Course Description

Introduction to the individual, social, and institutional perspectives of organizing information. Students examine the assumptions, practices, issues and tools of commonly used subject analysis and classification systems in various types of information organizations. The impact of different approaches to accessing information is emphasized. (Required) Prerequisite: LI 801 or concurrent enrollment.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Discuss information access systems and how they reflect the world view of the people devising them.
2. Explain and provide examples of systems that have been developed to make sense of collections of information.
3. Explain how theories of organization can be applied to the design of information retrieval systems.
4. Identify appropriate approaches to the organization of information materials and resources in various situations and environments.
5. Demonstrate relationships between information packages and collections, and theories and practices of their organization.

Required Readings

Taylor, A.G., & Joudrey, D. N. (2009). The organization of information (3rd ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Additional readings available in Course Reserves:

Chapman, A. (2008). RDA: A cataloguing code for the 21st century. Library & Information Update, 7(9), 28-30.

Gross, T., & Taylor, T. G. (2005). What have we got to lose: The effect of controlled vocabulary on keyword searching results. College & Research Libraries, 66, 212-230.

Smiraglia, R. P. (2005). Introducing metadata. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 40(3/4), 1-15.

Svenonius, E. (2000). LCSH: Semantics, syntax and specificity. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 29(1/2), 17-30.

Wellish, H. H. (1996). Aboutness and selection of topics. Key Words, 4(2), 7-9.

Wichowski, A. (2009). Survival of the fittest tag: Folksonomies, findability, and the evolution of information organization. First Monday, 14(5). Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2447/2175

Assignments

Tentative Course Outline

Grading Criteria

All assignments must be submitted before 11:30 p.m. CT (Emporia Time) on the due date. Late assignments are subject to lowering of the grade by one letter grade per day late. Exceptions will be made only in extenuating circumstances.

Also, please adhere closely to writing and online submission format guidelines posted on Blackboard. Lack of adherence to these guidelines will affect your grade. For more information, please refer to the grading rubric attached to instructions for each assignment posted on Blackboard.

You are also expected to attend all face-to-face sessions, participate in class discussion, review online presentations, and participate in online discussion. Please be advised that falling behind in any of these activities will affect your knowledge as well as participation grade, which can then affect your overall grade.

SLIM Grading Scale*

*The SLIM Grading Scale does not apply to pass/fail courses. Instead, each pass/fail course instructor will determine the number of points that must be earned to pass the course successfully.

SLIM Attendance Policy

Students must attend all face-to-face classes.

In cases of emergency, see SLIM's Policy and Procedures for Absence from a Class Weekend due to Illness or Personal Emergency (PDF).

SLIM Grade Policy      

All graduate courses included in the SLIM MLS and doctoral programs' required curricula or their approved substitutions must be passed with a final grade of B- or better to receive academic credit.  If a student does not receive a final grade of B- or better in any or all of SLIM’s required classes, then the student will be placed on academic probation and notified by the office of the director of program administration that he or she must retake that course or those courses.  

When a student has been placed on academic probation, an administrative hold will be placed on the student’s record to block future enrollment. The administrative hold can only be released by the student’s academic advisor or by the SLIM dean or director of program administration.  Before enrollment can be done, the student is required to meet with the student’s academic advisor with the goal of developing an academic improvement plan.

If a student has a semester GPA of less than 3.0 for two semesters or is on academic probation for two semesters, then the student’s academic progress will be reviewed in light of the academic improvement plan by the student’s program director, the SLIM dean, and the SLIM director of program administration, and a decision will be made regarding whether the student should be academically dismissed from the SLIM’s graduate program.  This policy goes into effect fall 2009 semester.  This SLIM Grade Policy applies to all SLIM students, including those students who entered SLIM under the 42-credit-hour MLS program, the 36-credit-hour MLS program, or the SLIM doctoral program.  It will also apply to all those who have passed into MLS or doctoral degree candidacy.

SLIM Incomplete Grade Policy

SLIM’s Incomplete Grade Policy upholds the Emporia State University Incomplete Grade Policy (for full policy, go to: http://www.emporia.edu/grad/docs/policyhandbook2.pdf).

SLIM’s Incomplete Grade Policy further stipulates that an incomplete request will not be considered approved without an Incomplete Request Form having been submitted by the instructor and approved by the SLIM dean within two weeks after the issuance of the incomplete.  If the incomplete grade is being requested for reasons of health, then documentation must be submitted to the SLIM dean’s office before the final grade change is made. 

If a SLIM student’s request for a single incomplete grade is approved by the instructor and dean, then the student will be limited to enrolling in six credit hours in the immediately succeeding semester.  If a SLIM student requests more than one incomplete grade to be issued at the conclusion of a semester, then an administrative hold will be placed on the student’s record to block future enrollment until all incomplete grades are finished and the final grade changes have been submitted by the instructor(s), signed by the SLIM dean, and accepted by the ESU Registrar’s Office.

Faculty-Initiated Student Withdrawal Procedure

Students should be aware that your instructor follows the university’s policy of faculty-initiated student withdrawal. It reads as follows: “If a student’s absences from class or disruptive behavior become detrimental to the student’s progress or that of other students in the class, the faculty member shall attempt to contact the student in writing about withdrawing from the class and shall seek the aid of the office of Vice President of Student Affairs to help insure contacting the Student. The Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs shall provide the student information about the existing appeals procedures. Upon receiving a written report from the faculty member, the Vice President of Student Affairs may initiate a student withdrawal from the class. None of the above implies or states that faculty members are required to initiate the student withdrawals for excessive absence. [Policy and Procedures Manual 43.11]

Academic Dishonesty

At Emporia State University, academic dishonesty is a basis for disciplinary action. Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to activities such as cheating and plagiarism (presenting as one's own the intellectual or creative accomplishments of another without giving credit to the source or sources.)

The faculty member in whose course or under whose tutelage an act of academic dishonesty occurs has the option of failing the student for the academic hours in question and may refer the case to other academic personnel for further action. Emporia State University may impose penalties for academic dishonesty up to and including expulsion from the university.

Disabilities Policy

Emporia State University will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Students need to contact the Director of Disability Services and the professor as early in the semester as possible to ensure that classroom and academic accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. All communication between students, the Office of Disability Services, and the professor will be strictly confidential.

Contact information for the Office of Disability Services:
Office of Disability Services
211 S Morse Hall
Emporia State University
1200 Commercial Street / Box 23
Emporia, KS 66801
Phone : 620/341-6637
TTY: 620/341-6646
Email: [email protected]