INFO 220-10
Resources and Information Services in Professions and Disciplines
Topic: Embedded Librarians/Embedded Libraries: Embedding the Library into the Fabric of Higher Education
Summer 2016 Syllabus

M. Farkas
E-mail
Other contact information: When emailing about the class, please put LIBR220 in the subject line
Office location: Virtual 
Office Hours: Virtual meetings by appointment


Syllabus Links
Textbooks
CLOs
Competencies
Prerequisites
Resources
Canvas
iSchool eBookstore
 

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning June 6th at 6am PT 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.

You will be enrolled into the Canvas site automatically.

The gradebook for this class will be in Canvas, but most of the rest of the class will be centered around our Wordpress Multiuser site, for which you will need to register your own blog. The majority of written work will take place on your blog. 

Course Description

This course will explore the creative and proactive strategies academic libraries are employing to embed librarians, library presence, library collections, research support, and library instruction into the curriculum, student success initiatives, and patron points of need. In an era in which some students and faculty bypass the library entirely, librarians are developing innovative services that take them outside the library — both online and face-to-face — to provide services where their patrons are. This requires deep knowledge of one’s patrons and the academic environment, as well as an understanding of best practices for collaboration. We will explore best practices for embedding the library into the fabric of higher education through the literature as well as through significant written reflection and discussion.

Course Requirements

Assignments

Environmental scan 25 pts
Embedded proposal 35 pts
Participation 40 pts
  • Environmental Scan (25 points) Assignment supports CLO 6 In this assignment, your group will create an environmental scan of a real or fictional library that will inform your Embedded proposal assignment. 
  • Embedded proposal (35 points): Assignment supports CLO 1CLO 2CLO 3CLO 4CLO 5 and CLO 6 Your group will develop a detailed proposal for developing an embedded library program along with an annotated bibliography that supports your proposal. 
  • Participation (40 points): Participation activities support CLO 1CLO 2CLO 3CLO 4CLO 5, and CLO 6 Participation is measured based on fulfillment of your weekly expectations of blogging, commenting on your classmates’ blog posts, and voting for your favorite post each week.

Course Calendar (subject to change with fair notice)

Starting Date Topic Assignment Due
6/6 What is embedded librarianship and why embed? Blog post
6/13 Getting to know your patrons and their environment Blog post
6/20 Liaison librarianship, faculty collaboration, and embedding information literacy into the curriculum Blog post
6/27 Liaison librarianship, faculty collaboration, and embedding information literacy into the curriculum Blog post
7/4 High touch embedment and sustainability Blog post
7/11 Embedding librarians in online classes Environmental Scan, Blog post
7/18 Embedding librarians in online classes Blog post
7/25 Going where your users are and embedding instruction at their points of need  Blog post
8/1 Embedding in campus student success initiatives, student affairs, etc. Blog post
8/8 Wrap-up, presentations and group reports Embedded Proposal, Presentation on 8/9, Blog post

Grading

  • Extra credit will be given based on the quality of your blog posts. Students each week will be required to vote for their favorite and most insightful blog post that is not their own. The three students whose blog posts have received the most votes over the term will receive 3 points added to their final grade.
  • Students will receive one floating "free week" during the term in which they do not need to blog or comment on the blogs of others (I must be informed before blog posts are due that this is your free week). They will still be responsible for any other assignments due that week. If a student chooses not to take their "free week," they will receive 2 points of extra credit added to their final grade.
  • If there is a situation that requires you to turn in an assignment late, you must contact me in advance of the due date in order to make arrangements. This is the only way that a late assignment will receive full credit. Assignments that are up to two days late will only receive a maximum grade of 75%. Assignments that are two days to one week late will only receive half credit. I will not accept any assignment (without prior discussion) more than 1 week late.

Textbook Information
There is no required textbook to purchase. All required readings will come from articles, ebook chapters, and blog posts available on the Web or through library databases. They are all resources freely available to students. 

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 220 has no prequisite requirements.

Course Learning Outcomes

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

  1. Identify best practices for embedding library presence, collections and services.
  2. Evaluate different approaches to embedded library services.
  3. Evaluate methods for embedding library presence and resources online.
  4. Describe current trends in embedded library services.
  5. Develop strategies for embedding library presence, collections, and services into the curriculum, student success initiatives, and patron points of need.
  6. Describe methods for scanning the environment and assessing the needs and information-seeking behaviors of patrons.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 220 supports the following core competencies:

  1. I Use service concepts, principles, and techniques to connect individuals or groups with accurate, relevant, and appropriate information.
  2. J Describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behaviors.

Textbooks

No Textbooks For This Course.

Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

97 to 100 A
94 to 96 A minus
91 to 93 B plus
88 to 90 B
85 to 87 B minus
82 to 84 C plus
79 to 81 C
76 to 78 C minus
73 to 75 D plus
70 to 72 D
67 to 69 D minus
Below 67 F

 

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.

icon showing link leads to the PDF file viewer known as Acrobat Reader Download Adobe Acrobat Reader to access PDF files.

More accessibility resources.