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 2017 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

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning June 5th 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 (20 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 (40 points): Assignment supports CLO 1, CLO 2, CLO 3, CLO 4, CLO 5 and CLO 6. Your group will develop a detailed proposal for developing an embedded library program along with a presentation and annotated bibliography that supports your proposal. 
• Participation (40 points): Participation activities support CLO 1, CLO 2, CLO 3, CLO 4, CLO 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)

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 four 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. 

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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 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:

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Textbooks

No Textbooks For This Course.

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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 or undergraduate (for BS-ISDA);
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA, Informatics, BS-ISDA) — 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 if you wish to stay in the program. 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.

Graduate Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). Undergraduates must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

Per University Policy S16-9, university-wide policy information relevant to all courses, such as academic integrity, accommodations, etc. will be available on Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs' Syllabus Information web page at: https://www.sjsu.edu/curriculum/courses/syllabus-info.php. Make sure to visit this page, review and be familiar with these university policies and resources.

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