LIBR 263-10
Materials for Children Ages 5-8
Spring 2009 Greensheet

Shirley Lukenbill, Lecturer
E-mail
Phone: I will send my telephone contact information to students enrolled in the class.
Location: This course is an online course, so all class interactions are conducted via ANGEL.

I will distribute the enrollment code to all students on the first day of the semester (January 22, 2009) via MySJSU messaging.  You should self-enroll on our Angel site on or shortly after January 22, 2009, but before January 26, 2009.  You must be enrolled on MYSJSU to receive the email message with the enrollment code. The course begins on January 22, 2009 and ends on May 13, 2009.  Spring Recess is from March 23-27, 2009. Another SLIS holiday is Cesar Chavez Day on March 31, 2009.

Course Description

Survey of materials in a variety of formats including picture books, nonfiction, beginning chapter books, fictional genres, series and electronic resources, and how they can help meet developmental and learning needs of children ages 5-8.

This course is a children’s materials collection development course in which students will learn to select and build library collections for children ages 5-8, including materials for this age group in a variety of formats such as nonfiction, picture books, transitional and beginning chapter books in a variety of genres, and non-print materials such as games and electronic resources, and how these resources can help meet the developmental and learning needs or this age group. The course will also include the use of collection development tools and strategies for this material, as well as professional and parenting resources that provide support for librarians, teachers, and parents who serve children in this age group.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the external (societal) and internal (developmental) forces which influence children’s choices of recreational and informational sources and materials
2. Evaluate selection tools, and demonstrate the ability to use appropriate resources to develop a collection of materials for the elementary school-aged child (ages 5-8), including all appropriate formats
3. Critically examine representative materials designed for the elementary school-aged child (ages 5-8), including but not limited to books, television, movies, and the internet, and apply criteria to evaluate them in relation to child development, multicultural concerns, and meeting the informational and recreational needs of this age group
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of learning to read and how to work with parents, caregivers, and teachers in the teaching of reading
5. Create an appropriate materials collection for this age group (ages 5-8), including print and non-print materials
6. Assist parents and caregivers with questions about appropriate materials for their children

This course supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:

• demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations
• use the basic concepts and principles related to the creation, evaluation, selection, acquisition, preservation and organization of specific items or collections of information
• use service concepts, principles and techniques that facilitate information access, relevance, and accuracy for individuals or groups of users
• apply the fundamental principles of planning, management and marketing/advocacy

Top of Page

Course Requirements

Communicating with the Instructor
I live in Austin, TX (Central Time Zone). My preference is that students communicate with me first by email. If the student requests a follow-up phone call, the student should provide the following information for me: time zone, preferred time for contact, complete 10-digit phone number. The best time for students to reach me by phone is between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. (Central Standard Time). I will respond to an email message or phone call within 24 hours of the contact. I will also open a dialogue through an ANGEL Discussion forum entitled "FAQ: Ask Any Question about the Course." My goal is to reply to any question posted to this discussion forum within 48 hours. In this way, everyone knows the answers to questions posed by any class member. Class members may also respond to questions posed in this FAQ forum.
Important note: The communication part of this course will be conducted via a distance education program entitled “ANGEL.” I will distribute the enrollment code to all students on the first day of the semester (January 22, 2009) via MySJSU messaging.  I encourage you to self-enroll on or shortly after January 22, 2009, and before January 26, 2009.  You must be a member of MYSJSU to receive the email message with the enrollment code. The course begins on January 22, 2009 and ends on May 13, 2009. Spring Recess is from March 23-27, 2009. Another SLIS holiday is Cesar Chavez Day on March 31, 2009.

SLISADMIN
Be sure you are enrolled in the SLIS listserv “SLISADMIN” so you can get all official messages from the School. Here are the directions: We use an electronic list to keep you informed about important school information. All students are required to be on the list; it is called “slisadmin.” To join: (1) Go into your email program and in the “’To’ box,” enter listproc@listproc.sjsu.edu ; (2) Leave the subject line blank; (3) In the body of the message write “subscribe slisadmin yourfirstname yourlastname.” For example: subscribe slisadmin Shirley Lukenbill; (4) send the message. You should receive a confirmation that you are subscribed. Please note: You cannot post to this list. It is merely a way for the faculty and the staff to distribute school-related information. For more information on all the school's electronic lists, please check out: http://ischool.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/electroniclists.htm

Course Work
It is important that students know that this is a children’s materials collection development course focusing on materials for children ages 5-8 and NOT a programming course. In this course, I require that students complete assignments and discussion forums designed to introduce students to the concepts covered in class and in the texts, as well as to practical applications of materials-selection resources and methods. Students will work individually on Assignments and participate with colleagues in discussion forums on ANGEL. I will hold students responsible for carefully and respectfully following the SJSU guidelines for academic integrity and following the U.S. copyright regulations. See section on Copyright Regulations and Academic Integrity below.

• Assignments: (Meet Course Objectives A, B, C, D, E, F) 60% of final grade. See below Penalty for Late Work.
  All student products (assignments) must be prepared in MS Word and posted to the ANGEL "drop box" by the due date for each assignment. Detailed descriptions of the assignments will be available on ANGEL's Lessons for each assignment. In each of the assignments, I expect my students to use the full-text SJSU databases in order to locate the full-text professional articles (Assignment 1) and full-text reviews of books and media (Assignment 2) included in all projects. Please note: While many students are familiar with using Amazon.com and other book/media vendor sites, as well as the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database for reviews of materials, this source and others, such as Book Index with Reviews, Books in Print, Children’s Books in Print, and Novelist are useful as “finding aids,” but these sources do not give complete citations for reviews. Therefore, for citations in your project assignments, you should NOT use databases that do not provide full bibliographic information for materials, as well as full-text professional articles (Assignment 1) and full-text reviews for materials (Assignment 2).  For example, these resources may not cite the pages on which a review can be found, and sometimes they do not provide other essential bibliographic information. I require that you locate the actual full-text reviews in the review sources and cite the complete bibliographical information for the sources, as well as the Persistent URLs for the sources. You must learn to cite the Persistent URLs for the reviews or articles you locate on the books and materials you include in your assignments or discussion forum postings. As librarians, we need to know how to locate the actual reviews to support our collection development choices for our libraries. All bibliographies will be prepared using the Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed.
  
  
  •  Assignment 1-- Professional Readings Journal Project on major course topics. (Meets Course Objectives A, B, C, D, E, F) 20% of course grade. See below Penalty for Late Work.
    The professional readings journal is a collection of the student’s original critiques of full-text (NOT abstracts) professional research articles on the major course topics. Students will submit a sample entry to the Drop Box by the third week of the semester so that I can check for your understanding of the APA (5th ed.) bibliographical style, the persistent URLs for articles retrieved from SJSU databases, and the completeness and quality of  critiques.  I will post the date for submission of the sample entry and the completed project in the folder for Assignment 1 under the Lessons tab on ANGEL. From a list of major topics in the field of study (which I will provide), students will keep a journal of their original critiques of full-text professional readings (students must choose full-text professional articles (not abstracts) that present current research in the field and that have dates no earlier than the year 2000) for which the full text of the articles (not just an abstract) are available through the SJSU Library’s online databases. You must use the SJSU online databases and not your own personal subscriptions to journals or local databases of professional articles.  This is because I need to be able to verify every article you review.  In ANGEL under the tab Lessons in a folder for Assignment 1, I will post an outline of major topics in the course, the format and guidelines for the journal articles and critiques, and the grading rubric for the project.
     
  • Assignment 2—Thematic Collection Development Project for Materials for Children, Ages 5-8. (Meets Course Objectives A, B, C, D, E, F)  40% of course grade.  See below Penalty for Late Work.  The thematic collection development project in this course includes materials for children ages 5-8 in a variety of formats, such as nonfiction, picture books, transitional and beginning chapter books in a variety of genres, and non-print materials such as games and electronic resources, and how these resources can help meet the developmental and learning needs or this age group.  I will retain a master list of themes for the class. Students will email to me their choices of themes for this project, and if I approves them, I will list the approved topics in the folder for Assignment 2 that is available under the Lessons tab on ANGEL. I will also post detailed information and a grading rubric for this project to the Assignment 2 folder under the Lessons tab in ANGEL. Students must submit their completed projects by the due date to the ANGEL drop box. Students will share and discuss thematic projects before the end of the semester. 
    
    Note: You must choose professional reviews for materials from the SJSU Library's online full-text databases and NOT from personal subscriptions to such journals or from local libraries' databases, as I must be able to retrieve and verify the professional reviews you cite in this assignment. In this assignment, you are expected to use the SJSU Library’s full-text online databases in order to locate the professional book and media reviews for your project. Please note: While many students are familiar with using Amazon.com and other book/media vendor sites, as well as the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database for reviews of materials, this source and others, such as Book Index with Reviews, Books in Print, Children’s Books in Print, and Novelist are useful as “finding aids,” but these sources do not give complete citations for reviews, so you SHOULD NOT CITE THESE DATABASES in this course. Therefore, for citations in this Assignment 2, you should NOT use these and other databases that do not give full bibliographic information and full-text reviews for materials. For example, these resources may not cite the pages on which a review can be found, and sometimes they do not provide other essential bibliographic information. I require that you locate professional review sources from the actual FULL-TEXT REVIEWS in the SJSU Library’s online databases and cite the complete bibliographical information for the materials and for the full-text reviews. You must cite the Persistent URLs for the full-text reviews you locate on the books and materials you include in this assignment. I will post to ANGEL resources on locating the Persistent URLs for various database providers, as well as directions on using the SJSU Library's online databases.  As librarians, we need to know how to locate the actual full-text reviews to support our collection development choices for our libraries. 
    
    This assignment, which will include your original annotations of the materials (written to appeal to children ages 5-8) must be prepared in MS Word and posted to the ANGEL "drop box" by the due date for the assignment. All bibliographies will be prepared using the Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. 
     
  • Penalty for Late Work, LIBR 263-10: I will accept late work, but you will lose 2 points for each day the assignment is late. For example, if an assignment is due on March 1, 2009, but it is submitted to me on March 8, 2009, I will deduct 14 points from the grade earned by the student on the assignment because the assignment was 7 days late. I will not accept late work for credit after April 22, 2009.  Students must submit assignments to the ANGEL "Drop Box" by the deadline for each assignment in order to get full credit. NOTE ABOUT PARTIAL SUBMISSIONS OF WORK: If you post an unfinished assignment by the deadline and then send a revision to me later, I will consider the last date of submission as the date of completion of the assignment, not the date of the original partial submission. Therefore, to avoid penalties for late submission, students should plan their work in order to post their finished products to the ANGEL "Drop Box" by the Assignment's due date. Students need to communicate with me about personal or other issues that might affect completion of the work on time.
    
     
• DISCUSSION FORUMS: Participation in ANGEL Discussion Forums. (Meets Course Objectives A, E and F)  40% of course grade. Students will participate in ANGEL discussion forums in order to practice professional discourse on the course topics and materials. I will provide specific guidelines for participation in ANGEL discussion forums under the Lessons tab on ANGEL, as well as guidelines for proper etiquette and professional behavior in responding to the work of your colleagues in the course. I expect that you participate in all discussion forums for each lesson, that you post your original contribution early in each forum, and that you respond later in the week to at least two of your colleagues in each discussion forum. Therefore, my expectation is that you post a minimum of three (3) times per discussion forum, and that one of your posts include a complete reply to the questions I have posed for Discussion.  I will base your grade for participation not only on frequency and timeliness of posting, but also on quality of your discussion posts. Discussion forums for the course will include your professional reflections (based on background reading, personal research, and reading of required books and media). As there is a time frame for beginning and ending dates for each forum, late posting of comments will not count toward credit.
  
  I will hold students responsible for carefully and respectfully following the SJSU guidelines for academic integrity and following the U.S. copyright regulations. See note at end of this course page.

COPYRIGHT REGULATIONS
Students and faculty are bound by the U.S. copyright regulations and need to cite the sources of the intellectual property of others, including information, images, or ideas that do not belong to us. Follow the regulations located in the Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials policy at http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol2.htm

Because this is an online class, my students must pay particular attention to the Distance Learning (SJSU), Copyright, and Fair Use, and Plagiarism Guidelines at http://www.sjlibrary.org/services/distance/fac_copyright.htm . Students need to pay special attention to the third bullet item at the above website: Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia, Section 6 at http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/ccmcguid.htm

If my students submit work with words, images, or ideas that are not their original ideas, words, or images, they must cite the sources of those words, images, or ideas. It is important for students in library science courses to develop a respect for the work of others and to be responsible users of the work of others. Although the work of students does have some fair-use protection, you are NEVER safe in using words, images, or ideas of others in a course in which we share our work with one another. Not only will you need to remember this when you are posting to the discussion forums, you must also practice responsible use of resources in your projects that you will be sharing with your colleagues.

Textbooks and Readings

Required Textbooks:

• Horning, K. T. (1997). From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books. HarperCollins. Available through Amazon: 006446167X.

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.

Download Adobe Acrobat Reader to access PDF files.

More accessibility resources.