The University of Arizona

The University of Arizona Fall 2002

School of Information Resources and Dr. Bill Edgar

Library Science Office Phone: 621-5220

E-Mail: bedgar@u.arizona.edu

Office: No. 2

Office Hours: Tuesday, 1-3:00;

Wednesday, 3-5; or by appointment

IRLS 524

Information Resources Evaluation

Course Description: This course is designed to familiarize students with the theory, practice, and issues of reference services in libraries and information centers. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to describe the principal features of reference services in a variety of environments. Specific topics covered include information provision theory; information seeking and retrieval; the history and philosophy of reference services; types of reference services; reference service in different library environments; the reference interview; the fundamentals of bibliographic control; the evaluation of reference sources and services; the management of reference services; specific types of reference sources, in both physical and digital format; and other topics. Learning will be through lecture, group presentations, guest speakers, evaluation of reference sources, use of reference sources to answer specific reference questions, and completion of a final project guiding library users to appropriate reference sources in a topic. Three credit hours.

Prerequisite: None

Virtual Class Meetings: Class discussions will be on-going. This means that students do not have to be at their computer at specific times.

The instructor will be responding to postings and initiating new ones on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons from1-3 P.T. (M.T. after the time change.) This means that responses from the instructor during the work-week will be at most on a 48 hour turn-around.

The first posting, of the class information and schedule, will be done on Mon. Aug. 26 or as soon after that as allowed by Web CT. Thereafter, all assignments will be due on the assigned Friday by 10 p.m. P.T. (M.T. after the time change) and all lectures will be posted on Friday afternoons. The lectures and assignments posted or due on a given Friday will form the basis of the next week's discussion.

In addition I will hold office hours on Tuesday afternoons from 1-3 p.m. and on Wednesday afternoons (with a few Wednesdays excepted, which I will announce in advance) from 3-5 p.m. During these times I will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis for drop-ins or phone calls. Of course, I will also be available for phone or in-person appointments. Please note that I will be at conferences the week of Nov. 18-22 and so will not be available that week to respond to postings.

Recommended Readings and other Requirements:

Recommended Text:

Katz, W.A. (2002). Introduction to Reference Work, vols. 1 and 2. 8^th edition. Boston: McGraw Hill.

For those of you near Tucson, some copies of this are available at the U.A. Bookstore.

Also, the following journals and professional association support the provision of reference services:

Journals: RSR (Reference Services Review), The Reference Librarian, Reference and User Services Quarterly

Professional Association: The American Library Association - Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) (http://www.ala.org/rusa/)

Finally, please note that it is required that you have physical access to a good university library to complete this course. This is your responsibility, not that of the instructor nor that of your classmates.

Assignments and Evaluation:

All students are required to:

Complete two reference worksheets. A handout describing this assignment will be provided.
Due: September 27, October 18
Value: 30%

Complete one source evaluation. A handout describing this assignment will be provided.
Due: October 25
Value: 10%

Complete one group written report and discussion. A handout describing this assignment will be provided.
Due: October 18, 25, November 1, 8, and 15
Value: 20%

Complete a Pathfinder in digital format, either posted to the World Wide Web or submitted to the instructor electronically. A handout describing this assignment will be provided.
Due: Interim reports 1 and 2, Sept. 20 and October 4; Final Pathfinder, December 6
Value: 40%

Please note:

Late work will lose one letter grade from the grade it would have gotten had it been turned in on time. However, the final project, the Pathfinder, will not be accepted late.
Assignments are due no later than 10 p.m. PT (MT after the time change) on the their assigned due date.
Please include your name on the first page of all your assignments.

Grading criteria:

A=90-100
B=80-89
C=70-79
D=60-69
F=59 and below

Attendance and Class Participation:

Class participation will have no specific grade value. However, meaningful and active participation will contribute to a student’s final grade by increasing it slightly (for example from a high B to a low A). Conversely, inappropriate and disruptive participation will lower a student’s final grade.

Academic Misconduct:

Academic misconduct is unacceptable. The appropriate UA regulations regarding it will be enforced.

Schedule of Topics and Assignments:

1. Week of August 26-30
Introduction to Course

2. Week of Sept. 2-6
Lecture Topic: Information Provision Overview
Assignments for Group Presentation: Sept. 6

3. Week of Sept. 9-13
Lecture Topic: Information Provision Overview

4. Week of Sept. 16-20
Lecture Topic: Bibliographic Control
Lecture Topic: Bibliographies and Catalogs
Recommended Text Readings: Vol. 1, chapters 3-4
Due Sept. 20: Interim Report 1

5. Week of Sept. 23-27
Lecture Topic: Indexes and Encyclopedias
Recommended Text Readings: Vol. 1, chapters 5-7
Due Sept. 27: Reference Worksheet 1

6. Week of Sept. 30-Oct. 4
Lecture Topic: Background to Reference
Recommended Text Readings: Vol. 1, chapters 1-2
Due Oct. 4: Interim Report 2

7. Week of Oct. 7-11
Lecture Topic: Reference Interview
Recommended Text Readings: Vol. 2, chapters 7-8

8. Week of Oct. 14-18
Lecture Topic: Types of Users
Recommended Text Readings: Vol. 2, chapters 1-2
Due Oct. 18: Group Presentations
Group 1
Group 2
Due Oct. 18: Reference Worksheet 2

9. Oct. 21-25
Lecture Topic: Types of Materials
Due Oct. 25: Group Presentations
Group 3
Group 4
Due Oct. 25: Source Evaluation

10. Week of Oct. 28-Nov. 1
Lecture Topic: Information Needs/Retrieval/Use
Due Nov. 1: Group Presentations
Group 5
Group 6

11. Week of Nov. 4-Nov. 8
Lecture Topic: Ready Reference Sources
Recommended Text Readings: Vol. 1, chapters 8, 12
Guest Speaker
Due Nov 8: Group Presentations
Group 7
Group 8

12. Week of Nov. 11-15
Lecture Topic: Dictionaries
Recommended Text Readings: Vol. 1, chapter 10
Guest Speaker
Due Nov 15: Group Presentations
Group 9
Group 10

13. Week of Nov. 18-22

No Postings from Instructor this Week

14. Week of Nov. 25-29
Lecture Topic: Biographical and Geographical Sources
Recommended Text Readings: Vol. 1, chapters 9,11
No postings from instructor on Friday Nov. 29 (the day after Thanksgiving)

15. Week of Dec. 2-6
Class Evaluations
Finish Final Pathfinder Projects
Due Dec. 6: Final Pathfinder Projects