LIBR 263-02
Materials for Children Ages 5-8 
Fall 2009 Greensheet

Shirley Lukenbill, Lecturer
E-mail
Phone: Mrs. Lukenbill will send her telephone contact information to students enrolled in the class.
Location: This course is an online course, so all class interactions are conducted via ANGEL.

You should be able to self-enroll in LIBR 263-02 on August 24, 2009. A message will be available on the MYSJSU messaging system with directions for self-enrolling. You must be enrolled on MYSJSU to receive the email message with the enrollment code. The course begins on August 24, 2009. SJSU holidays are on Labor Day (Sept. 7); Veterans Day (Nov. 11); and Thanksgiving (Nov. 26-27). Classes end on December 8, 2009.

Course Description

Survey of materials in a variety of formats including nonfiction, beginning chapter books, fictional genres, paperback series and electronic resources, and how they can help meet developmental needs. Collection development tools and techniques for this material will also be included.

This course is a children’s materials collection development course in which students will learn to select and build library collections for children ages 5-8, including materials for this age group in a variety of formats such as nonfiction, picture books, transitional and beginning chapter books in a variety of genres, and non-print materials such as games and electronic resources, and how these resources can help meet the developmental and learning needs or this age group. The course will also include the use of collection development tools and strategies for this material, as well as professional and parenting resources that provide support for librarians, teachers, and parents who serve children in this age group.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the external (societal) and internal (developmental) forces which influence children’s choices of recreational and informational sources and materials
2. Evaluate selection tools, and demonstrate the ability to use appropriate resources to develop a collection of materials for the elementary school-aged child (ages 5-8), including all appropriate formats
3. Critically examine representative materials designed for the elementary school-aged child (ages 5-8), including but not limited to books, television, movies, and the internet, and apply criteria to evaluate them in relation to child development, multicultural concerns, and meeting the informational and recreational needs of this age group
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of learning to read and how to work with parents, caregivers, and teachers in the teaching of reading
5. Create an appropriate materials collection for this age group (ages 5-8), including print and non-print materials
6. Assist parents and caregivers with questions about appropriate materials for their children

This course supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:

    A. articulate the ethics, values and foundational principles of library and 
        information professionals and their role in the promotion of intellectual 
        freedom;
    B. compare the environments and organizational settings in which library and 
        information professionals practice;
    C. recognize the social, cultural and economic dimensions of information use;
    D. apply the fundamental principles of planning, management and 
         marketing/advocacy;
    F. use the basic concepts and principles related to the creation, evaluation, 
        selection, acquisition, preservation and organization of specific items or 
        collections of information;
    G. understand the system of standards and methods used to control and  
        create information structures and apply basic principles involved in the
        organization and representation of knowledge;
    J. describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behaviors;
    L. understand the nature of research, research methods and research findings; 
        retrieve, evaluate and synthesize scholarly and professional literature for
        informed decision-making by specific client groups;
    M. demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work,
        collaborations and professional level presentations;
    N. evaluate programs and services on specified criteria; and
    O. contribute to the cultural, economic, educational and social well-being of our 
        communities.

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Course Requirements

Communicating with the Instructor
I live in Austin, Texas (Central Time Zone). My preference is that students communicate with me first by email. If the student requests a follow-up phone call, the student should provide the following information for me: time zone, preferred time for contact, complete 10-digit phone number. The best time for students to reach me by telephone is between 6:00-9:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. I will respond to an email message or phone call within 24 hours of the contact.

Important note
The communication part of this course will be conducted via a distance education program entitled “ANGEL.” You must self-enroll (no fee) in the LIBR 263-02/263-11 Angel course site on the course start date of August 24, 2009. You should make sure to self-enroll no later than August 27, 2009, as you will have assigned discussion forums the very first week of class! I will send students a message via the MYSJSU messaging system with directions for self-enrolling. You must be a member of MYSJSU to receive the email message with the enrollment code.

E-mail messages
It is best that you use Angel’s “Communicate” to email me so that you and I can both have a record of the communication. If for any reason I will be away from Internet access, I will send a message to the class to let you know of my absence. In every email message to me, please include the following information in the subject line of the message:
LIBR 263_YOUR LAST NAME and a Brief topic statement

I am teaching for the SLIS, but also for the University of Texas at Austin. Therefore, it is safer for you to use Angel for your email messages because in that way, you and I both have a record of your communication. Click the box beneath the message text box to send to my email box.

E-mail Response Time
I check email on a regular basis throughout the day and evenings. In general, I will answer your email within 24 hours. It is best that you use Angel’s “Communicate” to email me so that you and I can both have a record of the communication. If for any reason I will be away from Internet access, I will send a message to the class to let you know of my absence.

“FAQ: Ask Any Question” Discussion Forum
I will create an “FAQ Ask Any Question” discussion forum on Angel so that you can post your course concerns. When you post a question to this discussion forum, all class members can see your question and my response. Often, if one student has a question, other students have the same question, so in this way, everyone has a chance to know my responses. For this forum, any class member may also step in to answer the question to help a colleague.

Expectations for Success:

• Title pages: All course assignments must have a title page
• Prepare all assignments in MS Word 2003/Word 2007, and double-spaced;
• All pages must have a header with your name and the page number (assignment pages must be consecutively numbered);
• Students must proofread written assignments (including discussion forum postings) for correct spelling, grammar, and usage.
• Use the following file name convention when you attach your work to the assignment drop-boxes:
  YOURLASTNAME_KEYWORD-FOR-ASSIGNMENT
• Students should use the Manual of the American Psychological Association, (5th ed.) as the standard for all bibliographic citations.
• Students and faculty are bound by the U.S. copyright regulations and need to cite the sources of the intellectual property of others, including information, images, or ideas that do not belong to us. Follow the regulations located in the Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials policy at http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol2.htm
• Because this is an online class, my students must pay particular attention to the Distance Learning (SJSU), Copyright, and Fair Use, and Plagiarism Guidelines at    http://www.sjlibrary.org/services/distance/fac_copyright.htm . Students need to pay special attention to the third bullet item at the above website: Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia, Section 6 at
  http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/ccmcguid.htm
• If my students submit work with words, images, or ideas that are not their original ideas, words, or images, they must cite the sources of those words, images, or ideas. It is important for students in library science courses to develop a respect for the work of others and to be responsible users of the work of others. Although the work of students does have some fair-use protection, you are never safe in using words, images, or ideas of others in a course in which we share our work with one another. Not only will you need to remember this when you are posting to the discussion forums, you must also practice responsible use of resources in your projects that you will be sharing with your colleagues.

Penalty for Late Work, LIBR 263:
I will accept late work on Projects (but not on the discussion forums), but you will lose 2 points for each day the assignment is late. Therefore, if your project is submitted to me by email 7 days late, I will subtract 14 points from your total percentage grade for the project. Students must submit assignments to the ANGEL "Drop Box" by the deadline for each assignment in order to get full credit. NOTE ABOUT PARTIAL SUBMISSIONS OF WORK: If you post an unfinished assignment to the drop-box by the deadline and then send a revision to me later, I will consider the last date of submission as the date of the revision of the assignment, not the date of the original partial submission. Therefore, to avoid penalties for late submission, students should plan their work in order to post their finished products to the ANGEL "Drop Box" by the Assignment's due date. Students need to communicate with me about personal or other issues that might affect completion of the work on time.

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

• Participation in Discussion Forums. (40% of course grade).
  (Meets Course Objectives A, B, C, D, E, F; Meets Related SLIS Competencies: A, B, C, D, F, G, M, N, O).  See Expectations for Success above.
  
  Students will participate in ANGEL discussion forums (under Content, look for Discussion Forums) in order to practice professional discourse on the course topics and materials. All discussion postings must be of graduate standard writing and content. Students must proofread discussion posts for correct spelling, grammar, and usage. I will provide specific guidelines for participation in the course discussion forums on our Angel course site, as well as proper etiquette and professional behavior in responding to the work of your colleagues in the course. I expect that you participate in all discussion forums, that you post early in each forum--no later than Wednesday, your original contribution in which you fully respond to the questions I have posed for each forum, and that you respond later in the week to at least one of your colleagues in each discussion forum. Therefore, my expectation is that you post a minimum of two (2) times per discussion forum. I will base your grade for participation not only on frequency and timeliness of posting, but also on quality of information in your discussion posts. Discussion forums for the course will include your professional reflections (based on background reading, personal research, and reading of required books and media). As there is a time frame for beginning and ending dates for each forum, late posting of comments will not count toward credit. I will hold students responsible for carefully and respectfully following the SJSU guidelines for academic integrity and following the U.S. copyright regulations.
   
• Projects: ( 60% of final grade). (Meet Course Objectives A, B, C, D, E, F).
  See Penalty for Late Work and Expectations for Success above.
  
  All student products (assignments) must be prepared in MS Word and posted to the ANGEL "drop box" for the Project by the due date for each assignment. See Expectations for Success above.  Detailed descriptions of the assignments will be available on ANGEL's Content for each assignment. All bibliographies will be prepared using the Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed.
  
• Project 1-- Professional Readings Journal on major course topics. (10% of course grade). (Meets Course Objectives A, B, C, D, E, F; Related core competencies: A, B, C, D, F, G, J, L, M, N, O).
  See Penalty for Late Work and Expectations for Success above.
  
  The professional readings journal is a collection of the student’s original critiques of professional research articles on the major course topics. Students will submit a sample entry (use the Assignment drop-box for Sample, under Project 1) by 11:55 p.m. (PST/PDT) on September 14, 2009 so that I can check for your understanding of the APA (5th ed.) bibliographical style, the persistent URLs for articles retrieved from SJSU databases, and your critiques. I will post a drop-box for submission of the completed project under Angel's Content>Course Projects>Project 1. From a list of major topics in this field of study (which I will provide), students will keep a journal of their original critiques of professional readings for which the full text of the articles (not just an abstract) is available through the SJSU Library’s online databases. In Angel's Content in the Course Projects folder under Project 1, I will post an outline of major topics in the course, the format and guidelines for the journal articles and critiques, and the grading rubric for the project.  Each entry must include complete bibliographic information in APA format (Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed.), and the Persistent URL for the full text of the article (not just an abstract) in the SJSU Library databases. I will hold students responsible for carefully and respectfully following the SJSU guidelines for academic integrity and following the U.S. copyright regulations.
   
• Project 2: Readers' Advisory Collection: (30% of your course grade).
  (Meets  Course Objectives A, B, C, D, E, F; Related core competencies: A, C, F, G, M, O).
  See Penalty for Late Work and Expectations for Success above.
  
  Prepare an annotated bibliography of 30 books (not media or websites, unless they are submitted as supporting material about the books; e.g., movie adaptations of the books; audiobooks available, lesson plan websites; websites with programming ideas) appropriate for children ages 5-8. Each entry should include the complete bibliographic information, a brief plot description, and your personal/professional evaluation of the book in an original annotation (not copied from another source, but in your own words). You may use these books in discussion posts, but not in other Projects. (You do need to read each book.) In Angel's Content, I will post a detailed outline of specific reading requirements under Course Projects, Project 2, as well as the format, specific guidelines, and the grading rubric for the project.
   
• Project 3: Children's Media Project (10% of course grade), (Meets Course Objectives A, B, C, D, E, F; Related competencies: A, C, F, G, H, M, N, O).  See Penalty for Late Work and Expectations for Success above.
  
  View, listen to, experience, evaluate, and annotate (original annotations—not copied from another source) a variety of recommended television programs, DVDs, audiobooks, and other types of media (not websites) for children ages 5-8. In Angel's Content, I will post a detailed outline of specific experiential requirements, the format, specific guidelines, and the grading rubric for the project. Use the APA (5th ed.) Manual for formatting all bibliographic citations. Cite a full-text positive review for each item from the SJSU Library’s online databases, as well as the Persistent URL for the review.
   
• Project 4: Informational/Nonfiction Thematic Project (10% of course grade) (Meets Course Objectives A, B, C, D, E; Related competencies: A, C, F, G, J, M, O).
  See Penalty for Late Work and Expectations for Success above.
  
  Choose a nonfiction/Dewey Decimal numbered subject area to prepare a "collection development" project for children ages 5-8. Choose your topic and post your choice of topic to the Project 4 Topic Submission dropbox under Angel's Content>Course Projects>Project 4 folder no later than 11:55 p.m. on September 21, 2009. I must approve all Project 4 topics to avoid duplication of topics, as you will be sharing your projects with course members at the end of the course. Choose, prepare original annotations, and cite the complete bibliographic information in APA format  for 10 nonfiction items on your topic, and cite in APA format a full-text positive review for each item from the SJSU Library’s online databases, as well as the Persistent URL for the review. Do not use two items by the same author or in the same author or publisher series. The topic must be limited in scope. For example, instead of “Mammals (599),” you would choose “Bats (599.4).” You may wish to choose a topic within the primary school curriculum in social studies or science, such as Life Cycle of Plants; Amphibians, etc. All of the items must be "in print," and at least one (but no more than two of the items must be a DVD, audio book, or other non-print medium, but not a website. Compile these into a bibliography and provide your original (not copied from a review or a website) annotation that uses the standards for reviews in Horning's From Cover to Cover that explains what the scope of the work is, why you chose it for your collection, and what the special features are that make this an excellent work for children ages 5-8. For media items, include information on the design elements that help to promote learning. Cite a full-text positive review for each item from the SJSU Library’s online databases, as well as the Persistent URL for the review. See the documents on accessing the online databases, identifying the Persistent URLs, and other explanatory documents in the “How-to” folder under Content on our Angel course site. Include a reference list of the resources you used to help you with this project. You need to vary your review sources, and provide a balance of materials for all ages of children from 5-8. Use the APA (5th ed.) Manual for formatting all bibliographic citations.

Textbooks and Readings

Required Textbook:

• Horning, K. T. (1997). From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books. HarperCollins. Available through Amazon: 006446167X.

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;
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA) — 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 the following semester. 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.

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

University Policies

General Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities of the Student

As members of the academic community, students accept both the rights and responsibilities incumbent upon all members of the institution. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with SJSU's policies and practices pertaining to the procedures to follow if and when questions or concerns about a class arises. See University Policy S90-5 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S90-5.pdf. More detailed information on a variety of related topics is available in the SJSU catalog at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/LIS.html. In general, it is recommended that students begin by seeking clarification or discussing concerns with their instructor. If such conversation is not possible, or if it does not serve to address the issue, it is recommended that the student contact the Department Chair as a next step.

Dropping and Adding

Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the current semester's Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be found on the current academic year calendars document on the Academic Calendars webpage at http://www.sjsu.edu/provost/services/academic_calendars/. The Late Drop Policy is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for dropping classes.

Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/.

Consent for Recording of Class and Public Sharing of Instructor Material

University Policy S12-7, http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S12-7.pdf, requires students to obtain instructor's permission to record the course and the following items to be included in the syllabus:

• "Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her. You must obtain the instructor's permission to make audio or video recordings in this class. Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only. The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material."
  • It is suggested that the syllabus include the instructor's process for granting permission, whether in writing or orally and whether for the whole semester or on a class by class basis.
  • In classes where active participation of students or guests may be on the recording, permission of those students or guests should be obtained as well.
• "Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval. You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent."

Academic integrity

Your commitment, as a student, to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University Academic Integrity Policy F15-7 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F15-7.pdf requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 at http://www.sjsu.edu/president/docs/directives/PD_1997-03.pdf requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) at http://www.sjsu.edu/aec to establish a record of their disability.

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