IRLS 424/524
Information Resource Evaluation
Instructor: Bill Edgar
No prerequisites
This course is designed to familiarize students with the theory, practice, and issues of reference services in libraries and information centers. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to describe the principal features of reference services in a variety of environments. Specific topics covered include information provision theory; information seeking and retrieval; the history and philosophy of reference services; types of reference services, provided in physical and digital format; reference service in different library environments; the reference interview; the fundamentals of bibliographic control; online searching; the evaluation of reference sources and services; the management of reference services; and other topics. Three credit hours.
Learning will be through lecture, group presentations, guest speakers, tours, evaluation of reference sources, use of reference sources to answer specific reference questions, and completion of a final project guiding library users to appropriate reference sources in a topic.
Cassell, Kay Ann and Uma Hiremath. (2006). Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century: An Introduction. New York: Neal Schuman. ISBN: 1-55570-563-4.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
All students are required to:
1. Complete two reference worksheets. A handout describing this assignment will be provided. Value: 30%
2. Complete one source evaluation. A handout describing this assignment will be provided. Value: 10% 3. Complete one group written report and oral presentation. A handout describing this assignment will be provided.
Value: 20%
4. Complete a Pathfinder, either in print format, or, preferably, in digital format on the World Wide Web.
Value: 40%
Please note:
· Late work will lose one letter grade from the grade it would have gotten had it been turned in on time. However, the final project, the Pathfinder, will not be accepted late.
· Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the assigned due date. · Please include your name on the first page of all your assignments.
Academic Code of Integrity
Students are expected to abide by The University of Arizona Code of Academic Integrity. 'The guiding principle of academic integrity is that a student's submitted work must be the student's own.' If you have any questions regarding what is acceptable practice under this Code, please ask an Instructor.
Accommodating Disabilities
The University has a Disability Resource Center. If you anticipate the need for reasonable accommodations to meet the requirements of this course, you must register with the Disability Resource Center and request that the DRC send me, the Instructor, official notification of your accommodation needs as soon as possible. Please plan to meet with me by appointment or during office hours to discuss accommodations and how my course requirements and activities may impact your ability to fully participate.
Assignment Policies
<Put your own material for the stuff in red>
- How to submit your assignments: How do you want students to submit assignments? Do you want them to include any particular identifying information on their assignments? Will assignments be returned to them, or will they just see a posted grade? Anything else that they'd need to know?
- Assignment due dates: Since the Course Schedule section (above) will spell out specific due dates, this section is used to describe any late penalties and any particulars about exactly when items are due (e.g. "Surface-mailed assignments must be postmarked no later than the stated due date.")
- Writing style: Are students supposed to use any particular writing style, such as APA or Chicago Manual? Are there any on-line writing resources that might be helpful to your students as they prepare their assignments? What if English is not their native tongue...is help available to them?
- Late Policy
Incompletes
The current Catalog reads
The grade of I may be awarded only at the end of a term, when all but a minor portion of the course work has been satisfactorily completed. The grade of I is not to be awarded in place of a failing grade or when the student is expected to repeat the course; in such a case, a grade other than I must be assigned. Students should make arrangements with the instructor to receive an incomplete grade before the end of the term ...
If the incomplete is not removed by the instructor within one year the I grade will revert to a failing grade.
A=90-100
B=80-89
C=70-79
D=60-69
F=59 and below
Office Phone: 520-621-5220
E-Mail: bedgar@u.arizona.edu
Office: No. 2
Office Hours: Mondays, 2:00-3:00, or by appointment
