INFO 233-01
School Library Media Centers
Spring 2021 Syllabus

Dr. Mary Ann Harlan
E-mail
Office Hours: Office hours will be held every other Tuesday from 6-7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning January 27th, 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

A seminar course designed to explore the role of the school library media teacher and the school library media program in the educational community. Emphasis will be on the mission of the school library, building relationships towards advocacy, and managing a complete program.

Course Requirements

Assignments

• Introduction

• Who Am I Statement - Students will identify their interest in school libraries and their specific questions and concerns regarding school libraries in a short essay. (CLO #4)

• Standards Discussion - Students will identify key concepts from professional standards and share in a discussion board. (CLO #1, CLO #3)

• Ideal School Library Discussion - Students will envision an ideal school library and share in a discussion board. (CLO #2)

• Environmental Scan and Mission Statement - Students will describe their school community and develop a mission statement for their ideal school library. (CLO #2, CLO #4, CLO #5)

• Budget Memo - Students will write a one-page memo highlighting spending priorities. (CLO #2, CLO #3, CLO #5)

• Assessment Plan - Students will create a plan for collecting data to evaluate school library effectiveness. (CLO #2, CLO #3, CLO #4, CLO #5)

• Advocacy Tools - Students will create advocacy tools for identified stakeholders. (CLO #2, CLO #3, CLO #4, CLO #5)

• Copyright and Intellectual Property Resource - Students will create a teacher resource about an instructionally-relevant aspect of copyright or intellectual property. (CLO #1)

• Policy Research and Statement Group Project - Students will work with a partner to research common policy debates and make a recommendation for policy. (CLO #1, CLO #5)

• Policy Sharing Discussion - Students will share background and policy with a group of peers and act as a policy expert. (CLO #1, CLO #5)

• Inquiry and Curation - Students will investigate a topic related to school libraries and share a synthesis and annotated bibliography of resources with classmates. (CLO #2, CLO #5)

• Professional Philosophy Statement - Students will reflect on new understandings and create a professional philosophy statement. (CLO #2, CLO #4, CLO #5)

Course Calendar

• Introduction - Due January 31
• Who Am I Statement - Due January 31
• Standards Discussion - Due February 7
• Select Peer Mentor(s) - Due February 7
• Ideal School Library Discussion - Due February 14
• Environmental Scan and Mission Statement - Due February 28
• Budget Memo - Due March 7
• Copyright and Intellectual Property Resource - Due March 21
• Assessment Plan - Due March 28
• Select Policy Topic - Due March 28
• Advocacy Tools - Due April 11
• Policy Research and Statement Group Project - Due April 18
• Policy Sharing Discussion - April 19-25
• Inquiry and Curation - Due May 9
• Professional Philosophy Statement - Due May 16

Grading

• Introduction - 5 points

• Who Am I Statement - 10 points

• Standards Discussion - 10 points

• Ideal School Library Discussion - 10 points

• Environmental Scan and Mission Statement - 15 points

• Budget Memo - 15 points

• Copyright and Intellectual Property Resource - 20 points

• Policy Research and Statement Group Project - 20 points

• Policy Sharing Discussion - 10 points

• Inquiry and Curation - 30 points

• Professional Philosophy Statement - 15 points

Other relevant information

• Course readings may be added throughout the semester. Students are expected to engage with and respond to course materials throughout their work.

• Course lectures will be added on a weekly basis based on student information needs.

• Late work may be accepted with penalty under discussion with Instructor. Student is responsible for contacting Instructor before due date.

• Extra credit may be made available.

• We expect every member of the university community to contribute to an inclusive and respectful culture for all in its classrooms, work environments, and at campus events. Dimensions of diversity can include sex, race, age, national origin, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, intellectual and physical ability, sexual orientation, income, faith and non-faith perspectives, socio-economic class, political ideology, education, primary language, family status, military experience, cognitive style, and communication style. The individual intersection of these experiences and characteristics must be valued in our community. In accordance with San José State University's Policies, the Student Code of Conduct, and applicable state and federal laws, discrimination based on gender, gender identity, gender expression, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or disability is prohibited in any form. 

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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. 

Course Learning Outcomes

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

1. Gain awareness of the current legal and ethical codes of the profession.
2. Articulate a vision for a 21st Century School Library (or a Learning Commons).
3. Develop an understanding of advocacy, and the ability to articulate the needs of an effective school library program that relies on the use of existing research, and site data collection.
4. Articulate the teacher librarian dispositions that are their strengths and weaknesses.
5. Articulate the mission of a school library and the policies and procedures that support that mission.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 233 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

No Textbooks For This Course.

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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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