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Beginning Cataloging and Classification
Spring 2021 Syllabus

Shahrzad Khosrowpour
E-mail
Office Hours: By appointment set via email

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning on January 27th at 9:00 am Pacific Time, 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.

Course Description

Theory and practice of bibliographic control including the study of representative cataloging using descriptive cataloging standards (RDA with reference to AACR2), machine-based representation using MARC format and other standards, subject representation and its analysis, and classification using Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), Library of Congress Classification (LCC), and Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC).

Course Requirements

Assignments cover topics that include:

• Descriptive cataloging (supports  CLO1, CLO2, CLO3, and CLO5)

• Authority control (supports CLO2 and CLO3)

• Subject headings/LCSH (supports CLO1, CLO2, and CLO3)

• Library of Congress Classification (supports CLO1 and CLO3)

• Dewey Decimal Classification (supports CLO1 and CLO3)

• Overall issues and policies involved in cataloging & classification (supports CLO4)

Grading

Classes start on Wednesdays by 9:00 am Pacific Time and will run through next Tuesdays, except two short weeks and one long week as follows:

Week 9 (March 24-28), which is a short week and ends on Sunday, March 28, because of the upcoming Spring break.

Week 11 (April 5-13), which is a long week and starts on Monday, April 5 to adjust the schedules for the upcoming weeks.

Week 16 (May 12-17), which is the last week of the class and a short week ending on Monday, May 17.

There are discussion forums for this course but there is no requirement or grading for discussion and participation.  

All assignments and exercises are due on Tuesdays by 11:59 pm Pacific Time except:

Week 9, a short Quiz, which is due by Sunday, March 28, 11:59 pm.

Week 16, the last assignment, which is due by Monday, May 17, 11:59 pm. 

Late assignments will ONLY be accepted with prior notification and timely communication with your professor. Otherwise, any late submission will get a grade of ZERO. 

There is no final exam for this course.   

The course consists of 4 modules and each module includes different numbers of weeks to focus on specific topics and activities pertaining to that module.  

Weekly Topics & Activities

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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. 

Course Learning Outcomes

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

1. Apply standardized cataloging tools to catalog and classify materials in different formats.
2. Describe the basic workings of automated catalogs and how the process of cataloging and classification impacts them.
3. Define the impact of cataloging decisions on user retrieval.
4. Identify current issues in cataloging, cataloging policy, and organization of new formats.
5. Describe basic cataloging and how it fits into the profession of librarianship.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 248 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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