UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

School of Information Resources & Library Science

 

IRLS 501

Knowledge Structures

Fall 2003

Instructor: Deborah J. Karpuk

E-Mail: arizonakarpuk@aol.com

(Use for individual communication)

Course Objective:

This course provides a framework for understanding the organization of information and the implications for knowledge management. Decisions regarding the organization of materials, access points, vocabulary control, thesauri, and user perspectives will be covered.

 

Course Meetings:

IRLS 501 will meet:

WebCT General Chat: August 27th (6:30-8:00 p.m. Arizona time)

Agenda: Review of Syllabus and Individual Project

[Session will be archived and posted to the Discussion Board]

UA Weekends (Classroom: Modern Languages, Room 301)

Weekend #1: Sept. 6/7th (9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.)

Agenda: Readings listed under Weekend #1

WebCT General Chat: Sept. 24th (6:30-8:00 p.m. Arizona time)

Agenda: Review core concepts; q/a on Individual Project

[Session will be archived and posted to the Discussion Board]

Weekend #2: Oct. 18/19th (9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.)

Agenda: Readings listed under Weekend #2

 

WebCT General Chat: Nov. 12th (6:30-8:00 p.m. Arizona time)

Agenda: Review core concepts; q/a on Individual Project

[Session will be archived and posted to the Discussion Board]

Weekend #3: Nov. 22/23rd (9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.)

Agenda: Readings listed under Weekend #3

WebCT General Chat: Dec. 3rd (6:30-8:00 p.m. Arizona time)

Agenda: Final questions about Individual Project; Review submission guidelines

[Session will be archived and posted to the Discussion Board]

 

 

Course Text:

The course text is available at the University bookstore.

Rowley, Jennifer and John Farrow. ORGANIZING KNOWLEDGE: AN INTRODUCTION TO MANAGING ACCESS TO INFORMATION. 3rd ed. (Burlington, Vt.: Gower, 2000) [Entire text will be read for IRLS 501]

 

 

Additional Readings:

(ELECTRONIC RESERVES) [Available after August 15th]

IRLS 501 section 901

Password: karpuk501

The instructor will distribute additional readings in class.

 

 

Individual Project:

The individual project will be detailed on a separate sheet.

Core components of the project include. The DRAFT dates provide for beginning each of the project sections during the week on campus.

Points for each section will be assigned with FINAL SUBMISSION.

This strategy provides the opportunity to begin each area of the project as the topic is being covered in class lecture, simulation exercises and discussion.

Application Points DRAFT Due

Non-bibliographical organizational problem

20

Sept. 6, 2003

Bibliographic description

10

Sept. 6, 2003

Subject headings, thesauri, indexes

20

Oct. 18, 2003

Classification

10

Oct. 18, 2003

User Perspectives and searching

20

Nov. 22, 2003

Final project and debriefing

20

Dec. 10, 2003

PROJECTS WILL BE MAILED TO DR. K’s POST OFFICE BOX.

Include sufficient postage for the return of your project.

Project detailed on separate handout also posted to SIRLS website.

 

Methodology:

This course will be conducted through lecture, class discussion, in-class exercises, an individual project, and online discussions. The instructor retains the option to examine on course content. Participation is required.

 

Grading:

Grading Scale:

A

93+

B

86-92

C

78-85

D

70-77

F

69 and below

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Attendance is required in order to get an "A" in the class. Classes begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. and end promptly at 5:00 p.m. Office hours before class, during lunch hour, and immediately after class preferred. Use: arizonakarpuk@aol.com for individual communication.

 

 

Organization of Course Topics:

The course is divided into three sections. Read course materials PRIOR to the class session. Review the readings, class lecture and simulation exercises and APPLY the information to your project.

 

Weekend #1: Sept. 6/7

Section I:

 

Readings:

Borges "The Library of Babel"

Rowley pages 3-92

Borgman "Access to information", p. 53-80.

Svenonius "Information organization", p. 1-14; "Bibliographic objectives", p. 15-30.

Rosenfeld "Organizing information", p. 22-46.

Electronic Reserves:

Katz Indexing and Abstracting Services: General and Collections

Brown Limits to Information

Class Handouts (examples, exercises, discussion points)

 

 

Weekend #2: Oct. 18/19

Section II:

Readings:

Rowley pages 52-271

Borgman "Why are digital libraries hard to use", p. 117-141

Winchester "Roget and his brilliant, unrivaled, malign, and detestable thesaurus", The Atlantic Monthly, May 2001 [Available through WWW, UMI Proquest]

Petroski "Order, order", p. 233-252 in THE BOOK ON THE BOOKSHELF (New York: Knopf, 1999) [will bring to class]

 

Electronic Reserves:

Hurt Multidisciplinary Sources of Information

Stokes The Nature of Bibliography

Tibbo Abstracting Across the Disciplines

Blazek Accessing Information in Religion

Blazek Introduction to the Humanities

Herron General Social Sciences

Class Handouts (examples, exercises, discussion points)

 

Weekend #3: Nov. 22/23

Section III:

Readings:

Rowley pages 275-391

Electronic Reserves:

Stokes Naming of Parts

Von Seggern General Information Seeking in Changing Times

Lavely Student Abstracts, Scientific Method

Spanner Border Crossings

Day Introduction: Remembering Information

Day Conclusion: Information and the Role of Critical Theory

Ashley Users’ Information-seeking Behavior

Bowler Primary School Students, Information Literacy

Class Handouts (examples, exercises, discussion points)

 

Students are invited to bring additional readings and examples from research projects.