INFO 281-12
Seminar in Contemporary Issues
Topic: International Librarianship
Fall 2018 Syllabus
Melanie Sellar
E-mail
Office location: No physical office; online through Canvas
Office Hours: By appointment
| Syllabus Links Textbooks CLOs Competencies Prerequisites |
Resources |
Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning August 21st at 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 into the Canvas site automatically.
Course Description
This course will provide students with a broad understanding of international library activities and practices, with a particular focus on traditional libraries (public, school, community, and academic libraries) in non-North American settings. In the spirit of critical library practice, students will be asked to employ a critical mindset to all of the class discussions and assignments.
Course Requirements
In this course, we will both study international librarianship and engage in international librarianship ourselves. The learning activities and assignments support both of these goals. The studying part is likely most familiar to you as students. How will we engage in international librarianship, given the time boundaries of an academic semester?
To begin, you will network with an international colleague of your finding and choice. This networking assignment will require you to identify a person and organization of interest and then to interview them. We are "doing" international librarianship by opening up a professional dialog to span country borders.
Secondly, your written assignments are positioned as white papers. A white paper needs an audience; for this course, Librarians Without Borders (LWB) will be our theoretical audience. The white papers will have a particular focus and will include a section where you suggest how LWB might support those areas (if at all). An orientation to LWB with an optional synchronous session will be provided. Instruction on writing white papers will also be provided.
Nature of Assignments
There are two categories of assignments: participation and individual writing.
The participation category is comprised of three (3) types: a networking assignment (1), regular discussion forum participation (9 posts), and cumulative reflections (3).
There will be two (2) written assignments that will take the form of white papers. A white paper, in essence, is a kind of writing product that you can expect to write very frequently in your professional career. See this Wikipedia article for a definition. You will be provided with a template for writing the white paper, as well as some instruction on how one writes it.
Professionalism of Discourse
The netiquette statement -- that is, expectations for how to communicate with peers -- will be published in the course. Students are expected to converse with their peers in discussion forums in adherence with this statement. Those who do not are subject to points deductions from their participation grades.
Late Policy
Assignment late policy: 20% deduction per day, with assignment not accepted after 2 days. Discussion forum late policy: no late submissions accepted.
Course Calendar
*Subject to change with fair notice*
All modules will be published at midnight PST on Tuesday of each week. The exception is Week 1, which will be published on Monday, August 21.
Course Calendar for INFO 281-12 Fall 2018
Module |
Dates |
Module Title |
Main Focus |
Assignments |
| 1 | 8/21-8/29 | Course Overview |
Orientation to syllabus and course structure. Students and instructor create video introductions via FlipGrid. |
|
| 2 | 8/30-9/4 | Introduction to International Librarianship (IL) |
What does it mean to do or study international librarianship, and why do we do it?
|
Participation: Discussion Forum |
| 3 | 9/5-9/11 | Critical Perspectives on IL |
Criticisms of IL, including the influence of Western libraries and cultural imperialism.
|
Participation: Discussion Forum |
| 4 | 9/12-9/18 | International Organizations |
Landscape of library (and library/information related) organizations supporting IL.
|
|
| 5 | 9/19-9/25 | NGOs in the International Space |
Other IL actors: non-governmental organizations, their roles, activities, challenges. Optional: synchronous web conference meeting with Librarians Without Borders.
|
Participation: Discussion Forum Participation: Cumulative Reflection |
|
October: Exploration of International Library Issues |
||||
|
Students will choose their own path and pace in exploring library issues of international interests. There will be four (potentially 5) issues and students will choose three (3) to explore between 9/26-10/30. Students may also propose an issue of their own choosing, subject to the guidelines and approval of the instructor. Students must complete the regular discussion forum assignment for each of their 3 selected modules. At the end of issue exploration month, students must also submit a cumulative reflection assignment. |
||||
| 6 | 9/26-10/24 | Issue Spotlight: Indigenous Knowledge and Culture |
Modules 6-9 will spotlight issues of international attention. The primary learning material will be the guest speaker, with some light introduction and supporting readings. The guest speakers can serve as models for the kinds of questions that students should address for their own issue analysis in Assignment 1. Overview and discussion of the inclusion of indigenous people and their knowledge, culture in international libraries.
|
Each issue module has a required discussion forum requirement. This is a regular forum grade. By 10/24, students will prepare a cumulative reflection assignment. |
| 7 | 9/26-10/24 | Issue Spotlight: Open Access Initiatives |
Overview and discussion of open access initiatives internationally, including impact and ongoing challenges. Submit the name of the individual you will interview for networking assignment. |
|
| 8 | 9/26-10/24 | Issue Spotlight: Support of the Profession |
Overview of the support of the librarian profession internationally with a focus on LIS education and continuing education. *Recommendation: submit a proposed topic for White Paper 1 to the instructor for feedback* |
|
| 9 | 9/26-10/24 | Issue Spotlight: Global Information Literacy |
Introduction to diverse international perspectives demonstrating how information literacy is viewed, taught, and conceptualized, internationally. |
|
| 9 | 9/26-10/24 | Issue Spotlight: TBD |
Potentially a fifth issue spotlight. |
|
| 10 | 10/25-10/30 | Assignment Module |
Students work on White Paper 1 assignment
|
White Paper Assignment 1: International Issue Analysis Due by 10/30 |
|
November: Exploration of Country Library Contexts |
||||
|
Students will choose their own path and pace in exploring country contexts of interest There will be four (potentially 5) countries and students will choose three (3) to explore between 11/1-11/30. Students must complete the regular discussion forum assignment for each of their 3 selected modules. At the end of country exploration month, students must also submit a cumulative reflection assignment. |
||||
| 11 | 11/1-30 | Country Spotlight: Americas (Guatemala & Honduras) |
Modules 11-14 will spotlight the library landscape in countries of various regions. The primary learning material will be the guest speaker recording, with some light introduction and supporting readings. The guest speakers can serve as models for the kinds of questions that students should address for their own country analysis in White Paper Assignment 2. Recorded guest speaker video. State of the art of libraries and librarianship in Guatemala and Honduras. |
Each country module has a required discussion forum requirement. This is a regular discussion forum grade. By 11/30, students will submit a cumulative reflection assignment.
|
| 12 | 11/1-30 |
Country Spotlight: Asia (Bhutan) |
Recorded guest speaker video. State of the art of libraries and librarianship in Bhutan.
|
|
| 13 | 11/1-30 | Country Spotlight: Africa (Ghana) |
Recorded guest speaker video. State of the art of libraries and librarianship in Ghana. |
|
| 14 | 11/1-30 |
Country Spotlight: Trinidad and Tobago |
Recorded guest speaker video. State of the art of libraries and librarianship in Trinidad & Tobago. |
|
| 14 | 11/1-30 |
Country Spotlight: Europe (Country TBD) |
Recorded and optional live guest speaker. State of the art of libraries and librarianship in a TBD European country. |
|
| 15 | 12/1-10 |
Assignment Module (~2 weeks) |
Students work on assignments.
|
White Paper Assignment 2: Country Profile and Analysis Due by 12/10 |
Grading
*Subject to change with fair notice*
Rubrics will be provided in advance by the instructor for all assignments.
Category |
Assignment |
Supported CLOs |
Grading (Points) |
| Participation | International Networking Assignment (1) | 3 | 30 |
| Discussion forum: regular (9) | 1, 2, 5 | 20 | |
| Cumulative reflection (3) | 1, 3, 4, 5 | 30 | |
| Individual Writing | White Paper 1: Analysis of an international issue (including relevant organizations and their work) with opportunity identification | 1, 2, 3, 5 | 60 |
| White Paper 1: Analysis of a given country’s library landscape with opportunity identification | 1, 3, 4, 5 | 60 | |
| Total Possible Points | 200 | ||
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 281 has no prequisite requirements.
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate understanding of the principles, concepts, and practices of international and comparative librarianship.
- Identify and critically assess the roles and contributions of professional organizations, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental agencies working internationally.
- Discuss specific major issues facing libraries, library services and the library profession, both in multinational and local contexts.
- Analyze library services and systems, successes and challenges in other national library environments, within their historical, societal, and cultural contexts.
- Apply a critical mindset to international librarianship activities in order to impact their own praxis as future global librarians.
Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)
INFO 281 supports the following core competencies:
- B Describe and compare organizational settings in which information professionals practice.
- C Recognize the diversity (such as cultural and economic) in the clientele and employees of an information organization and be familiar with actions the organization should take to address this diversity.
- D Apply the fundamental principles of planning, management, marketing, and advocacy.
- O (for students entering from Spring 2015) identify ways in which information professionals can contribute to the cultural, economic, educational, and social well-being of our global communities.
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 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.
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader to access PDF files.
More accessibility resources.