UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

 

School of Information Resources & Library Science

 

IRLS 501

Knowledge Structures I

 

Winter 2003

 

 

Instructor: Deborah J. Karpuk

E-mail: arizonakarpuk@aol.com

 

Office Hours: Before/after class

Virtual Office Hours: TBA

 

Class listserv: irls501-851@listserv.Arizona.EDU

Course Description:

Introduction to the theories and practices used in the organization of information. Overview of national and international standards and practices for access to information.

Course Objective: IRLS 501 provides a framework for understanding the organization of information and the implications for knowledge management including decisions regarding the organization of materials, access points, vocabulary control, thesauri, subject analysis and user perspectives.

Instructor Available: (via e-mail)

December 26-January 3, 2003

On-campus Meetings: 9:00 a.m. ñ 4:00 p.m.

January 6-January 10, 2003

Additional meeting times will be virtual.

Submit a brief overview of your background and interests in an e-mail to: arizonakarpuk@aol.com (please, no attachments)

In response, Individual Project instructions will be distributed, beginning December 26th.

 

 

 

 

 

Readings:

 

Rowley, Jennifer and John Farrow. Organizing knowledge: an introduction to managing access to information. 3RD ed. (Burlington, Vt.: Gower, 2000) [IRLS 501 text]

 

 

 

Additional Readings: (On IRLS 501 Course Reserve at UA Library)

Borges, Jorge Luis. "The Library of Babel" in FICCIONES (New York: Knopf, 1993) (Everymanís Library)

Borgman, Christine L. FROM GUTENBERG TO THE GLOBAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE: ACCESS TO INFORMAITON IN THE NETWORKED WORLD. (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000)

"Access to Information" ñ p. 53-80.

Svenonius, Elaine. THE INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATION OF INFORMATION ORGANIZATION. (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000)

"Information Organization" ñ p. 1-14.

"Bibliographic Objectives" ñ p. 15-30.

Rosenfeld, Louis and Peter Morville. INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE FOR THE WORLD WIDE WEB. 2nd ed. (Sebastopol, Calif.: OíReilly, 2002)

"Organizing Information" ñ p. 22-46.

The instructor will distribute additional readings and web references in class and via the IRLS 501 listserv.

 

Individual Project:

The individual project is detailed on a separate sheet. I will begin distributing the Individual Project instructions on December 26th (first day of Winter 2003 session) and assist you in refining your topic area.

Core components of the Individual Project include:

 

Non-bibliographic organizational problem

 

10

 

Draft due: January 6, 2003

 

Bibliographic description

 

10

 

Draft due: January 7, 2003

 

Subject headings, thesauri, indexes

 

10

 

Draft due: January 8, 2003

 

Classification

 

10

 

Draft due: January 9, 2003

 

User perspectives and searching

 

20

 

Draft due: January 10, 2003

 

Final project and debriefing

 

40

 

Final submission: TBA

 

Submission of Individual Project:

Option #1: Submit on last day of class

Option #2: PRIORITY or EXPRESS MAIL to:

Dr. Deb Karpuk

P.O. Box 270729

Littleton, Colorado 80127

Include POSTAGE AND MAILING LABEL FOR RETURN OF PROJECT.

 

Methodology:

This course is conducted through lecture, class discussion, in-class exercises and your individual project. The instructor retains the option to test on course content, therefore, do the reading. Participation is required.

 

Grading:

 

A

 

93+

 

B

 

86-92

 

C

 

78-85

 

D

 

70-77

 

F

 

69 and below

Attendance is required in order to get an "A" in this class.

 

Organization of Course Topics:

The course is divided into three sections.

Section I:

Readings:

Borges, "The Library of Babel"

Rowley, p. 3-92

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

Svenonius, "Information Organization"m o, 1-14; "Bibliographic Objectives", p. 15-30

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

Class handouts (examples, exercises, discussion points, additional supporting material)

 

Section II:

Readings:

Rowley, p. 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]

Class handouts (examples, exercises, discussion points, additional supporting material)

 

Section III:

Readings:

Rowley, p. 275-391

Class handouts (examples, exercises, discussion points, additional supporting material)

Students are invited to bring additional readings and examples to class. Individual projects will be discussed as we proceed through the course.

 

Contact Dr. K:

December 26th, contact Dr. K via the IRLS 501 listserv.

Individual Project instructions will be distributed to each of you individually. In this way, Dr. K can assist you in getting off to a well-planned and enjoyable exercise.