This course is intended for all Masters-level students with an interest in digital information resources. If you expect to work primarily with digital collections, this course will introduce you to the people, institutions and technologies that make up a digital library today. If you plan to work in traditional library operations, this course will acquaint you with some key issues facing libraries as they adapt to the historic growth of digital resources.
Our natural focus will be the development of technical infrastructures for managing digital collections in libraries. We will also pay close attention to the policies and organizational strategies that are shaping digital collections.
Our overall aim is to acquire a broad understanding of how digital librarianship is both different from, and similar to, traditional print-based librarianship. In so doing, this course is designed to pave the way for more advanced and specialized learning related to building, managing and preserving all types of digital collections.
The course will be taught online (using the D2L platform) and asynchronously, so you will not be required to log in at any specific time. But this is not a self-paced course, so students will be expected to keep up with the weekly schedule in the syllabus. Also, students should plan to log in to D2L more than once a week, and to check their email regularly, especially since minor adjustments are likely to be made to the syllabus during the semester.
The course content is divided into 14 units, with each unit lasting one week, starting on Monday. At the start of each unit, the instructor will post a lecture on that week’s topic as well as blog notes giving feedback and updated information about the course. As a guideline, the lecture and accompanying readings for each unit should be read within four days, giving you three days to complete the unit’s two mandatory assignments.
The first assignment for each unit is a short-essay quiz. This will consist of one question drawn primarily from the readings. Answers should be roughly 200-300 words. Completed quizzes must be posted to the D2L dropbox by each week’s deadline.
Note: When you upload files to D2L, please name them beginning with your last name first, then the assignment, then the unit number, as follows:
<BotticelliQuiz1.doc>
The second assignment involves class participation through a discussion forum that will be set up for each unit. Each week I will post a question, and all students will be expected to post a response, either as a direct answer to the instructor’s question or to a question of your own choosing as long as it’s directly relevant to that week’s topic.
Finally, students will be asked to complete a semester project, working individually or as part of a group, the contents of which will be announced and discussed early in the semester.
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 Instructions and Deadlines
All assignments will have a specific due date; this means that the assignment should be uploaded to the D2L dropbox or posted to the appropriate discussion forum by the stated deadline, and the submission date recorded by D2L must be no later the deadline. This semester, each weekly unit will begin on Monday. Therefore, all assignments for the previous unit will be due on Sunday.
Late assignments will carry a penalty of 1 point per day, with a maximum penalty of three points. Since Internet routing is unpredictable, I will not count an assignment as late unless it is time stamped for later than 12 noon on Monday. Also, late assignments will not be accepted after the official start date of the final exam period.
Exceptions to the deadline policy will be made if (a) a legitimate emergency arises—and which must be documented, or (b) if you email me before the deadline (that is, before the assignment is late) and ask for an extension. I consider these requests on a case-by-case basis, though I generally approve one or two extensions per student per semester.
Normally, I will not approve an extension if it is not requested in advance of the due date. This is because I regard planning to be an essential factor in online learning—including planning for those times when your schedule is likely to make it difficult to keep up with the syllabus. As we move forward through the semester I strongly urge you to contact me as soon as possible if you find yourself falling behind for any reason. I am very willing to consider adjustments to the weekly schedule to accommodate students’ individual needs, if I am informed of the need for such changes in a timely manner.
Communicating Online
Given the importance of text in online learning, all assignments for this course will be graded not only on intellectual content but also on writing style and presentation. Thus, norms of graduate level writing, including appropriate organization, standard grammar and spelling, and citation of resources, are expected in this class. Problems will be indicated in returned assignments, but the instructor will not edit students’ work. For advice on improving writing style, students should make an appointment to consult the instructor.
Extra help in improving writing is available through the Writing Center http://web.arizona.edu/~uawc/. The following Web sites offer excellent advice as well: The OWL at Purdue University (owl.english.purdue.edu) and Paradigm Online Writing Assistant (www.powa.org).
Incompletes
The current Catalog readsThe 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.
Weekly quizzes: 300 points
(13 quizzes worth 25 points each, with the lowest score dropped.)
Class participation: 300 points
(25 points per 13 weeks, with lowest score dropped.)
Note: For both the quizzes and class participation, you will be required to complete assignments for all 13 weeks, even though the lowest scores will be dropped. Thus, if you fail to turn in one quiz, that one will count as zero and your second lowest quiz score will be dropped.
Semester Project: 600 points
(Details on grading will be forthcoming.)
Semester Total: 1200 points
Teaching is more than presenting information. It includes guiding the learning process, and helping students acquire skills as well as knowledge. Students should never hesitate to contact the instructor whenever they have concerns about how well they are doing. Not only will this help the students get assistance they need, it will also provide valuable feedback as to how the course can be improved.
For questions that may be of general interest to the class, please use my instructor’s discussion forum in D2L. For more specific questions about the class, or to discuss matters that are personal in any way, please use my D2L email account:
peter.botticelli@d2l.arizona.edu
If for some reason D2L isn’t working, you may also use my UA email account:
pkb@email.arizona.edu
Also, if at any time you are in Tucson, feel free to make an appointment for a face-to-face meeting.
