LIS520  Janes

Autumn 2011

 

Syllabus & Course Objectives | Topics & Calendar | Assignments | Administrative

 

 

Tentative Outline of Topics 

 

·      Introduction to the Course

·      The Monograph, its Structure and History, Ancestors & Descendants

·      Finding Monographic Resources

·      Finding Out What People Want:  Reference Interview/Queries & Query Negotiation

·      Evaluation of Resources

·      The Scholarly Journal, its Structure and History

·      Finding Serials Resources

·      The Web, its Structure and History

·      Searching the Web

 

What to do this week (as of 11/29/11)

 

10 11/30

For class on the 30th explore the resources and readings on the Web site around the History and Structure of the Web, and Web Searching and prepare the questions there for class discussion.

 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

7 11/9

On the 16th, we’ll begin by catching up on any held over questions and discussion items; the remainder of the class time will be devoted to group work time and consultation with me about the Briefing Paper assignment.  NOTE that I’ve moved the due date for that assignment to November 23 by 8:30am.

6 11/2

For class on the 9th, investigate these databases:  MLA Bibliography, RILM, BIOSIS Previews, Factiva.  For each, you should answer the following questions:

·       What is the structure of database records?

·       Does it have a controlled vocabulary?  What is it called?  How does one use it?

·       What special features (fields, search tools, techniques, features) does it have that you don’t find in other databases?

·       Who produces this index?  What organization or entity creates these records and maintains the database?  (Be careful on this one….)

·       How do we get access to it?  What’s the relationship between the organization you listed above and the one that provides access to it?

·       What guidelines, restrictions, limitations, etc., do UW users have in using this database?

 

You should also read readings on finding serial resources, explore the searching options (note those links go to generic corporate web sites) and data structures and other searching goodies.

5 10/26

For class on the 2nd and 4th, explore the various resources on the Web site around the history and structure of the scholarly journal; also read the articles listed there, and be prepared to discuss the history of scholarly communication as described there.

 

In looking at those readings, and other scholarly journal articles (you might want to browse through some at the library in our field:  Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Journal of Academic Librarianship, Information Processing & Management, Reference & User Services Quarterly, etc.), identify the components and structure of a journal article (as we did for monographs and electronic books) and decide whether they are structural, metadata or content.

4 10/19

For class on the 19th, we’ll begin the discussion of monographic searching, so begin to read and think about those questions.  Also, find bibliographic records for Georgiana in Amazon, the UW catalog, a public library catalog of your choice, OCLC WorldCat, LibraryThing and Google Books.  Also get a copy of the record for the ebook you examined from some monographic searching tool.  Look at these records, compare them; we’ll discuss their features and differences in class.

 

(FYI:  we’ll be working through monograph searching the week of the 19th; the first Searching Assignment will be available on Friday the 21st, due the 28th.  On the 26th, we’ll pick back up with the discussion of monographic evolution, particularly the library response.)

 

3 10/12

For class on the 12th, Matt Saxton will be here to discuss finding out what people want; in advance of that class, he’d like you to read two articles on reserve:  Dervin and Dewdney’s “Neutral Questioning” and Taylor’s “Question Negotiation”.

 

For class on the 14th, Marisa Duarte will lead a discussion on evaluation.  In preparation for that, she’d like you to read this chapter from Cassell & Hinemath’s book Reference and Information Services for the 21st Century; she’d also like you to scan entries and comments in the Awful Library Books blog at http://www.awfullibrarybooks.net. 

 

2 10/5

For classes on the 5th and 7th, continue to read the materials on the monograph (sections II and III) and prepare the questions throughout for discussion.

1 9/28

For class on the 28th, read Samuel Green’s article “Personal Relations Between Librarians and Readers”, Library Journal 1, 74-81, 1876.  (Here’s the original, from Google Books.)   As you read, think about these questions:

 

  • How would you characterize his approach in working with readers?
  • What technologies does he discuss?
  • Why does he believe “personal relations” are necessary?
  • What other benefits of working with readers does he describe?
  • Who does he say would be good at this sort of work?
  • What does he suggest avoiding in this work?

 

For class on the 30th, read the first set of readings (section I; the rest of those readings will follow on so read those as well) on the page on the monograph and prepare the questions there for class discussion.

 

I also would like you to get some experience reading a book in electronic form.  If you’ve not read a book on a Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, iPad, etc., go into the UW catalog, and select an electronic book that interests you.  There are many collections and kinds of ebooks available through UW; browse a bit through these and pick one you’re interested in.

 

Play with the reader, see how you feel about the experience.  What do you like?  What do you not like?  How might it be improved?  What advantages or features are there in reading an ebook this way (and there are other ways) over a traditional book, and vice versa?

 

Also for the 30th have a look at this book:

Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman (Random House 2000)

A copy will be on reserve at Odegaard Library; any other copy or edition will do in either hardback or paperback, so you might try another library, bookstore, etc.  (You may also find this listed under the title The Duchess, after the 2008 film version.)  In particular, look at its structure and components.  Imagine you were seeing a book for the first time—what do you see?  Also, is there anything you would expect to see that is missing in this book? 

 

We’ll discuss all of this in the first couple of classes.  See you then!

 

 

 

You should know that I will be out of town on October 12 and 14 when we’re scheduled to meet, and arrangements are in process.  There will not be class on November 11 for Veteran’s Day or November 25.  We will have class on November 24 (the Wednesday before Thanksgiving).