INFO 284-12
Seminar in Archives and Records Management
Spring 2022 Syllabus

Dr. Darra L. Hofman (she/her or they/them)
Email
Please contact me by email or through Canvas; I will endeavor to respond within one business day. I will let the class know by announcement prior to anything (such as travel) that may change my response time, as well as let you know when to expect a response during those times.

Student Office Hours: Virtual office hours, Tuesdays, 10 am - to 12 pm PT or by appointment. Telephone advising by appointment.

Office hours are FOR YOU – any time you have a question, want to discuss the course material or requirements, or want to discuss digital curation in general, come by office hours. There are no requirements to come to office hours, and it is meant to be a comfortable, low-key space. If the set office hours don’t work, let me know, and we can schedule to meet – by Zoom or phone – at another time that is more convenient for you.

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning January 26th, at 6 am PT unless you are taking an intensive or a one-unit or two-unit class that starts on a different day. In that case, the class will open on the first day that the class meets.

You will be enrolled in the Canvas site automatically.

Course Description

This course will provide an introduction to issues related to the management of digital objects throughout their lifecycle, from appraisal and acquisition to preservation, description, and access. Students will be introduced to the principles governing digital curation and will examine examples of digital curation in practice as applied to a range of digital object types and formats.

Course Requirements

Approach to the Course

This course takes a very hands-on approach and examines a number of open questions in the field. Please feel safe to try new things, take risks, and share your thoughts and opinions—you will not be penalized for getting things “wrong” as long as your approach is grounded in the course material. Each assignment is designed to help you develop skills for your final project; feel free to use material developed in previous assignments in the final project, as long as you also incorporate any feedback received (in other words, feel free to copy the language you use in your proposal, but please also correct any errors before you submit it as part of the final project!).

Please be aware that we may deal with sensitive or controversial topics in this course. While everyone is invited to share their thoughts, everyone is also expected to maintain a respectful, inclusive space and to honor their colleagues’ knowledge and experience. As your instructor, one of my responsibilities is to maintain a learning space that is respectful and inclusive of a diversity of perspectives and a diversity of students; if the course materials or interactions (including my choices or language!) make you uncomfortable, please let me know so that I can address it. You may inform me anonymously if that is more comfortable.

Assignments

Course Calendar Including Assignment Due Dates

This schedule is subject to change with fair notice to students. Any changes will be announced via email and Canvas.  

Weekly readings will be posted on the Canvas course site. Any readings assigned in addition to chapters from the required textbook will be available via Canvas or through openly available websites.

Grading and Related Matters

• The course week runs Monday – Sunday; please participate in the discussion board and/or complete each week’s assignments by 11:59 PM Pacific Time on the posted Sunday.
• Discussion boards and exercises are full points/zero points. If you submit an honest effort, you will receive full points. These exercises are NOT marked for correctness. An “honest effort” for discussion posts will be one substantive post and at least two replies to your colleagues’ posts.
• Should you require an extension, please reach out to me as soon as possible. I am happy to work with you on due dates, including for reasons such as work or caregiving responsibilities, if I am informed early enough to make adjustments and ensure that there is not an undue impact on your colleagues or your ability to integrate the learning from that assessment on further learning.
• If you require accommodations to the required coursework, please let me know so that I can ensure your needs in the course are met.
• Should you find yourself requiring support in mastering the course material, please reach out. We also have excellent resources, including writing and research support resources, available through the iSchool at: Quick Links--https://ischool.sjsu.edu/student-quick-links

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the land on which we are meeting today as the traditional home of the Puichon Ohlone-speaking people and the present-day Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. The Puichon Ohlone were missionized into both the Dolores and Santa Clara missions. The present-day Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is comprised of all known surviving Native American lineages aboriginal to the San Francisco Bay region who trace their ancestry through the Missions San Jose, Santa Clark, and Dolores and the historic federally recognized Verona Band of Alameda County

In the Muwekma Ohlone language, Cocenyo: Muwekma means “the people.”

Without them, we would not have access to this gathering. We take this opportunity to thank the original caretakers of this land.

I would also like to acknowledge that I am a settler and live and work on Treaty 8 lands, lands where First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, including the Seccani, the Dune-za, and the Cree, have lived, traveled, and gathered for thousands of years, and continue to live, travel, and gather. 

An article on land acknowledgements, for those who are interested: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/canadas-impossible-acknowledgment

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Course Workload Expectations

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Course Prerequisites

INFO 284 has no prequisite requirements.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Identify the decision making process behind selection for preservation.
2. Describe the evolution of digital curation theory and practice.
3. Summarize the causes of deterioration of various types of information objects.
4. Identify key concepts and standards in digital preservation, including the OAIS model and repository development.
5. Define the principles of a workable preservation policy in libraries, archives, and corporate DAM settings.
6. Identify and apply disaster planning, prevention, response, and recovery strategies.
7. Locate and evaluate tools, research and other resources on preservation.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 284 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

Required Textbooks:

• Oliver, G., & Harvey, R. (2016). Digital curation (2nd ed.). Neal-Schuman. Available through Amazon: 0838913857

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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 or undergraduate (for BS-ISDA);
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA, Informatics, BS-ISDA) — 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 if you wish to stay in the program. 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.

Graduate Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). Undergraduates must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

Per University Policy S16-9, university-wide policy information relevant to all courses, such as academic integrity, accommodations, etc. will be available on Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs' Syllabus Information web page at: https://www.sjsu.edu/curriculum/courses/syllabus-info.php. Make sure to visit this page, review and be familiar with these university policies and resources.

In order to request an accommodation in a class please contact the Accessible Education Center and register via the MyAEC portal.

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