IST616 Information Resources:
Organization and Access
Fall 2006
|
Instructor: Jian Qin |
Time: on your own schedule |
Overview
This course is one of five core courses in the MLS program. It is an introductory survey of principles, techniques, and standards used in information systems to represent and organize information, especially those implemented in libraries and information centers. Goals of the course are twofold: (1) for those students that will not pursue a concentration in this area, to provide an overview of the topics, and (2) for those students who will concentrate in systems and technical services, to serve as a foundation course. The course covers the fundamental concepts of theory and practice in information organization, storage and retrieval, including an introduction to existing systems and standards. Each topic is covered at the introductory level with the expectation that students who wish to pursue any of the areas will take further coursework.
Course Objective
Upon successfully completing this course you will have an introductory understanding of:
§ the nature of information-based problems and how information systems address these problems
§ the human aspects of information systems
§ basic concepts of information representation and retrieval, including measuring system performance
§ future directions in information systems for libraries
You will have practical experience learning:
§ basic bibliographic description
§ standards for data encoding
§
knowledge structures (LCSH, LCC, and
§ Use of knowledge structures in indexing and classifying information
§ the characteristics of presently available systems
§ how different system components work together
Texts
Additional Core Readings (on reserve in Bird Library or available on the Internet):
Anglo-American
Cataloging Rules. 2nd ed., 1998 Revision.
Chan, L.
Kwasnik, B. The role of classification in knowledge representation and discovery. Library Trends, 48(1): 22-47 (1999).
OCLC. Bibliographic
Formats and Standards. URL: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/bib/about.htm
(The complete manual for
Understanding
Coursework
Practical Assignments (2 x 10 points = 20%).
As we cover topics included in this course, you will be given assignments to complete on your own. The two assignments are of analytical and evaluative nature and designed to help gain understanding of fundamental principles and methods in representing and organizing information resources.
Open-book online quiz (3 x 5 points = 15%)
Skill workshop exercises (2 x 10 points = 20%).
It consists of hands-on
exercises for understanding and learning how to create
Research project (30%).
The research project is designed to give you an opportunity to conduct an in-depth study of issues in information representation and organization. You are to prepare a report (10-12 pages) based on your own research and present it in class. You may work with up to two other classmates on the research project.
Participation in and contribution to class discussions (15%).
It is important for you to log in class regularly and participate in class discussions. Your contribution is vital not just for getting a good grade, but more importantly, for making the course a worthwhile learning experience for everyone in this class.
Expectations and Grading Policy
I try to make every class worth attending. Students will be responsible for any and all material covered, handed-out, announced, etc. in class unless told otherwise. Attempts will be made, however, to place important announcements in class and/or on the class web page. Lecture notes will be posted on all days as scheduled, unless notified otherwise.
Every attempt will be
made to return assignments in a timely fashion. Assignments are due at the
This syllabus (including course requirements, due dates, etc.) may be changed with sufficient notice.
If you have any type of disability, which may require additional time or special consideration, please let me know at the beginning of the course.
Grading Policy
1. According to the
grading policy of the
2. Fulfilling the requirements for an assignment coupled with the absence of errors (in writing, arithmetic, formatting) will earn a grade no higher than B+. To earn an A- or A grade, the assignment must go beyond the minimum expected in terms of quality (insight, creativity, analysis, thoroughness, synthesis).
3. Grade levels follow the scales below:
A = 95-100, A- = 90-94, B+ = 85-89, B = 80-84, B- = 75-79, C+ = 70-74, C = 65-69, F = below 65
4. An incomplete grade, I, can be given only if the circumstances preventing the on-time completion of all course requirements were clearly unforeseeable and uncontrollable. If an incomplete is required a written contract must be completed which specifies the nature of the missing work, the date it will be completed, and the default grade that will be given if that deadline is missed.
5. It is unethical to allow some students additional opportunities, such as extra credit assignments, without allowing the same options to all students.
6. Failure to complete any course requirement will result in a course grade of C or lower, regardless of the grades received in other components.
7. Group-based assignments will usually have a component of the final grade based on each group member's assessment of the contribution made by the others in the group.
8. To discuss a grade, arrange for a private meeting in which you identify the sources of your concern. It is important to bring with you to that meeting the relevant materials (e.g., marked papers). Except for extraordinary circumstances, no appeal for an individual assignment or project will be considered later than two weeks after the graded assignment was returned. For final grades, no appeal will be considered after 12/31/2006.
9. Participation in class discussions is expected, exactly as it would be on the job. If an emergency or illness occurs, have someone notify your team and the course instructor as soon as possible--even if you are out of town. Too many absences are sufficient cause to lower the final course grade. Exceptions will be made for emergencies and other extenuating circumstances provided they are verified by appropriate documentation that is received no later than 1 week after the absence(s).
Academic Integrity
The academic community of
The academic integrity statement can be found at: http://www.ist.syr.edu/courses/advising/integrity.asp
Computer Literacy
Skills
Graduate students are expected to meet the minimum and recommended information
technology literacy skills required of students in all
Weekly Topics,
|
Week |
Topics |
|
Activities and Dues |
|
8/28 |
·
Introduction to the course ·
Issues in information representation and organization ·
Strategies in addressing the issues |
Taylor, Chapter 1 |
|
|
9/4 |
Categories of metadata and information organization ·
Metadata, bibliographic data, cataloging records: the
terminology soup ·
Roles and categories of metadata |
Taylor, Chapter 2 |
Show and talk: samples of your collection for assignment 1 |
|
9/11 |
Cataloging rules ·
AACR2 structure ·
Metadata schemes ·
Description areas and levels ·
AACR2 and beyond |
Taylor, Chapter 6 & skim through AACR2
chapter 1: general rules |
Due:
Assignment 1 -- Information Categories (9/17 11:00 pm) |
|
9/18 |
Cataloging data format ·
Data entry format: MARC ·
Understanding MARC ·
OCLC cataloging system: Connexion |
Taylor, Chapter 7; Chpater 4 Understanding
MARC; OCLC MARC Manual |
Open-book online quiz (to be completed by 9/24) Skill workshop 1: creating your first MARC record: book |
|
9/25 |
Access points and authority control. ·
Searchable data elements vs. meaningful access points ·
Forms of names: personal, organizational, and
geographical ·
Control of inconsistent and varied titles ·
Cross references ·
Name authority control |
Taylor, Chapter 8. |
Skill workshop 1: creating a record for non-book material |
|
10/2 |
Metadata ·
Background ·
Standards ·
Applications and tool ·
Trends |
|
Skill workshop 1: creating a metadata record for an Internet resource |
|
10/9 |
Skill workshop 1:
Lessons learned discussion ·
Post your thoughts, comments, insights, frustrations,
difficulties, tips, etc. to the Skill Workshop 1 forum |
|
Open-book online quiz (to be completed by 10/15 11:00 pm) |
|
10/16 |
Representation of information content. ·
Subject Analysis: what a work is about vs. what a work
is ·
Dealing with multi-topic materials ·
Methods of subject representation: indexing,
abstracting, and classification ·
Tools used to perform subject representation |
Read: Taylor, Chapter 9. |
Skill workshop 2: Subject analysis for the items you created record in
SW1 |
|
10/23 |
Controlled vocabulary ·
Library of Congress Subject Headings ·
Medical Subject Headings ·
ERIC Thesaurus |
Taylor, Chapter 10; Lancaster, Chapters 2-3. |
Open-book online quiz (must be completed by 10/29 11:pm) Skill workshop 2: Assigning subject terms to the records from SW1 |
|
10/30 |
Subject cataloging and indexing ·
Principles of indexing and abstracting ·
The indexing process ·
Indexing library materials ·
Indexing journal articles |
Taylor, Chapter 10; Lancaster, Chapters 2-3. |
Due: Assignment
2 -- Indexing (11/5 11:00 pm) |
|
11/6 |
Library Classification. Part I. ·
Introduction ·
Theory and applications ·
Library of Congress Classification ·
LCC call number building |
Kwasnik's article; Taylor, Chapter 11. |
|
|
11/13 |
Library Classification. Part II. · Dewey Decimal C |