UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

 

School of Information Resources & Library Science

 

 

IRLS 501

Knowledge Structures

Winter 2003/2004

 

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: December 23rd (Tuesday, 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]

 

WebCT General Chat: December 30th (Tuesday, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Arizona time)

            Agenda: Questions on Individual Project

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

 

UA Sessions: (January 3rd-7th; 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. – will adjust slightly)

            Location: Education 333

 

 

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

            Agenda: Project Debriefing

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

 

 

PLEASE NOTE:  arizonakarpuk@aol.com best for contacting Dr. K

 

 

 

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) [Will advise of availability]

 

IRLS 501 section

Password:

 

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

Jan. 3, 2004

Bibliographic description

10

Jan. 3, 2004

Subject headings, thesauri, indexes

20

Jan. 4, 2004

Classification

10

Jan. 5, 2004

User Perspectives and searching

20

Jan. 6, 2004

Final project and debriefing

20

Jan. 13, 2004

 

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

***

*****************

 

 

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.   Minor adjustment will be made on final class meeting day.

 

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. 

 

 

Approximate schedule as follows:

 

January 3, 2004

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)

 

 

 

January 4 & 5, 2004

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)

 

 

January 5, 6 & 7, 2004

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.