INFO 204-03
Information Professions
Fall 2015 Greensheet

Dr. Carol H. Sawyer
E-mail
Phone: contact phone with area code
Office Hours: Virtual office hours. Telephone and in-person advising by appointment

Getting Started

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning August 20, 6 am PDT 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. Course sites will close on February 28, 2016.

You will be enrolled into the Canvas site automatically.

Expectations of Faculty

As the faculty person for this course, I am committed to the success of every student, while holding all of us to high standards appropriate for a graduate program of study. I will be prepared each week; I check email daily. I also anticipate accessing the online course site every day, unless I am on travel without internet access (I'll let you know if I have travel that keeps me away from Canvas for a day or two). I will comment on or grade assignments promptly with the goal of returning them to you within seven days of the due date, with feedback to help you continue to lift the quality of your work. By appointment, I can be available for a telephone call if that is needed in addition to any email communication; I do not share my telephone number, but I'm glad to place a call to you.  I live in southern California, and sometimes have been able to meet with iSchool students "in person". I believe that together we are responsible for creating and sustaining a safe environment that facilitates learning, openness, personal growth, and mutual trust and respect. I am passionate and positive about teaching and learning, with a life mission to recognize and realize possibilities, and to facilitate that growth for others.

Course Design/Structure

Beginning on Thursday, August 20^th, the first week of our academic term, a posting to the Canvas discussion forum is assigned almost every week. These discussion postings, often requiring thoughtful engagement and interaction with classmates, will be due on most Sundays starting August 23 and continuing for the next fourteen weeks (through December 6). On certain holiday weekends, no graded assignment is due, but reading and research will continue.  Several of the discussion forum postings are study group (team-based) assignments. These develop the course learning outcome #8: Experience and assess working in teams. In other weeks, the discussion will be in response to assigned reading. Points vary, depending on the nature of the discussion forum assignment for the week. Two individual papers (an structured exploratory paper plus an interview report) will be submitted to the discussion site for sharing with everyone. The discussion location on Canvas is the “heart” of our work together. Across the term there is potential to earn 60 out of the course total of 160 points through work presented through discussions. Visit Discussions on Canvas several times every week.

Other individual coursework will be submitted into a private drop box that only faculty can access to read your postings. Canvas designates these drop boxes as “Assignments”; classmates will not see your submitted work in this location. Here you will post your resume, an assessment of the dynamics of a team-based organizational analysis, and, late in the term, your own statement of your philosophy of management, and an individual creative synthesis of your experiences in INFO 204. This “Assignments” location will also be the place to turn in five short individual and private journals in response to a Harvard Business Review article; the journal writing is distributed across five weeks. This very popular journals assignment is an opportunity to observe managerial decisions and actions in response to the theory captured in the article.

Detailed guidance for every assignment is provided through Canvas. Please ask me if you need clarification on expectations.  I will always telephone a student if we need that communication mode.

Course Description

INFO 204 examines the organizations and environments in which information professionals work.  This course explores different specializations and career paths, professional communities, networks and resources, ethical and legal frameworks. The course also introduces management and leadership theories and concepts and applies them to different information environments. A special focus is placed on management responsibilities in order to emphasize the importance of these skills in the professional workplace.

Note: iSchool requires that students earn a B in this 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.

Course Requirements

Complete INFO 203 Online Learning: Tools and Strategies for Success
This is a mandatory one unit course that introduces students to the various e-learning tools used in the iSchool program.  For more information, see: http://ischool.sjsu.edu/current-students/courses/core-courses-and-electives

Writing Requirement
If the instructor finds that a student's writing is unacceptable, the instructor will require the student to sign up for online writing tutoring.  The student will ask the tutor to confirm with the instructor that he or she is attending sessions.

Discussion
Students will perform a series of activities relating to the information professions and organizational analysis.  (Course Learning Outcomes: #1, #3, #5, #6)

Exploratory Essay
Using LIS databases and other relevant resources, students will read, analyze and respond to a recent scholarly article on transferable skills and competencies in the modern knowledge economy for library and information science (LIS) professionals. (Course Learning Outcomes: 1, 2, 3, 7 & 9)

Organizational Analysis
Working collaboratively in faculty-designated small groups, students will assume responsibility in teams to create an organizational analysis, in two parts, for an information organization. In the first part, each team will draft vision, mission and value statements for the organization.  In addition, teams will produce a literature review and conduct an environmental scan including a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). Based on findings of the first part of the project, the group will articulate strategic directions for the information organization in the second half of the project. Goals will be measured by appropriate criteria specified and presented by the team.  An annotated bibliography will also be included in this second part of the report. A peer review regarding individual contributions and performance on the team will be included and considered in the final grade for the team project.  (Course Learning Outcomes:  #2, #5, #6 & #8)

Career Development
Students will be introduced to the extensive university Career Development online resources and will asked to submit their resumes.  In addition, students will also utilize the ePortfolio function in the Canvas learning management system. (Course Learning Outcomes: #4, #7)

Interview Report

Each student will identify a managerial leader with whom to conduct an interview; the experience will be shared in a paper posted to the discussion forum.  Depending on the specific focus of the interview, this assignment will address one or more of the Course Learning Outcomes, with the exception of #8.

Professional Synthesis
A culminating creative individual synthesis requires students to reflect and respond to the major elements of INFO 204 and the information professions, supported and informed by the course and supplemental scholarly material. Students will utilize an alternate format (e.g. website, wiki, podcast, video, Powerpoint, Prezi, etc.) to produce and present this culminating assignment. (Potential for any or all Course Learning Outcomes)

Grading

Assignment Deadlines
All assignments must be submitted before midnight (California time) on Sundays unless otherwise indicated.  Late work will not receive credit/points.  Please contact instructor prior to a deadline in case of illness or emergency.

Course Calendar

Overview of Course Calendar and Schedule

Other Relevant Information:

Readings
Additional short reading assignments may be posted on Canvas or readily accessed through the Internet. Two required books (one from Mintzberg and another from Wagner & Harter) will supplement and enhance our required basic text from Evans and Alire, providing richly detailed research-based professional narratives that are also highly readable. Discussion-based assignments link to each publication.

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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 204 has no prequisite requirements.

Course Learning Outcomes

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

1. Describe the role of information and the information profession in various contexts, and from historical, current and future perspectives.
2. Identify the most significant areas of research in library and information science in historical and current contexts.
3. Identify and discuss the professional values and ethics of library and information science.
4. Explore a number of professional opportunities and related supports available to information professionals.
5. Identify, discuss and compare key management concepts such as leadership, change, advocacy, and decision making, as well as the roles and activities of managers and leaders.
6. Understand analytical and strategic planning processes and skills.
7. Identify various information stakeholders and the information environments that provide for their needs.
8. Experience and assess working in teams.
9. Review, use and properly cite the professional and research literature of management and leadership.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 204 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

Required Textbooks:

• Evans, G. E., & Alire, C. (2013). Management basics for information professionals (3rd ed.). ALA Neal-Schuman. Available through Amazon: 1555709095

• Mintzberg, H. (2009). Managing. Berret-Koehler Publishers, Inc. Available through Amazon: 1576753409

• Wagner, R., & Harter, J. K. (2006). 12: The elements of great managing. Gallup Press. Available through Amazon: 159562998X.

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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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