SI 647:  Information Resources and Services

Objectives:

 
  • Understand how information resources and service evolved in libraries: consider the past, present and future of reference activity
  • Master basic resources used in meeting information needs and answering reference questions
  • Understand the process for determining individual user information needs
  • Evaluate information resources, determining their purpose, appropriate use, acquisition, and instruct users
  • Appreciate the various venues and missions of public service reference activity
  • Read representative professional literature

    • Details:

    Prof. Maurita Holland
    mholland@umich.edu
    301B West Hall
    764-2648 (phone)
    647-7651 (fax)
    Office Hour:  Thursday, 10:30-11:30 and by appointment

    Text:

    Bopp, R.E., and L.C. Smith, eds. (2001)  Reference and information services: an introduction.  Third Edition.  Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
     
    Week Date Topic Reading Type of Resource Work Due
    1 Sept. 11 Intro to LIS and Libraries; History Foundations 207-264
    2 Sept. 18 Reference history and perspective B/S 3-27;   General
    3 Sept. 25 Intro to  Internet Public Library Katz 89-118 Choice Collection
    4 Oct. 2 Info needs Katz 153-178  Dictionaries, etc.
    5 Oct. 9 Searching Katz 179-222  Books IPL1
    6 Oct. 16 Dialog Journals/Articles IPL2
    7 Oct. 23 Evaluating sources Katz v. 1, p. 24-29   IPL3
    8 Oct. 30 NO CLASS   Dialog
    9 Nov. 6 Instruction Katz 223-236 Handbooks and directories Research Consultation
    10 Nov. 13 Policy Katz 237-268 People IPL4
    11 Nov. 20 Measurement  and Performance Places IPL5
    12 Nov. 27 What’s next?   IPL6
    13 Dec. 4 Being professional  Foundations 449-464 Everything else!
    14 Dec. 11 Info Scavenger Hunt Reference Conversion
     
    Note:  This class includes  snacks
     

    Assignments:

    Note:  Reference librarians spend a good deal of time looking for materials that have been incorrectly or inadequately cited.  Your citations should never be found lacking.  Please adopt a preferred style (APA, Turabian, other) and use it consistently in this course.  In the first assignment, Choice Collection, indicate the style you'll be using.

    Choice Collection: 20%

    You're the librarian in the reference position of your choice--public library, law firm, software consulting group, archeology department, State Senate--be creative if you like or consider your background and experience.  The place need not exist except in your imagination.

    Describe the setting and select 10 information resources that you think would best answer most of the questions of the clients in your venue.  The half-page or so description of the library should include a statement on the work of the business or organization and its mission and the population served.  Next, state the criteria you used in selecting the resources.  Then, for each resource, summarize its content and likely best use(s) and justify its importance for the setting.

    Evaluation:  Your work will be evaluated on the description of your setting, the criteria, the quality of the materials you've selected, and the overall quality (grammar, citation format, presentation format) of the work.
     

    IPL: 25%

    Welcome to the Internet Public Library reference desk!  As a new employee, you'll learn about the IPL's policies and collections and you'll receive training in the IPL software, QRC.  Then, get set to practice your profession at the desk by answering six questions (due as indicated in syllabus).

    Please submit print copies of the question and answer.  Then write with each assignment, a narrative summary of your experience (both positive and negative).  Please also include comment about how online reference differs from direct human mediation, and any "ah-ha's" that occur over the six weeks (suggestions for improvement in the IPL, thoughts on the interface, the value of this project at SI, etc.).

    Evaluation:  Your work will be evaluated on the quality of your answers to the specific questions, their demonstration of adherence to IPL policy, the insight of your comments, and the overall impression of your presentation (grammar, consistent style in writing and appearance).

    Dialog Exercise: 15%

    Given a set of questions, prepare search strategy, execute search, annotate the output, present the answer.  Further details in class.

    Evaluation:  Your work will be evaluated on your analysis of the question, your search strategy preparation, the files selected, the insight you bring to the output and the overall quality of your presentation of this information.
     

    Research Consultation: 20%

    Everybody has questions.  You can help from problem definition through locating information and on to presentation to the client.  Begin by finding a person (outside the School, please...but relatives are just fine).  The first problem will be to find a "right-sized" question, one that is not a less-than-five-minute, ready-reference question but also one that is not a dissertation topic!  If in doubt, please, see me!

    Ask your client to fill out a consultation form.  Next, meet with the client to review the material, then plan and execute your seaerch (remember, all sources are fair game--people, print, Web, phone calls,etc.).

    When you've completed the search, write an analysis.  Please describe the user's need and level of need (child for school report, professional for corporate report, retired banker for personal use, etc.), how you executed the search and any "ah-ha's" that occured.

    Please turn in 1) the consultation form, 2) a copy of the search result you presented that client, 3) the analysis.

    Evaluation:  quality of your decision-making, search strategy, results, their presentation and the overall quality of your report.

    Reference Conversion: 20%

    We've been asked by Little Big Horn College to evaluate its print-based reference collection, making specific recommendations for migrating toward an digital reference collection.  We've created a  shelflist (call number order listing of all the books in the collection as they appear on the shelves) for the collection.  Your task is to work with a selected portion of the collection, locating digital instantiations of the titles (we've already searched the IPL for exact matches) or recommending a suitable replacement in digital form.

    Your final product will be an html page of links to the sources you locate (or, in the case of vended information, order and pricing info).  Your work will be intregrated into an overall course product, a digital reference collection for Little Big Horn.  Be prepared to show your work to the class and to make a 3-minute oral presentation.

    Evaluation:  Your work will be evaluated on the types and quality of information resources you've selected and your presentation of the material.
     

    mholland@umich.edu
    9/29/00