LIBR 280-01
LIBR 280-10
History of Books and Libraries
Spring 2014 Greensheet

D2L Information: This course will be available beginning January 23rd. You will be enrolled into the site automatically.

Course Description

This class examines the role of the book and the library in expressing and fostering culture throughout history. It traces the development of the book through its many stages--cuneiform fragments, illuminated manuscripts, printed books, and electronic journals-and explores how the creation, use, and storage of information are affected by social and technological change. The development of libraries and librarianship and how they have accommodated themselves to the changing form of the book will also be considered.

Course Requirements

Assignments
Note: All work will be of graduate standard. This means:

• No assignments submitted after the due date and time
• Spelling, grammatical, and syntactical errors will not be allowed
• All work cited should be in full accordance with the style format selected.

Late assignments will not be accepted. If you have an illness (medical certificate supplied) or a family tragedy please contact the instructor (L. Main for the first half of the class; D. Hansen for the second half of the class).

• Manuscript Study. Each student will select a manuscript to research and study. Criteriia will be provided to guide the research. The results of study will be presented via a Web site built on a Wordpress blog dedicated to the class. It is due by 4pm on the 13th February.  SLOs 1-5
  
• Printed Book Study. Each student will select a printed book (pre 1900) to research and study. Criteriia will be provided to guide the research. The results of study will be presented via a Web site built on a Wordpress blog dedicated to the class. It is due by 4pm on the 6th March. SLOs 1-5
  
• Research Paper. During the second half of the semester devoted to the history of American libraries, each student will write a social history of a library of his or her choice. This will be a twenty-page paper, excluding references, based on archival research and in-depth reading in library history. A handout describing the theory and method to be used in this research paper will be provided. It is due by 5pm on May 4th. SLOs 6-8
  
• Exams. Students will be required to take 2 exams.
  
  The midterm will be an exam on the history of books and early libraries to be held on the 9th March.  The exam will be held via D2L. The exam will run from 10am-11:15am on the 9th March.  Questions will be drawn from class handouts, class lectures, and talking points. You will answer questions from only one (and only one) of the following areas (selected by you on the day of the exam): SLOs 1-5
  
  
  • Grouping One
  • The Ancient World
  • Ancient and Medieval Libraries
  • Monasteries and Scriptorium
  • Grouping Two
  • Key Illuminated Manuscripts
  • The Incunabula
  • Grouping Three
  • 17^th -20^th Century Developments
  • Changes in Book Design (to cover paperbacks, dime novels, comics, children's books, and e-books)
     
  The final will be an exam on the history of books, reading, and libraries in America. This exam will be based on the assigned readings and websites as well as the class lectures given during the second half of the class only. The final will take place on the 27^th April,  from 10am – 11:15 am. It will also be held via D2L. SLOs 6-8
  
  
• Weekly Activities During the history of books section of the class you will be assigned six weekly activities using Quia web to illustrate your ability to present information in different formats. SLOs 1-5
  
  
• Weekly Discussions.  During the history of American libraries portion of the class you will participate in weekly discussion forums. SLOs 6-8

Course Calendar

History of Books

• First Weekly Activity set 23rd January; due 30^th January by 4pm
• Second Weekly Activity set 30^th January; due 6^th February by 4pm
• Third Weekly Activity set 6^th February; due 13^th February by 4pm
• Manuscript Project due by 4pm on 13th February
• Fourth Weekly Activity set 13^th February; due 20^th February by 4pm
• Fifth Weekly Activity set 20th February; due 27th February by 4pm
• Sixth Weekly Activity set 27th February; due 6th March by 4pm
• Printed book project due by 4pm on 6th March
• Midterm 9th March 10am-11:15am on D2L

American Library History

• First Week Discussion:  March 13 - March 20
• Second Week Discussion:  March 20- April 3
• Third Week Discussion:  April 3 - April 10
• Fourth Week Discussion:  April 10- April 17
• Fifth Week Discussion:  April 17 - April 24
• Sixth Week Discussion:  April 24 – May 1
• Final exam 27th April 10am-11:15am on D2L
• Library History Paper due by 5pm May 4th

Grading
No rounding up of points

Class Format and Technology Requirements
This class is team taught by Linda Main and Debbie Hansen. Linda Main will be solely responsible for the first half of the class covering the history of books and early libraries; Debbie Hansen will be solely responsible for the second half of the class which focuses on American library history.

This class makes use of a variety of technologies, and you should not take the class if your computer and Internet access is not fast and you are not comfortable with Web 2.0 tools. The Manuscript and Printed Books Assignments will be submitted as web sites built on a passworded Wordpress site dedicated to the class.  No Web programming skills are required but you will be expected to be comfortable with Web 2.0 tools that have easy to use user interfaces. The weekly activities in the first half of the class will use Quia web. You will be given access to the software.

There is no requirement to buy any of the textbooks. The list of textbooks is for those who wish to supplement their reading; and to provide a resource for those who may end up working in this field.

top

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

LIBR 200. 

Student Learning Outcomes

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

1. Describe the evolution of graphic communication symbols, and identify alphabetic and ideographic systems in use in various parts of the world.
2. Exhibit familiarity with the materials and methods of book production in various parts of the world from the manuscript era to the present.
3. Analyze aspects of external forces—social, economic, political, religious, and artistic—that have affected the content and appearance of books in several specific parts of the world.
4. Identify and discuss economic problems that have shaped methods of publishing and distributing books.
5. Attribute major technical and artistic developments in typography, book design, and book production to persons and nations originating these developments.
6. Discuss the institutional development of libraries and how libraries have evolved in response to economic, social, and technological change.
7. Analyze the social functions of the library and understand how, why, and when library service evolved from a collection-centered to a client-centered institution.
8. Describe the development of librarianship as a profession and identify seminal theorists and practitioners in the field.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

LIBR 280 supports the following core competencies:

top

Textbooks

Recommended Textbooks:

• Learn about the history of your school! Hansen, D.G. (2010). A pioneering and independent spirit. Trafford. Available through Amazon: 1426921098

• Augst, T., & Carpenter, K. (2007). Institutions of Reading. Univ. of Massachusetts Press. Available through Amazon: 1558495916.

• Avrin, L. (2010). Scribes, Script and Books (Reprint of 1991 ed.). ALA. Available through Amazon: 0838910386.

• Brown, M. P. (1994). Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts. Getty Publications. Available through Amazon: 0892362170.

• Casson, L. (2002). Libraries in the Ancient World. Yale University Press. Available through Amazon: 0300097212.

• Clemens, R. (2007). Introduction to manuscript studies. Cornell University Press. Available through Amazon: 0801487080

• Diringer, D. (1982). The book before printing. Dover. Available through Amazon: 0486242439.

• Febvre. L. (1976). The coming of the book: The impact of printing 1450-1800. Trans. David Gerard. Verso. Available through Amazon: 1859841082.

• Finkelstein, D., & McCleery, A. (2006). The Book History Reader (2nd ed.). Routledge. Available through Amazon: 0415359481.

• Hall, D. H. (1996). Cultures of Print. Univ. of Massachusetts. Available through Amazon: 1558490493.

• Harris, M. H. (1999). History of libraries in the western world (4th ed.). Scarecrow Press. Available through Amazon: 0810837242.

• Howard, N. (2005). The book: The life story of a technology. Greenwood Technographies. Available through Amazon: 031333028X.

• Katz, B. (1995). Dahl's history of the book. Rowman & Littlefield. Available through Amazon: 0810828529.

• Martin, H. J. (1995). History and power of writing. University of Chicago Press. Available through Amazon: 0226508366.

• Passet, J. (1994). Cultural Crusaders. University of New Mexico Press. Available through Amazon: 0826315305.

• Wright, A. (2007). GLUT: Mastering information through the ages. Joseph Henry Press. Available through Amazon: 0309102383.

top

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.