INFO 204-12
INFO 204-13
Information Professions
Spring 2021 Syllabus

S Gaffney
E-mail
Office: office location
Office Hours:
Virtual office hours. By appointment.

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning January 27 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 in the Canvas site automatically.

Course Description

As they respond to the information needs of clients and communities, information organizations face complex and exciting challenges. This course will help prepare students to take on these challenges by providing them with an understanding of the organizations and environments in which information professionals work, traditional and emerging professional roles, and core management and leadership theories. This knowledge will help students understand the similarities and differences amongst information organizations, explore different specializations and career paths, apply professional values to ethical decision-making, and to develop core management and leadership skills. This course prepares students to be active participants in their professional communities and networks and to become collaborative professionals ready to take on management and leadership roles.

Note: iSchool requires that students earn a B in this 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.

Course Requirements

Complete INFO 203 Online Learning: Tools and Strategies for Success. This is a mandatory 1 unit course that introduces students to the various e-learning tools used in the iSchool program, including Collaborate.  For more information, see: INFO 203 Online Learning.

Writing Requirement
If the instructor finds that a student's writing is unacceptable, the instructor will require the student to sign up for online writing tutoring. The student will ask the tutor to confirm with the instructor that he or she is attending sessions.

Weekly Schedule and Activities

Assessments

Discussions
Students will perform seven discussions relating to course topics. (Course Learning Outcomes: #1, #2, #7)

Evaluative Summary
Using LIS databases, other relevant resources, as well as personal reflection, students will create an annotated bibliography entry related to ethics in librarianship. (Course Learning Outcomes: #4, #5 #8)

Change Management
Develop an essay based upon your reading of "Who moved my cheese?" by Spencer Johnson. This assignment will give you the opportunity to consider the importance of change and to examine issues related to managing change for staff and services in a diverse society. (Course Learning Outcomes: #2, #8)

Resume/ePortfolio
The culminating experience for MLIS students is the INFO289 ePortfolio. Each student will create a professional resume and begin entering ePortfolio artifacts. The time that you invest now will only benefit you later. (Course Learning Outcomes: #2, #7)

Professional Synthesis
In a culminating synthesis, students will reflect and respond to the major themes of INFO 204. Students will utilize an alternate format (e.g. website, wiki, podcast, video, Powerpoint, Prezi, etc.) to produce their culminating assignment. (Course Learning Outcomes: #1, #6, #9)

Strategic Plan
Working together in small groups, students will create a Strategic Plan for a Library or Information Center of their choice. The assignment culminates in a 15 to 20 page three to five year strategic plan developed for the organization selected. This project allows students to explore an information setting in-depth, demonstrate the ability to work in a group and understand the strategic planning process. (Course Learning Outcomes: #3, #6, #7, #9)

Grading

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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 204 has no prequisite requirements.

Course Learning Outcomes

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

1. Describe the similarities and differences between various information organizations and professional roles from historical, current, and future perspectives.
2. Recognize the roles and activities of managers in information organizations.
3. Explain strategic planning processes and skills.
4. Identify and choose appropriate assessment tools for evaluating organizational effectiveness.
5. Synthesize (including reviewing, using and properly citing) the professional and research management and leadership literature.
6. Demonstrate leadership abilities through collaborative teamwork.
7. Analyze and assess their own and others leadership abilities through self-reflection and peer review.
8. Apply management theories and principles, professional values, and ethical frameworks to organizational issues and decision-making using scenarios and case studies.
9. Create and deliver high quality reports, presentations and organizational documents that communicate to internal and external stakeholders organizational values, missions, and priorities.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 204 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

Required Textbooks:

• Hirsh, S. (Ed.) (2018). Information services today: An introduction (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. Available as free eBook through King Library

• Johnson, S. (1998). Who moved my Cheese? Putnam. Available through Amazon: 0399144463.

Recommended Textbooks:

• American Psychological Association (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). American Psychological Association. Available through Amazon: 1433832178.

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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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