INFO 266-01
Collection Management
Fall 2019 Syllabus

Ms. Mary Ellen Sloane
E-mail
Phone:(615) 631-4503
Office Hours: by appointment via email, chat, etc.

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning August 21st at 6 am PT unless you are taking an intensive or 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

This 3 unit course will examine the theory and practice of collection management in various library and information center settings. Topics include community/user needs analysis, collection evaluation, developing collection management policies and procedures, materials selection and examination of various selection sources, de-selection, collection marketing, and intellectual freedom as it applies to selection and retention of library materials.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

This course will provide an orientation to the theory and practice of collection management. There will be a weekly lesson including a recorded lecture, readings, and discussion. There are four assignments and a term paper. The Selection and Acquisition assignment will be done with a partner. There will be frequent office hours via optional synchronous sessions. There are no mandatory synchronous sessions.

The course has been developed to give students a sense of real-world collection management work and the challenges faced by collection management librarians today. There is an emphasis on being forward-thinking in our work on the subject. Students with an interest in a particular library type (academic, public, school) will have the opportunity to adapt their activities and assignments to that library type.

Readings

There is one required textbook. Other readings will be provided in Canvas.

Discussions

Participate in discussions and respond to other students’ postings (CLOs 1, 9)

Assignments

Collection Management concepts (CLO 1, 2, 9) - a brief topic analysis in APA format

Policies and Procedures (CLOs 4, 8, 9) - Policy development, selection, review of resources, and budget outline

Electronic Resources (CLOs 4, 5, 6, 7) - User analysis, resource marketing

Selection and acquisition (CLOs 1, 3, 5, 8) - Collection analysis, selection, and development of a shared purchase agreement.

Term paper (CLOs 1, 6, 9) - a lengthy analysis of a collection management topic. 

Course Calendar

Grading

• Discussions (18%)
• Collection Management concepts (15%)
• Policies and Procedures (15%)
• Electronic Resources (17%)
• Selection and acquisition (15%)
• Term paper (20%)

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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, INFO 204. 

Course Learning Outcomes

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

1. Exhibit familiarity with the theoretical and practical issues of resource selection and collection management for libraries and information centers.
2. Describe the role and value of collection management and its relationship to other library functions.
3. Describe the major forms of cooperative (shared) collection development.
4. Develop a rationale for planning the development and management of a collection.
5. Assess user information needs in the context of collection management.
6. Identify and evaluate literature and other resources pertinent to materials selection and collection management.
7. Apply methodologies and skills for selecting resources and evaluating and managing a collection.
8. Create and evaluate collection policies.
9. Identify the challenges and issues of collection management, such as ownership and access, cultural sensitivity, copyright, and censorship.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 266 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

Required Textbooks:

• Johnson, P. (2018). Fundamentals of collection development and management (4th ed.). ALA. Available through Amazon: 0838916414

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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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