Department of Library and Information Studies

LIS 631 - Emerging Technological Trends in Information Access

COURSE PROSPECTUS

Prerequisites/Corequisites:

None

Required Text(s):

None

Course Description:

Libraries, information centers, and schools increasingly use technologies to find, retrieve, and provide information to their users. Local area networks and wide area networks provide large volumes of information in electronic form. Utilizing a seminar format students will develop skills in using these technologies and share position statements on major issues in this information technology revolution. Areas for consideration will include: access vs. collections, cost/benefit analysis of various formats, emerging international technical standards, professional standards related to user privacy, copyright, and provision of services without user cost. (3 s.h.)

Student Learning Outcomes:

At the conclusion of this course students will be able to:
  • develop a knowledge of technological tools, costs, and issues raised by the use of technologies in libraries and schools
  • examine the ethical and legal issues related to the technologies discussed.
  • develop strategies for assessing user needs in relation to such technological systems in terms of knowledge seeking behaviors, training needs, and format conversions
  • review ongoing research and standards development related to current technological trends in libraries and information agencies
  • study current and developing implementations of such systems locally, regionally, nationally and internationally
  • devise an individual plan to keep abreast of developments in this field

Course Requirements:

Discussions (45% of final grade)

There will be 3, 3-week long small group discussions. You will be assigned to a group at the end of the second week. To enhance the quality of the small group discussions I will assign each memebr of your group specific responsibilities for each discussion. Tou will be assigned your responsibilities for within the group at the time you are assigned to a group.
The discussions will focus on 1) defining the trend and how the trend will impact libraries and schools (what and impact), 2) costs, and 3) how libraries and schools are currently managing these issues (how). Therefore, each person in the group will be responsibile for providing the group summary of one of the above focal points.

Discussion Paper (25% of final Grade)

Since we are covering three technology trends, you will be able to choose a trend that is interesting to you and write a paper on that trend. You will be able to choose one trend from the trends addressed by LITA in the top technology site (http://www.lita.org/committee/toptech/mainpage.html)
Your paper must be between 7-10 pages. It should addresss each of the focal points that we will be covering for the three discussions. You will need to cite at least 5 credible sources. Each person will have their paper peer-reviewed by all other team members. There are two main reasons for the peer reviews. First it provided valuable imput for improving the paper. Second, it will allow your teammates to learn about the technology trend that you have examined.
Your paper will be evaluated on the quality, completeness, readability and thoughtfulness of the paper.

Activities (15% of the final grade)

There will be 3 activities. These activities are due on Thursdays as indicated in the course schedule. They need to be prepared in a word processor, preferably in Word format or as a text (.txt) file and then uploaded using the drop box utility in Blackboard.
Your score for each activity will be determined by the correctness of your responses and the timeliness of your assignment. Asssignments that are late will be worth 4% of the final grade rather than 5%,
Small group Facilitator (8% of final grade)
One person in each group will be asked to be the group facilitator for one of the 3 discussions. There are 2 key responsibilities for the small group facilitator. They key responsibilities are to 1)lead the small group discussion and 2)provide a summary of the group's discussion to the entire class.

Participation in Peer editing (7% of the final grade)

Each person in the group will be asked to review the discussion papers prepared by each member of the team. You are expected to read and provide helpful comments and criticisms regarding each other's paper. Your comments shouls include feedback on the parts of the paper that you thought worked well and why. Your criticisms should address how the paper can be improved.
I've scheduled the peer editing sessions for after the second and third small group discussions so that your groups will have time to get to know each other. See the course schedule for specific dates.

Topical Outline:

    I. Introduction: Scope of the Course
    II. Searching the Web
    III. Evaluating Information on the Web
    IV. Trend I
    V. Trend 2
    VI. Trend 3
    VII. Peer Reviews
    VIII. Professional Development
    Finals Week

Department of Library and Information Studies
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
349 Curry Building, PO Box 26170
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170
VOICE 336.334.3477
FAX 336.334.5060
EMAIL cpfelts@uncg.edu