SI 666: Organization of Information Resources

Provides a conceptual understanding and skills in the organization, access, and representation of information in a variety of formats. Students learn basic concepts and principles of cataloging and metadata, organization and classification, and standards that have been developed for the ways in which information is organized and described.

Students work with tools that have been accepted as national standards and evaluate emerging methods that provide alternative means for providing surrogate descriptions and organization. The focus is on cataloging and classification standards and tools developed in library environments, with a view toward evaluating the effectiveness of these models in both libraries and other information environments.

Examples of standards include the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, Dublin Core, Library of Congress Subject Headings, Library of Congress Classification, and Dewey Decimal Classification. The class also looks at emerging metadata standards developed for digital record control. An emphasis is given to evaluating the extent to which current and emerging standards are developed with the needs of users in mind.

Cataloging and metadata standards are examined in the larger social context in which they were developed and are being applied, including evaluating subject access schemes and the way in which they reflect social biases and constructs.

Class format includes lecture, guest presentations from practitioners from a variety of information environments, hands-on small group exercises, weekly assignments to apply specific skills, and a major group project which explores in depth some specific theme of the course. The emphasis in skills is on understanding the nature of the standards with the understanding that specific expertise will require practice in an internship or the workplace. www.si.umich.edu/Classes/666

Course counts towards the LIS area of Information Representation, Organization and Retrieval.