LIBR 284-13
Seminar in Archives and Records Management
Topic: Special Collections
Spring 2014 Greensheet

Lynne M. Thomas
E-mail
Other contact information: Additional contact info available by request; please e-mail instructor with questions; I strive to respond within 24 hours whenever possible.
Office Hours: by appointment

D2L Information: This course uses D2L. This course will be available in D2L on January 23, 2014. You will be enrolled into the site automatically. I will send more information about course access as we approach this date through MySJSU.

Course Description

While this course is listed as a seminar in Archives and Records Management, the emphasis of this course is on the allied field of Rare Books and Special Collections librarianship. This course will serve as an introduction to the challenges and rewards of managing rare books and special collections in the digital age. Archives, rare books, manuscripts, and other formats will be discussed within the context of collection development and management, access, ownership, stewardship, digital delivery, and preservation. Administration of special collections operations will also be a focus. Students will gain an understanding of the historical basis of rare books and special collections librarianship, as well as a sense of where the field is going in the near future. 

Course Requirements

Course Calendar

• Week One: Introduction and Overview of Special Collections 
• Week Two: What “Rare Book People” assume you know: Bibliography, Bibliophily, and History of the Book: a crash course.
• Assignment 1, due Friday, February 7
• Weeks Three & Four: Collection Development (acquisitions, purchases, gifts, records management)
• Week Five: “Rare book cataloging” & classification
• Week Six:  Collection Management 
• Week Seven & Eight: Outreach & Instruction
• Assignment 2, due Friday, March 21
  
• Week Nine: Preservation Week: From Paper to Digital
• Week Ten: Special Collections Administration
• Week Eleven: Fundraising: Donor relations & grantwriting
• Week Twelve: Copyright in Special Collections
• Assignment 3, due Friday, April 18
• Week Thirteen: Special collections vs. Archives vs. Museums vs. Historical Societies
• Week Fourteen: The Future of Special Collections
• Week Fifteen: Wrap-up; Final student presentations w/peer commentary
• Assignment 4, due Friday, May 2; Peer commentary must be completed by Friday, May 9.

Dates subject to change with 2 weeks advance notice.

Course Grading

• Assignments are due at 5pm PST on the due date given.
• Course grading is through POINTS EARNED, *not* a weighted average of individual assignments. 120 points total are available through the semester.
• Assignment 1: “What have we gotten ourselves into?” Perception vs. Reality (10 points) [Class discussion on D2L discussion board] Due due Friday, February 7 (Supports SLO #1, #2)
• Assignment 2: Collection development plan/Book Talk/Online Exhibit /Social Media Critique  (20 points) due Friday, March 21 (Supports SLO #2, #3, #4)
• Assignment 3: Advocacy document / Grant application analysis / Copyright discussion (20 points) [GROUP PROJECT] due Friday, April 18 (Supports SLO #3)
• Assignment 4: Rare Books and Special Collections Librarian for a Day: Expanded version of one of the previous assignments (30 points=25 points for individual project +5 points for peer review of other students' projects) due Friday, May 2; Peer commentary must be completed by Friday, May 9 (Supports SLO #2, #3, #4)
• Discussion/Class participation grading: All discussion boards for each unit will be graded, with students eligible to earn 30 points over the course of the semester for class participation. (Supports SLO #1-4)
• Extra credit option: Students can complete an in-person visit (as a patron) to a local special collections or rare book room department and write a report based upon their experiences (10 points) (Supports SLO #1, #2, #3)
• Penalty (if any) for late or missed work: Late work will be docked one letter grade for each 24 hour period it is late after the due date.

Recommended Readings

• Carter, John. ABC for Book Collectors. Delaware: Oak Knoll Press, 2008. Available online: www.ilab.org/eng/documentation/29-abc_for_book_collectors.html

Additional readings for each lesson will be provided through the D2L system as each lesson is opened up for use. Please note: you are not asked to necessarily purchase the "recommended" titles, but you may find them useful in the long run. 

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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

LIBR 200, LIBR 202, LIBR 204, Other prerequisites may be added depending on content. 

Student Learning Outcomes

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

1. Identify and explain preservation concerns for many common types of photographic (print and negative) processes.
2. Apply archival rules of appraisal, arrangement, and description to complex visual archives.
3. Identify the complex issues relating to photograph digitization and born digital images, including management, access, metadata, and long-term preservation.
4. Implement cold storage solutions for photographic materials
5. Describe and discuss the nature of electronic records and the impact that technology has on recordkeeping in contemporary environments.
6. Analyze how national and regional laws and regulations impact electronic records management.
7. Identify appropriate metadata standards for the control and retrieval of electronic records.
8. Create and develop policies, standards, and practices governing the creation, management, and use of electronic records.
9. Discuss the challenges associated with preserving electronic records over time, and identify the methods and strategies being advocated by experts in the field to ensure that electronic records remain understandable, accessible, and usable.
10. Define general requirements for compliant organizations and accountable electronic recordkeeping systems based on industry models and standards.
11. Analyze a variety of problems related to electronic records, and propose solutions that are appropriate in particular contexts.
12. Identify future Web 2.0 trends and practices in the creation of information in electronic form.
13. Discuss major academic electronic records research projects proposed or undertaken by various organizations and institutions.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

LIBR 284 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

Required Textbooks:

• Gailbraith, S.K. & Smith, G.D. (2012). Rare book librarianship: An introduction and guide. Libraries Unlimited. Available through Amazon: 1591588812

• Whittaker, B. & Thomas, L. (2009). Special Collections 2.0: New Technologies for Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Archival Collections . Libraries Unlimited. Available through Amazon: 1591587204

Recommended Textbooks:

• Eliot, S., & Rose, J. (2009). A Companion to the History of the Book. Wiley-Blackwell. Available through Amazon: 140519278X

• Steele, V. (2000). Becoming a Fundraiser: The principles and practice of library development (2nd ed.). ALA. Available through Amazon: 0838907830

• Theimer, K. (2010). Web 2.0 Tools and Strategies for Archives and Local History Collections. Neal-Schuman. Available through Amazon: 1555706797

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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;
  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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