INFO 244-01
Online Searching
Spring 2018 Syllabus

Nancy Friedland
E-mail
Other contact information: E-mail preferred.
Office Hours: Appointments available upon request.

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning January 24th, 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.

Course Description

The course focuses on techniques of online searching, understanding database structures, hands-on search experience on commercial search services and user education and services. Commercial search services for review include resources from Proquest, EBSCO, LexisNexis, Factiva, Web of Science, eBooks, digital image collections and others. The course will also focus on open educational resources (OER). The skills and knowledge acquired in this course are transferrable to a wide range of databases and other online search tools, across all sectors of the library and information management profession.

The major topics of the course include search techniques and strategies, database structure, selecting search tools, review of subject databases, and general online searching for open educational resources.

Students are required to actively participate in weekly online discussions.

Readings include a required text, articles as assigned, and recorded vendor-run demos of commercial databases.

Course Requirements

Assignments

More detail on each assignment will be provided in Canvas.

Class Discussions (10%)

• CLO 1,4,5,8

Exercises (40%)

• CLOs 1-8

Consultation (20%)

• CLOs 1-8

LibGuide (30%)

• CLOs 1-8
  

Readings

Required text

Mann, T. (2015). The Oxford guide to library research (4th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Available through Amazon: 0199931062

Additional readings include articles, system documentation from search service vendors, and other supporting materials will be made available on the course site.

Course Calendar

A course calendar will be provided in Canvas.

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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 202. 

Course Learning Outcomes

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

1. Demonstrate a broad understanding of the design of major fee-based online databases and how to search them effectively.
2. Describe database content, search language, and syntax.
3. Apply effective search strategies and techniques, with a focus on concept analysis and pearl building.
4. Identify the value and role of fee-based database aggregators in obtaining precision results quickly and efficiently.
5. Understand how knowledge of database aggregator systems increases the quality of Internet research.
6. Use quality Internet search tools and techniques.
7. Demonstrate skills and knowledge applicable to assisting and training end users.
8. Develop confidence in their ability to learn to search other databases or online systems similar to those covered in the course.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 244 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

Required Textbooks:

• Mann, T. (2015). The Oxford guide to library research (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. Available through Amazon: 0199931062

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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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