LIBR 282-03
LIBR 282-12
LIBR 282-13
Seminar in Library Management (1 unit)
Topic: Marketing Your LIS Skills in a Networked and Changing World
Spring 2012 Greensheet

Scott R Brown
E-mail
Skype: scbrown5
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottrbrown
Office Location: Online (e-mail or Skype) or via phone
Office Hours: Flexible

D2L Information: We will be using D2L for this course. You will be automatically enrolled in the D2L course site a few days prior to the beginning of the course (subject to change).

Course Description

Course Overview
This course provides approaches for identifying and effectively marketing LIS and LIS-related skills across a variety of fields. Students will think flexibly about their skills and career, and have hands-on experience building their online network and presence. Since this is a 1-unit course, we will only be covering online marketing, but we will integrate concepts of networking and marketing as we build our online presence.

Purpose of course:
The purpose of this course is to give the LIS professional an approach to marketing the broad range of his or her skills effectively for continued career advancement. The changing job market means that LIS professionals need to think creatively and flexibly about the valuable and unique skills he or she brings to the marketplace – both to “traditional” library and information positions, and to positions outside of the information world. This course is intended to provide practical tips to help prepare for and navigate employment transition and change successfully, no matter where you are in your career. The course will also address the broader topic of managing career change and maintaining personal balance. We will hear from guest speakers as well.

Classroom information: We will be using Elluminate for all of our class meeting sessions. Most sessions will be recorded, but we will have at least one synchronous session as a way to meet each other and form an initial network.

Mandatory synchronous Elluminate session

We have an initial synchronous session. You are welcome to attend either of the sessions below, depending upon your preference. You do not have to attend both.

• Thursday, January 26, 4 - 5:30pm PT
• Monday, January 30, 6 - 7:30pm PT

You are highly encouraged to attend one of these sessions in person. They will be recorded, so if you absolutely can't make it, you can still listen to the session. However, this is your chance not only to get to know me and your classmates, but also to get your questions on the course and the work answered. If you are unable to make either of these sessions, please let me know ASAP.

Go to our SLIS Elluminate home by going to the SLIS home page and clicking the "Elluminate" link in the upper left of the screen. Or, you can go directly to https://nexus.sjsu.edu.

General outline of course content:

• The current job market: statistics and trends
  • Is there reason to panic?
• Exploring your own skills
  • Information and beyond
  • Combining your skills – LIS + ?
    • Computer Science
    • Law
    • Business
    • Art and history
    • Etc.
• Matching your skills to a variety of positions
• The online world
  • Advantages of online networking
    • Examples of “success stories”, best practices
  • How to “be” online professionally
  • Online brand
    • LinkedIn
    • Blogs and microblogs
    • Other tools to build your brand
  • Connecting and networking
• Looking broadly at your career
  • Mapping your direction, passions and interests
    • For students new to the workforce
    • For career changers
    • For career “augmenters”
  • Ideas for personal learning and adding to your skills
  • Maintaining visibility of your skills
  • Resources

• Course Prerequisites: LIBR 200, 204 required.

Course Objectives

Student Learning Outcomes

• To understand the current job market for information professionals, no matter where they are in their careers, and for information professional skills
• To personally explore the broad set of skills and interests we, as LIS professionals, bring to the market
• To gain experience with using online networking and career tools to connect with potential employers, recruiters, customers and clients
• To raise our online profile and visibility of our skills
• To develop a broad and flexible perspective on our own careers

LIBR 282 (Marketing Your LIS Skills in a Networked and Changing World) supports the following MLIS Core Competencies:

1. demonstrate proficiency in the use of current information and communication technologies, and other related technologies, as they affect the resources and uses of libraries and other types of information providing entities;
2. demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations.

Top of Page

Course Requirements

Elluminate
Students are expected to attend the synchronous Elluminate session, view recorded Elluminate sessions in a timely manner, actively participate in online class discussions and forums, complete reading assignments and submit assignments on due dates. Additionally, we will be doing a lot of work on our online presences outside of the "classroom".

Note that this is a one-unit class over eight weeks. I have expanded the course timeline to give you the time to work on your online presence. We will be doing a lot of work over that time, but the eight-week format will give you a bit more time to do so.

Assignments
There are no “right” and “wrong” answers for the assignments; they will be evaluated instead on demonstrating your learnings, AND whether or not you actually followed the assignment details. Also, you will be graded on whether or not you seemed to have engaged in the spirit of the assignment – e.g., did you do the minimum necessary to complete it or did you bring reflection, passion, personal introspection, and individual engagement to the assignment? Please keep in mind, however, that the ultimate purpose of the assignments and the course is to help you build the skills, mindset and online presence that will advance your own personal brand and your career as an information professional. Assignments are intended to be practical.

Elluminate
Most of our sessions will be via recorded Elluminate sessions, with one “in-person” session that will require your attendance and participation. You will need to purchase a USB headset or microphone to participate in Elluminate sessions. Be sure you have had Elluminate training or have taken a tutorial. For more information, see the Student Guide at http://ischool.sjsu.edu/software/elluminate/students/

Technology Requirements
You will need a current and fast internet connection like DSL, Cable, or FIOS, for the Elluminate sessions, as well as for using the online tools like LinkedIn that we will be addressing. Please see the home computing environment requirements at:
http://ischool.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/homecomputing.htm

Grading and Assignments
Assignments will be graded according to the following point system:

More detail on the assignments will be given at the first class session.

• Skills inventory (20 points)
  Using a structured framework, we will look at all the skills we bring from our current and past work and knowledge. What are all the skills you bring to the table: as an LIS professional, from your past work and volunteer experience, and from life experience? What do you bring from your past training and development? What will you bring from your future direction?
  
  The outcome of this assignment will help us to create (or re-create) how we market and talk about ourselves and our skills. 

• Brand assessment (part of your final "Building your brand" points)
  

The brand assessment is an informal assessment of your online presence before you start the course. There are two pieces:

•  
  • Personal brand: Ask three different people to list your qualities: personal, professional, values, strengths.
  • Online brand: Where “are” you online? Do you use Facebook? LinkedIn? What do you use personally or professionally? List ‘em all out.

More on this in class.

• Elevator pitch (20 points)
  After we've looked at your skill set, we will work on developing your “elevator pitch”, a 30-second, easy-to-understand synopsis of how you bring value to your potential employers or clients.
  
  
• Building your brand (50 points)
  Focusing on one online tool - for example, LinkedIn, or a blog - you will begin building or updating your online presence, integrating your skills, passions and interests. You will also begin (or re-invigorate) the process of marketing yourself online through these tools, building your networks and connections.
  
  The purpose of this assignment is to take advantage of and maximise the effectiveness of online tools for making your skills and expertise visible to potential employers and clients. This is done through both the strength of your network and the quality of the content you share. The grading of this assignment will focus both on your efforts in building your network and in enhancing and driving the quality content  you can share as an information professional.
  
  Part of this assignment will also include an assessment of your brand before you start - see "Brand assessment" above.
  
  More information on the details of this assignment will be given at the start of the course.
  
  
• Participation (10 points)
  You will be expected to view all Elluminate sessions, and participate in our synchronous online session. I will also have a discussion area (or areas) up, and your participation will be based partially on your interaction in those discussion areas. Your participation will also be based, as mentioned above, on your efforts in your assignments.

Course Calendar
(subject to change - speakers may also be included on some sessions)

Late Assignments - Important

Due to the very short timeline of this course, and the high enrollment numbers, getting behind in assignments is HIGHLY discouraged.

Assignments that are turned in past the due date WILL only receive half credit, no matter how good they are. 

I will not accept any assignment more than 1 week late, and you will receive 0 points for that assignment.

Accommodations may be made in exceptional and extreme emergency cases. It is your responsibility to alert me to these situations as soon as possible.

“I’ve been busy” is not a valid excuse. “I didn’t know the due date” is not a valid excuse. We are all busy adults, including myself, and you have advance notification of the course requirements and due dates. Turning in assignments late due to lack of planning is not fair to your fellow students, to me, or to yourself. Please don’t do it.

If you have special accommodations, PLEASE alert me to this NOW, rather than waiting until your first assignment is due.

Textbooks and Readings

You may already have this title in your collection, or have it from another LIS course. If you don't, I highly encourage you to purchase and read the book. I am including it as a required text because it provides the basic philosophy for the work we will be doing online.

We will also have additional readings and resources available via D2L throughout the course.

Required Textbooks:

• Dority, G. K. (2006). Rethinking Information Work: A Career Guide for Librarians and Other Information Professionals. Libraries Unlimited. Available through Amazon: 159158180X.

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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