SCHOOL Of LIBRARY SCIENCE
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
LiS 460/560 INFORMATION RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
SUMMER II, 1996

Frank Gibbons, Adjunct Professor
Room:
Telephone:
Office Hour: 9:00am - 10:45am, daily

OBJECTIVES

The student should acquire an understanding of the principles involved in the production and dissemination of information in various areas of knowledge.

Students should become aware of the methodologies used in finding the information needs of library and information center users and in the study of the information seeking strategies of various client groups. Students should gain a nkowledge of the literature of user studies and its application to information resource development.

Students should become familiar with the principles and practices involved in the development of information resources and with the processes of resource selection and evaluation.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Students are expected to be familiar with the basics of acquiring information by means of information technology and will be encouraged to evaluate computer based information resources in specific subject fields.

Informed participation in class is expected.

Two papers are required as specified below, plus a Final Test

Paper 1: Evaluate some major electronic sources of information in a specified subject field and discuss the implications of your findings for the information resource development policy of a named type of library

Paper 2: For a stated subject field (probably the same one used for paper 1) outline a colleciton development policy for a library of named type (again robably the same type chosen for Paper 1)

Test: This will consist of six questions covering the entire course and 90 minutes will be allowed for the completion of THREE questions.

GRADING

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1 - Production and dissemination of information
Week 2 - Finding and meeting users' needs
Week 3 - Collection development: policies and practice
Week 4 - Information resources: evaluation
Week 5 - Acquisitions/Access

Discussion session s will take place during the final class meeting of Weeks 2, 3, and 4 and will afford an opportunity for class discussion of topics raised during the previous week(s). In every class meeting students will be encouraged to ask questions and also suggest topics for the weekly discussions

Students should discuss their choice of subject and type of library with Dr. Gibbons before commencing their papers. Students ae also encouraged to discuss with Dr. gibbons during the course the progress of their work both on their papers and on their preparation for the end of session Test.

READINGS

In addition to the set text and the readins appended below, students are encouraged to read as widely as possible on the themes of the course. The following list of periodicals is offered as a guide to some sources of current information on topics covered in this programme:



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