Syllabus

People have questions. Other people know things that might help answer those questions. It has ever been such, and always will be. Those questions can range from the simple or even banal (“What is the capital of Bolivia?”) to the profound (“Why do we learn?”) and the impossible (“What is the meaning of life?”). The entire infrastructure of publishing, broadcasting, libraries (and, one could argue, the arts, science, drama, etc.) is dedicated to furthering this process.

The recording and compilation of facts, information, wisdom, knowledge, opinion, speculation, theories, investigation, etc., so that it may be preserved and consulted is a very human process. In this course, we will examine perhaps the purest form of this intellectual interchange—the provision of direct assistance and mediation to people who are trying to find information. This has many names and takes many forms; it’s typically called “reference” in library settings but also appears in other guises. We will focus on information services in general, particularly on those which operate in information-intensive organizations.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, it is expected that students will:

· have a mastery of a basic set of resources useful in assisting with information needs

· begin to develop a process for determining a user’s information needs, selecting potentially useful sources and locating appropriate information

· analyze critical contemporary issues in information services

· be able to evaluate information resources, understand their use, make decisions on acquiring them, instruct users about their use, and add them to their repertoire

· be able to construct professional-level responses to inquiries

Outline of Topics, including What to Do This Week and the Projected Calendar of Events

We will cover topics in four broad areas, interspersed throughout the quarter:

1 Information Sources & Resources

¨ About Books, Serials, Everything, Words, People, Facts, Places

2 Searching Technique & Concepts

¨ Introduction & Basics, Controlled Vocabulary, Free Text & Features, Advanced Technique

3 Skills & Techniques

¨ Basics of the IPL, Determining Information Needs

4 Issues

¨ Guidelines/Customer Service/Ethics, The Future of Collections, Accuracy, Assessment & Evaluation

Conduct of the Course

Before we discuss a category of sources (bibliographic, biographical, etc.), I will give you a list of a few good resources (and perhaps one or two bad ones for variety’s sake). I want you to become familiar with them by looking at them, using them to answer some questions, and so on. In addition, I’ll ask you to identify other resources in that category.

In class, we’ll discuss these questions and more specifics on sources and their use.

Text

Bopp & Smith (recommended)

Reference & Information Services: An Introduction (3^rd ed.)

Libraries Unlimited 2000

Evaluation Criteria

There will be several categories of work that will be used to assess student program for this course. There may also be other, ungraded, small assignments and exercises.

Important note: Assignments will be due in class on the date specified. Late assignments will only be accepted (a) if you have discussed this with me and received an extension in advance or (b) if a sudden illness or other emergency arises. In such an instance, after receipt of appropriate evidence, a reasonable extension will be graded. I reserve the right either not to accept other late work or to assess a penalty, at my discretion.

Final grades will be assessed according to the following schedule:

Digital Reference Experience	20 individual
Observation	20 individual
Final Project	25 group
Finger Exercises	10 individual
Final Examination	25 individual
	100

Other Stuff

office:	330M Mary Gates Hall
phone:	206 616-0987
email:	jwj@u.washington.edu
office hours:	Tuesdays 11:30 – 12:30 + by appointment

See also my general expectations for classes; I will assume that you have read and understood these expectations; always feel free to ask any questions you like about them.

Academic Integrity

The essence of academic life revolves around respect not only for the ideas of others, but also their rights to those ideas and their promulgation. It is therefore essential that all of us engaged in the life of the mind take the utmost care that the ideas and expressions of ideas of other people always be appropriately handled, and, where necessary, cited.

Specifically, in working on assignments for this course, I encourage you to feel free to work together with other students in discussing the assignments, possible approaches and ideas, etc. The examination will ask you to answer a series of questions in a specified period of time, using whatever resources you like, except other people.

For writing assignments, when ideas or materials of others are used, they must be cited. The format is not that important--as long as the source material can be located and the citation verified, it's OK. What is important is that the material be cited.

In any other situations, if you have a question, please feel free to ask. Such attention to ideas and acknowledgment of their sources is central not only to academic life, but life in general.