Course Overview | Contact Information | Text and Course Packets | Course Resources | Schedule | Requirements | Code of Academic Integrity | Group Projects

This course examines the principles of identifying, selecting, acquiring, managing, and evaluating information resources for various groups of users in different information environments. The objectives of this course are to:

• acquire an understanding of the principles involved in the production and dissemination of information;
• become aware of the methodologies used in determining the information needs of users in libraries and other information environments;
• gain a knowledge of the user study research literature and its application to information resource development; and,
• become familiar with the principles and practices involved in the development of information resources and with the process of resource selection and evaluation.

Office: Room 10, 621-5220
Email: shirsh@u.arizona.edu
Office Hours: Tu, Th 11AM-12PM, or by appointment
Class Time: 9:30-10:45AM, Tu, Th
Class Listserv: LIS560

Required Textbook
Author: Evans
Title: Developing Library and Information Center Collections
Edition: 3rd
Publisher: Libraries Unlimited
ISBN: 1-56308-183-0
Cover: paperback

Required Reading Packet
A collection of readings is available for purchase from the ASUA Bookstore. These readings are required.

Week 2 (1/20, 1/22) - History of Collection Development
Evans, Ch. 1
Broadus (1991)

Week 3 (1/27, 1/29) - Collection Development Policies
Evans, Ch. 3
Bostic (1988)
Snow (1996)

Week 4 (2/3, 2/5) - Needs Assessment
Evans, Ch. 2

Week 5 (2/10, 2/12) - Selection/Weeding
Evans, Ch. 4 (SKIM), Ch. 5 (READ), Ch. 14 (READ)
Heinzkill (1990)
Huntwork (1990)
Library Journal Classics (1996)
Rutledge & Swindler (1987)

Week 6 (2/17, 2/19) – Acquisitions
Evans, Ch. 6, 11-12
Biblarz (1995)
Nardini (1993)
Sasse & Smith (1992)
Peters (1997)
GUEST SPEAKER (2/19): Steve Bosch (U of A Main Library)

Week 7 (2/24, 2/26) – Intellectual Freedom/Censorship
Evans, Ch. 19
Asheim (1983)
Balwin (1996)
Library Bill of Rights
Access to Electronic Information, Services and Networks: An Interpretation
GUEST SPEAKER (2/26): Susan Dabbs (TUSD, Townsend Elementary)

Week 8 (3/3, 3/5) – Collection Evaluation
Evans, Ch. 15
Carrigan (1996)
Goldstein (1992)
Seavey (1992)
GUEST SPEAKER (3/5): Annette Meyer and Michelle Grey (TPPL)

Week 9 (3/10, 3/12) – Electronic Resources
Evans, Ch. 10
Nisonger (1996)
Rettig (1996)
Tillman (1997)

Week 11 (3/24, 3/26) – Other Special Formats
Evans, Ch. 7-9

Week 12 (3/31, 4/2) – Resource Sharing
Evans, Ch. 16
Brin & Cochran (1994)
Dannelly (1995)
Ferguson, Grant & Rutstein (1988)
Harloe & Budd (1994)
Line (1996)

Week 13 (4/7, 4/9) – Fiscal Issues
Evans, Ch. 13
GUEST SPEAKER (4/9): Nancy Buchanan (Pima Community College Library)

Week 14 (4/14, 4/16) – Preservation/Conservation
Evans, Ch. 17
GUEST SPEAKER (4/16): Carrie Russell (U of A Main Library - Copyright Librarian)

Week 15 (4/21, 4/23) – Legal/Copyright Issues
Evans, Ch. 18
Timeline
Copyright Basics
Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure
Samuelson (1997)

Week 16 (4/28, 4/30) – Future of Collection Development
Evans, Ch. 20
Atkinson (1989)
Drake (1989)
GUEST SPEAKER (4/30): Chestaline Pintozzi (U of A Main Library)

Policy Paper 15%

Research Paper 20%

Web Resource Project 30%

Final Exam 25%

Participation 10%

Policy Paper (15%) (Due: Feb. 19^th)
Write a 5-7 page double-spaced paper comparing and critiquing five collection development policies that you find on the Internet or print policies that you gather directly from libraries/information centers yourself. You will want to compare the policies from the same type of library (e.g., research libraries, four-year college libraries, public libraries, community college libraries, school libraries, special libraries, etc.). To help you get started finding collection development policies, refer to Collection Development Policies: Web and Print Resources.

Research Paper (20%) (Topic Due: Feb. 3^rd; Paper Due: April 2^nd)
Write a research paper on a topic related to this course; you must get my approval for the topic. The paper should be approximately 10-15 double-spaced pages and include references to the relevant literature.

Web Resource Project (25% - web site; 5% - critiques) (Project Due: April 21^st; Critique Due: April 30^th)
The purpose of this assignment is to perform collection development functions in a particular subject area. You are required to select, evaluate, organize, and present a set of Internet resources in this chosen subject area with your team; this process is intended to mirror the collection development process with print and other materials. You will work with your team to create a Web page that will be placed on the class Web page so that your project will be available to the other students in the class.

Teams of approximately 4-5 students will be formed to perform collection development activities on a particular library-related or information-related topic. Last semester, student groups collected Web resources on diverse library and information science topics such as Archives, Copyright, Digital Imaging, and Young Adult Literature. Check out last year's internet collection development sites for some ideas.

An important part of this project is to collect and present a set of resources that meets the needs of a particular user group. The scope of the collection development project also needs to be specified. After the teams are formed, you will be asked to write up a brief statement of topics to be covered and for whom this collection will be designed; you will submit this to me via email so that I can keep track of the projects that are underway. It is possible that your scope and audience will change as you explore the resources available over the Internet. This is fine, but let me know.

Your team will search the Internet for relevant resources. These resources may include gopher sites, web sites, listservs, electronic journals, etc. Some resources over the Internet may be fee-based. Be sure to consider these as well. However, it is not enough just to identify all of the resources that have something to do with your subject area. As an information professional, it is your responsibility to evaluate the quality and utility of the resources. Include only those resources that you consider to be authoritative and of high quality. During this phase, keep your audience and scope in mind.

You will need to annotate your selected list of information resources. Write a brief sentence or two for each of the resources you select, to give the people using your site an idea of what they will find when they click on that resource. In addition, devise a method for organizing your collection of resources. Consider your audience and the scope of the collection. How would someone visiting your site be interested in using this information? What type of organization would be most useful?

Each team is expected to code in HTML its own collection and "publish" it on the Web. You will receive more instructions about this later in the class.

The final part of the assignment is for each student, on an individual basis, to critique at least 3 other team Web sites. Write a one-page evaluation for each of the sites (for a total of 3 pages).

Final Exam (25%) (In-Class, May 5^th)
You will be asked to answer several essay-type questions that require you to bring together, in your own words, the primary issues related to collection development.

Participation (10%)
Participation is an important part of the class. You are expected to participate in class and listserv discussions. You should also consider joining a collection development listserv, such as COLLDV-L. Subscription requests should be sent to listproc@usc.edu with the message being SUBSCRIBE COLLDV-L <Your Name>.

The following policy applies to work done for this class:

Students assume full responsibility for the content and integrity of the academic work they submit. The guiding principle of academic integrity shall be that a student's submitted work, examinations, reports or projects must be that student's own work. Actions constituting a violation of the Code shall include those outlined below. Students shall be guilty of violating the Code and be subject to proceedings under it if they:

1. Represent the work of others as their own.
2. Use or obtain unauthorized assistance in any academic work.
3. Give unauthorized assistance to other students.
4. Modify, without faculty approval, an examination, paper, record, or report for the purpose of obtaining additional credit.
5. Fail to meet other conditions of academic integrity as required by a faculty member for a specific course.

This is excerpted from the University of Arizona "Code of Academic Integrity." There is also a version in the University of Arizona Student pages which explains the Code even more clearly. If you are not sure what any of this means, please ask. The University and the School interpret this code strictly. Unless specific permission is granted for group, or team projects, work you submit for this class should reflect only your own efforts.

Last updated April 15, 1998
If you have questions, contact Sandy Hirsh.
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