INFO 210-10 [3 unit]
Reference and Information Services
Spring 2018 Syllabus

Dr. Johanna Tunon
E-mail -- For class-related communications, use the Canvas e-mail.
Home phone: (954) 249-1449
Office location: Richmond, VA
Office hours: By appointment by phone or via Zoom. NOTE:  You are welcome to call before 9 pm ET.

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning Jan. 24, 6 am 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 in the Canvas site automatically.

The course will be automatically available to students on Jan. 24.

NOTE: Early birds can email me if you would like either the list of video lecture links or the list of alternative readings for the chapters in Cassell and Hiremath textbook before the course starts.

Course Description

Catalog Description: A process-oriented examination of how information professionals answer reference questions. The interpersonal skills required for effective question negotiation and the sources with which questions are answered are stressed.

Full Description: This course provides an overview of reference and information services. We will be examining and evaluating key information sources in a variety of formats and becoming familiar with professional resources. Because the field of librarianship is changing rapidly, we will be exploring various methods and models for delivering information and examining how emerging trends as well as ways to use new ideas and skills that are impacting the future of reference services and access to information.

Course Requirements

• Assignment 1 (27%)
  Discussion topics/activities (3% X 9 = 27%)
• Assignment 2 (4%)
  Sharing posts (1% X 4 = 4%)
  (four of the six weeks for sharing posts)
• Assignment 3 (21%)
  Mini activities (3% X 7 = 21%)
• Assignment 4 - (24%)
  Choose one of the assignment project options.
• Assignment 5 (24%)
  Choose another of the assignment project options. 

Course Calendar

Description of Assignments and Grading Criteria
NOTE: If you have some special circumstance that makes completion of some activities difficult, contact me about possible alternative activities.

•  Assignment 1: Discussion Topics (9 X 3% = 27%)
  • Nine discussion topics address a variety of themes in the class and frequently require you to visit a library or use a library service. These discussion topics are worth 3% of the final grade. As a result, they require using substantive content by utilizing, analyzing, and synthesizing what you learned in the textbook, class readings, articles you have located in the professional literature, etc.  The first three of the nine discussion posts and at least three additional discussion posts need to address your primary position on the topics you selected. However, you can opt to post a secondary reaction post to someone else's post for three of the last six discussion topics in lieu of a primary post if you like. See the grading rubric for the discussion posts. 
  • INFO 210 Course Learning Outcomes addressed: 
  • CLO4: Describe the relationships between user needs, information resources, and relevant information technologies.
  • CL05: Describe current issues and trends in reference services, including the impact of technology on user needs and reference interactions.
  • CLO6: Evaluate reference services that address the needs of a diverse and changing society.
  • CLO7: Understand the relationship between reference service and information literacy instruction.
  • CLO8: Begin to develop a personal philosophy of reference service.
  
  
  • NOTE: You may be able to use a number of the topics for your weekly discussions as evidence to support various core competencies for your e-portfolio so choose your topics strategically!

• Assignment 2 (A2): Sharing posts (4%)

• In six weeks of the class, there will be short "sharing" posts. You only need to respond to four of those posts.  Each sharing post is worth 1% of the final grade except for the first Introductions post, and you can choose when you want to submit your sharing posts during the semester. These are short discussion postings do not have an assigned theme. They can cover everything from something that happened at your library to something interesting that you read to a funny library-related cartoon. 
• INFO 210 Course Learning Outcomes addressed: 
• CLO4: Describe the relationships between user needs, information resources, and relevant information technologies.
• CL05: Describe current issues and trends in reference services, including the impact of technology on user needs and reference interactions.
• CLO6: Evaluate reference services that address the needs of a diverse and changing society.
• CLO7: Understand the relationship between reference service and information literacy instruction.
• CLO8: Begin to develop a personal philosophy of reference service.

• Assignment 3: Mini Activities 21% (3% X 7 weeks)
  In seven weeks of class, mini-activities will have you actually look for appropriate sources for "information quest" questions, try search strategies, or examine specific types of resources. See the scoring rubric for details on the mini-activities and the grading criteria.
  NOTE: If you are working in a special library setting and would like to propose an alternative assignment that would give you comparable skills using reference sources in a specific type of library setting, I will be happy to consider it.
• INFO 210 Course Learning Outcome addressed: 
• CLO2: Use basic reference tools and searching techniques to answer a wide range of questions.
  
  
• Assignment 4 (24%)
     and
  Assignment 5 (24%)
• There are a variety of project options for Assignments 4 and 5. The grading rubrics will vary depending on your choices for each of these two assignments.
• INFO 210 Course Learning Outcomes addressed depend on the assignment option selected:
• CLO1: Identify and assess the characteristics and functions of various types of reference sources.
• CLO4: Describe the relationships between user needs, information resources, and relevant information technologies.
• CL05: Describe current issues and trends in reference services, including the impact of technology on user needs and reference interactions.
• CLO6: Evaluate reference services that address the needs of a diverse and changing society.
• CLO7: Understand the relationship between reference service and information literacy instruction.

Course Grading

• See the description of the assignments in Canvas for links to possible exemplars, the grading rubrics, and links to "how-to" videos.
• All work is due by the date listed, but there is a two-day no-questions-asked grace period for all assignments. If you are unable to complete the work by the end of the grace period, there is a 5% penalty if the work is submitted before the last week of class unless you contact me and formally make special arrangements for an extension.  If you submit the late work in the last week of class, there is a 10% penalty.
• Check the grading criteria provided in the scoring rubrics before submitting assignments to be sure that you are addressing all of the elements that should be included in the assignments. 
• The details of the assignments, grading criteria, and grading rubrics are subject to minor adjustments with fair notice. 
• With the exception of the standard two-day, no-questions-asked grace period for the assignment due the last week of class, no work will be accepted after the end of the course unless you have made arrangements that meet the university criteria and have been approved by me in writing or by email. 

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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 210 has no prequisite requirements.

Course Learning Outcomes

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

1. Identify and assess the characteristics and functions of various types of reference sources.
2. Use basic reference tools and searching techniques to answer a wide range of questions.
3. Conduct effective reference interviews.
4. Describe the relationships between user needs, information resources, and relevant information technologies.
5. Describe current issues and trends in reference services, including the impact of technology on user needs and reference interactions.
6. Evaluate reference services that address the needs of a diverse and changing society.
7. Understand the relationship between reference service and information literacy instruction.
8. Begin to develop a personal philosophy of reference service.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 210 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

Recommended Textbooks:

• Cassell, K. A., & Hiremath, U. (2013). Reference and information services: An introduction (3rd ed.). Neal-Schuman. Available through Amazon: 1555708595

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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.

In order to request an accommodation in a class please contact the Accessible Education Center and register via the MyAEC portal.

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