INFO 204-19
Information Professions
Fall 2021 Syllabus

Dr. Tracy A. Elliott
Email
Office: Online in Bonita Springs, Florida
Phone: (239) 590-7600 
Office Hours: Virtual office hours 3:00 pm-5:00 pm PT on Zoom. Telephone by appointment.


Syllabus Links
Textbooks
CLOs
Competencies
Prerequisites
Resources
Canvas Login and Tutorials
iSchool eBookstore

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning August 19, 2021, 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

Module

Topics

Required Readings

Activity

1

Aug. 19-Aug. 25

History
of the Profession

 

Introduction
to
Organizations

Textbook:

Chapter 1: The Transformative Information Landscape:
What It Means to be an Information Professional Today

Chapter 2: Libraries, Communities, and Information:
Two Centuries of Experience 

Chapter 3: Librarianship: A Continuously Evolving
Profession

Discussion:
Introduction and LibSquares

 

2

Aug. 26- Sept. 1

Leadership

 

Working in Teams

 

Textbook:

Chapter 37: Leadership Skills for Today’s Global
Information Landscape

 

Web Resource:

 Community Tool Box. (2018). Building teams:
Broadening the base for leadership. Retrieved from https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/
leadership/leadership-ideas/team-building/main

Discussion:
Virtual teams and the role of leadership

 

3

Sept. 2-Sept. 8

Information Sectors

 

Core Professional Values

Textbook:

Chapter 5: Diversity, Equity of Access, and
Social Justice

And, three of the following. Please ensure that
one represents an information sector that you
are interested in exploring for your future career
and one that you are unfamiliar with:

Chapter 6: Literacy and Media Centers:
School Libraries

Chapter 7: Learning and Research Institutions:
Academic Libraries

Chapter 8: Community Anchors for Lifelong Learning:
Public Libraries

Chapter 9: Working in Different Information
Environments: Special Libraries and Information
Centers

Chapter 10: Digital Resources: Digital Libraries

Discussion:
Core professional values in information organizations

 

4 Sept.9-

Sept. 15

Traditional
and
Emerging Professional Roles

 

 

Textbook:

Chapter 11: Information Intermediation and
Reference Services

Chapter 12: Metadata, Cataloging, Linked Data,
and the Evolving ILS

Chapter 13: Analog and Digital Curation
and Preservation 

Chapter 16: Teaching Users: Information
and Technology Instruction

Activity:
Resumes and Cover Letters

 

 

 

5

Sept.16-

Sept. 22

Organizational Environments

 

Textbook:

Chapter 29: Information Policy

Article:

Katopol, P. (2012). Managing change with
environmental scanning. Library Leadership
& Management, 29
(1). Retrieved from https://journals.tdl.org/llm/index.php/
llm/article/view/7121/6317

Activity:
Environmental Scanning Process

 

 

6

Sept.23-Sept. 29

Organizational Planning

 

Textbook:

Chapter 19: Strategic Planning

Article:

Buchanan, S., & Cousins, F. (2012). Evaluating
the strategic plans of public libraries: An
inspection-based approach. 
Library and Information Science Research,
34
, 125-130. doi: 10.1016/j.lisr.2011.1

Activity:
Analyze Strategic Plans

 

7 Sept. 30-

Oct. 9

Leadership, Change, and Innovation

 

Organizational Culture

Textbook:

Chapter 20: Change Management

Chapter 23: Innovative Library and Information
Services: The Design Thinking Process

Activity:
Organizational culture

 

 

 

8

Oct. 7-

Oct. 13

Ethics

 

Decision
Making

Textbook:

Chapter 30: Information Ethics

 

Book Chapters:

Koufogiannakis, D. A., & Brittle, A. (Eds.) (2016). 
Being evidence-based in library and information practice.
Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.
libaccess.sjlibrary.org/
lib/sjsu/detail.action?docID=4718664

Read: Chapter 2: A New Framework for EBLIP
and one of the following: 

Chapter 9: Academic Libraries

Chapter 10: Public Libraries

Chapter 11: Health Libraries

Chapter 12: School Libraries

Chapter 13: Special Libraries 

Discussion:
Ethics case study

 

 

 

9

Oct. 14-Oct. 20

Assessment
and
Evaluation

Articles and Web Resources:

Farkas, M. (2013). Building and sustaining a
culture of assessment: Best practices for
change leadership. Reference Services Review, 41, 13-31.
doi: 10.1108/00907321311300857

Magnus, E., Belanger, J., & Faber, M. (2018).
Towards a critical assessment practice. In the
Library with the Lead Pipe
. Retrieved from http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/
2018/towards-critical-assessment-practice/

 

Reuter, K., & Silipigni Connaway, L. (2018).
User-centered assessment: Leveraging what you
know and filling in the gaps [Webinar]. Retrieved from https://www.webjunction.org/events/
webjunction/user-centered-assessment.html 

Activity:
Developing an Assessment Plan for a Service or Program

 

10 

Oct. 21-Oct. 27

Financial Management

Textbook:

Chapter 21: Managing Budgets

 

Book Chapter and Web Resource:

 

American Library Association. (n.d.). Making
budget presentations. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/advocacyuniversity/
budgetpresentation

 

Velasquez, D. L. (2013). Financial management.
In D. L. Velasquez (Ed.), Library management 101:
A practical guide
 (pp. 161-176). Chicago, IL:
ALA Editions. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-
proquest-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/
lib/sjsu/detail.action?docID=1672832

Activity:
Budget Cuts

 

11

Oct. 28-

Nov. 3

Advocacy

Textbook:

Chapter 27: Communication, Marketing,
and Outreach Strategies

Chapter 28: Advocacy

Activity:
Elevator Pitches

 

12

Nov. 4- Nov. 10

Personnel Management 

Textbook:

Chapter 22: Managing Personnel

Article:

Alabi, J. (2015). “This actually happened”:
An analysis of librarians’ responses to a
survey about racial microaggressions.
Journal of Library Administration, 55, 179-191.

Discussion:
HR case studies

 

 

13

Nov. 11- Nov. 17

Facilities Management

Book Chapter and Article:

Berendt, L. (2013). Facilities management. In
D. L. Velasquez (Ed.), Library management 101:
A practical guide
(pp. 253-269). Chicago, IL: ALA Editions.

 

Holderman, S. (2012). Be prepared: Writing a
practical disaster manual. Library Leadership
& Management, 26
(2). Retrieved from https://journals.tdl.org/llm/index.php/llm/article/view/6288

Discussion:
Disaster planning

 

 

14

Nov. 18- Nov. 24

Technology Management

Textbook:

 

Chapter 25: Managing Technology

Chapter 26: Managing Data and Data Analysis
in Information Organizations

Chapter 32: Information Licensing

Activity:
Advocate for a Technology Trend

 

 

15

Nov. 25-

Dec. 6

Wrap Up

Textbook:

Chapter 36: Career Management Strategies
for Lifelong Success

Activity:
LibSquares Revisited

 

 

Assessments

Discussions and Activities
Students will perform weekly discussions and activities relating to course topics. (Course Learning Outcomes: #1, #2#3#4#6, #7, #9)

Leadership Philosophy
Using LIS databases, other relevant resources, as well as personal reflection, students will develop and articulate their personal leadership philosophy. (Course Learning Outcomes: #2, #6, #9)

Organizational Analysis
Working together in small groups, students will create an organizational analysis for an information organization of their choice. The assignment consists of five parts. First, each team will create Group Ground Rules for working together. Second, each team will conduct an environmental scan and SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) of their chosen information organization. Teams will then use this information to draft vision, mission and value statements for the organization. Third, based on the second part of the project, the group will articulate strategic directions for the information organization. Fourth, the team will present their strategic plan and associated planning documents to their classmates. Fifth, students peer review team member's individual contributions and performance. (Course Learning Outcomes: #2#3#4#6#7,, #8)

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 and present their culminating assignment. (Course Learning Outcomes: #1#6#9)

Grading

Assignment

Point Value

Due Dates

Weekly discussions and activities

2 points each

(30 points total)

Ongoing

Leadership Philosophy

15 points

Nov. 24

Organizational Analysis

Part 1. Group Ground Rules – 5 points

Part 2. Environmental Scan – 10 points

Part 3. Strategic Plan – 10 points

Part 4. Presentation – 10 points

Part 5. Peer- and Self-Review – 10 points

Sept. 15

Oct. 13

Nov. 3

Dec. 2

Dec. 6

Professional Synthesis

10 points

Dec. 6


Other Relevant Information:

Determined by the instructor, could include, e.g., participation expectations

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:

  1. A Demonstrate awareness of the ethics, values, and foundational principles of one of the information professions, and discuss the importance of those principles within that profession.
  2. B Describe and compare organizational settings in which information professionals practice.
  3. D Apply the fundamental principles of planning, management, marketing, and advocacy.
  4. M Demonstrate professional leadership and communication skills.
  5. N Evaluate programs and services using measurable criteria.

Textbooks

Required Textbooks:

  • American Psychological Association (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). American Psychological Association. Available through Amazon: 1433832178. arrow gif indicating link outside sjsu domain
  • Hirsh, S. (Ed.) (2018). Information services today: An introduction (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. Available as free eBook through King Libraryarrow gif indicating link outside sjsu domain

Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

97 to 100 A
94 to 96 A minus
91 to 93 B plus
88 to 90 B
85 to 87 B minus
82 to 84 C plus
79 to 81 C
76 to 78 C minus
73 to 75 D plus
70 to 72 D
67 to 69 D minus
Below 67 F

 

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.

icon showing link leads to the PDF file viewer known as Acrobat Reader Download Adobe Acrobat Reader to access PDF files.

More accessibility resources.