|
|
Requisites: none. Provides
fundamental knowledge and skills enabling information professionals to link users
with information. Overview of structure of literature in different fields;
information-seeking behavior of user groups; communication with users;
development of search strategies using print and electronic sources. COURSE OUTLINE AND SCHEDULE I.
Orientation (Tuesday, January
10th) a) Introduction
to the Course and b) Space or Place: The Development of Question Answering and Negotiation II. Reference Work (Tuesday, January 17th) a) “Seeing Green,” Samuel S. Green (guest speaker) b) Role of Various Models
in Thinking about Reference Work c) Guide to
Reference (Books) and Robert Kieft,
GR Editor d) Reference Publishing Hegemony III. Google Searching (Tuesday,
January 24th) a) Rise of the Internet and World-Wide Web b) “Just Google It:” Answering Fact-Type (aka
"Easy") Questions c) Role of Google Books and Google eBooks IV. Types of Reference Formats a)
Bibliographies
and Catalogs (Tuesday, January 31tt) b)
Dictionaries
and Encyclopedias, Paul Kobasa,
WB editor-in-chief, (Feb 7th) c)
Biographical
Sources, Directories, and Government information (Tuesday, February 14th) d)
Indexes
(Tuesday, February 21th) e)
Atlases and
Statistical sources, Tuesday, February 28th) V. Information
seeking ecologies (Tuesday, March 6th) a)
Information
Resources b)
Information
Seekers (aka users) c) Information Technology VI. Neither Space nor Place (Tuesday, March 13th) a) Intellectual Traditions, notably Question Answering, Amy VanScoy, Guest Lecturer b) For the Future: Ubiquitous Reference Service and Customer Service Standards "You can because you think you can," paraphrasing the
Roman epic poet, Virgil (70 BC - 19 BC) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER COURSES Online searching
of proprietary databases, such as Thomson's Dialog,
is an important component of successful searching, but requires learning
about Boolean logic and proprietary search commands. I strongly
recommend that you consider taking IS 447 "Computer-based Information
Resources" before you graduate. IS 240 "Principles of Information
Systems Analysis & Design" can be profitably applied to reference as
a process. IS 455 "Government Information"
is also relevant to providing outstanding reference service.
You do not have to
buy these recommended texts; however, there are no earlier editions except
for Sweetland's book; if you do, consider using Addall.com
for better prices. For a lesson from the so-called “good old
print-based days,” see “How to Open a Book” at http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/jrichardson/dis245/how.htm. Kay A. Cassell and Uma Hiremath, Reference
and Information Services in the 21st Century: An Introduction (2nd
ed.) New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2009.
–Matches questions and sources as well as expands marketing of services in
this new edition. Marie Radford, The Reference Encounter:
Interpersonal Communication in the Academic Library. ACRL
Publications in Librarianship, No. 52. Chicago: American Library Association,
1999. –One of the best published pieces of qualitative research on this
subject. John Richardson, Knowledge-based
Systems for General Reference Work: Applications, Problems, and Progress.
San Diego: Academic Press, 1995. –See the links above in the syllabus;
chapter 5 on the architectural logic of reference experts would be useful for
section VI above. Catherine Ross,
Kirsti Nilsen, and Patricia Dewdney. Conducting
the Reference Interview: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians.
New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2002. –A practical approach. Matthew Saxton and
John Richardson, Understanding Reference Transactions: Transforming an Art
into a Science. New York: Academic Press, 2002. –A highly
sophisticated quantitative (HLM) approach to the subject. James H.
Sweetland, Fundamental Reference Sources, 3rd ed. Chicago: American
Library Association, 2000. –A list of basic sources, but it's not clear in
what sense they are fundamental (other than informed personal opinion).
Obviously, one of
most interesting technological developments in reference service is the role
of the Internet. To keep current, you might want to follow one or more of the
following sites:
In
addition, here is another website which might save you some time searching
for other studies on general
reference (2002). You can search by author (biographee) or topic by
keyword. This website was based on LISA and LLIS (see indexes to
magazines above). To facilitate
class communication concerning assignments and grades, I do use My.UCLA.edu;
grades are posted there, so be sure your preferred email address is known to
the Registrar.
Attendance and class
contributions are not formally graded; however, in borderline cases, I will
consider these in determining your final grade. As you know, all grades,
including the final grade, are subjective--merely the opinion of the
instructor. When you receive a paper back in your folder in the Student
Commons, be sure to check URSA.ucla.edu or My.UCLA.edu to be sure that they
match. Please note that I do not maintain any list with your
email address, so check that you are enrolled in this class and that UCLA has
your preferred email address on file. For all papers,
the evaluation of assignments will include: 1) content foremost--including
originality, description and analysis, as well as interpretation; 2)
readability and appearance (e.g., conformance to a particular journal's house
style); 3) accurate bibliographic style (remember to state explicitly your
style such as APA, CMS, or MLA); 4) clarity of presentation; and 5) avoidance
of the ten common errors. All papers are
subject to a half-letter grade reduction for not heeding the above ten
points. The video will be graded according to content foremost;
authority; appropriateness given the purpose; completeness; ease-of-use;
illustrations; level of treatment; and uniqueness. Grades are reported to the
Registrar via My.UCLA.edu, so check it upon receiving a graded paper. Letter
grades are assigned where a B (3.0) is good; a B+ (3.3), very good; an A-
(3.7), excellent; an A (4.0) is superior; and an A+ is extraordinary. If you
are a graduate student taking this class as S/U, then S = B (3.0) or higher Again, grading is
necessarily subjective; if these standards
are not clear, please ask for further clarification at any time.
"Readings,"
so labeled above, are required; "additional readings" are optional.
In addition, keep current with the professional literature by browsing the
new periodicals inbox in the MIT Lab. Backup your work regularly.
During class, cell phones should be off or on vibrate. As for late
papers: all papers are due on due date. Unexcused late papers will be
substantially penalized—half letter grade per session. Suspected
research misconduct (including fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism AKA
'insufficient citation')
will result in a grade of DR and be reported to the UCLA Dean
of Students; you may wish to submit your papers to TurnItIn.com before
handing them into me or our
TA. I have posted office hours in 204 GSE&IS; signup on my office
door. No extra credit is given. Incompletes are not awarded in this
class; plan accordingly. Disabled students must present the appropriate
form from the Office of Student Disabilities at the beginning of the quarter,
if they wish special accommodation. You may drop the class up until the last
class, according to the UCLA Registrar. I reserve the right to change the
content of this syllabus for any reason including the accommodation of guest speakers. “You see they will choke to death and die with the secret in
them rather than tell you what they want.” (Wyer, Reference Work,
1930).
|
|
|