, discussion, and source to discussion forum
• Week 4 – February 14th to February 20th – Change Management and Decision Making
  Read: Evans & Ward, chapters 6 and 7
  Assignment: Discuss Somerville case study in terms of Collins’ framework. Submit paper to digital drop box.
• Week 5 – February 21st to February 27th – Communication and Planning
  Read: Evans & Ward, chapters 8 and 12
  Attend Elluminate lecture: Zaana Howard, Melbourne, Australia, February 23rd, 5 p.m. PST
  Assignment: Submit question, citation, discussion, and source to discussion forum
• Week 6 – February 28th to March 6th – Organizational Dynamic and Effectiveness
  Read: Evans & Ward, chapters 9, 10, and 11
• Week 7 – March 7th to March 13th – Motivation and Marketing
  Read: Evans & Ward, chapters 5 and 13
  Assignment: Submit question, citation, discussion, and source to discussion forum
• Week 8 – March 14th to March 20th – Human Resources and Diversity
  Read: Evans & Ward, chapters 4 and 15
• Week 9 – March 21st to March 27th – Budget, Technology, and Facilities Management
  Read: Evans & Ward, chapters 16, 17, 18
  Assignment: Submit question, citation, discussion, and source to discussion forum
• Week 10 - Spring Recess - March 28th to April 3rd
• Week 11 – April 4th to April 10th – Career Development and Professional Futures
  Read: Evans & Ward, chapters 19 & 20
  Assignment: Submit interview questions, working in pairs
• Week 12 – April 11th to April 17th
  Assignment: Submit resume to digital drop box
• Week 13 – April 18th to April 24th
  Assignment: Submit final project in digital drop box
• Week 14 – April 25th to May 1st
  Assignment: Prepare oral presentation and submit team evaluation in digital drop box
• Week 15 – May 2nd to May 8th
  Attend culminating Elluminate session, May 8th, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PST, present oral presentation and participate in culminating discussion

Note: This schedule assumes that all coursework will be completed by the due date. ‘Late work’ will not receive full credit. Incomplete work will receive no credit.

Further information on course assignments is provided in the Angel course management system.

Grading
In this course, the following point system will be used to determine the final grade which is based on a total of 100 points:

Late Work
‘Late work’ (submitted after midnight on Saturday) will result in a reduction in points earned. 20% of possible points/assignment will be deducted for each day past the due date. Students will receive no points for incomplete assignments.

Textbooks and Readings

Required Textbook:

• Evans, G. E., & Ward, P. L. (2007). Management Basics for Information Professionals (2nd ed.). Neal-Schuman. Available through Amazon: 1555705863.

• Somerville, M. M. (2009). Working together: Collaborative information practices for organizational learning. ACRL. Available through Amazon: 0838985319.

Recommended Textbook:

• American Psychological Association (2009). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) American Psychological Association. Available through Amazon: 1433805618.

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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