GORDON MUIR
Fall 2009
LIB105 Introduction to Information and Technology Literacy
SECTION O
OFFICE: Feinberg 329 PHONE NUMBER: 564-5304
EMAIL: gordon.muir@plattsburgh.edu
OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday
10:45am. to 11:45am.
Thursday 10:45am.
to 11:45am.
Via EMAIL or by Appointment.
SUNY Plattsburgh Honesty Policy Statement
"It is expected that all students enrolled in this class
support the letter and the spirit of
the Academic Honesty Policy as stated in
the college catalog." See p.34 of the 2009-
2010 Plattsburgh Undergraduate and
Graduate
Catalog for further information.
Course Objectives are for students to:
-
explore the nature and extent of an
information need;
- plan research strategies and access
information effectively;
- learn
the concepts and skills to evaluate information critically
and incorporate
the information;
- explore the economic, legal, and social issues connected with information
and
technology use;
-
employ skills to use computers and common academic software;
- develop
an introductory level of understanding of the principles and concepts
of
information technologies through oral and written assignments.
This course is on Information and Technology Literacy. Two thirds of the
course is
composed of the Information Literacy component. One third of the
course is composed
of Technology Literacy. Some of you will already be
fluent/partially fluent /marginally
fluent/woefully not fluent in accessing,
citing and using quality
information and
presenting
the information that you
locate in
a meaningful manner. I will be teaching
you how to
access, cite
and evaluate information
resources. Some of you may be
familiar with all
of the technology tools I
will be using in class; others may have little
to no
experience
using the
various technology tools.
For this class students should bring a
computer storage device. You
never know
when
you might find something that could be of use in another course.
Textbook: Badke, William B. Research Strategies:
Finding Your Way Through the
Information Fog. 3rd Edition. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2008
A copy of the text will be on reserve under LIB105. Sharing a copy
of the text with
another student is fine.
1. Classes: -- I expect students to come to class, since the course consists
of 1 class
meeting
per week for a total of 8 weeks and a 30 minute
interview. Students who
come to
class do
better in the course and on the Interview.
There will be some brief lectures/demonstrations on both the
library
information literacy
and
updating skills (or learning how to use)
various
types of
technology (word processing
graphing
[Excel], presentation
[PowerPoint]). There will be an
opportunity for you to
ask any
questions you might have and
frequently an in-class and/or
a homework
assignment that will give you
some practical experience using
each area of
the
library.
I expect you to turn in your
homework on time. The last date
for
withdrawing from
this course is Friday September 18, 2009.
2. Assignments: Your homework assignments
are due
via Email by 5:00PM. on the
MONDAY after the
class. The In Class
Assignments
should be turned in at the end of
the class
or slid under my office door. I will return
graded assignments via email or
in
class. My schedule is on my office door.
My policy
on
late
homework/In-class
assignments is as
follows. Assignments handed in
late
(up to 10 days after
the due date) will
receive reduced credit.
After that time, I will
not accept
late
assignments.
3. Grading Information Literacy Component:
In-Class Assignments
36%
Homework Assignments
17%
Optional assignments/Extra Credit varying
Oral Project
40%
Email Exam questions
7%
Total
100%
Grading Technology Literacy Component:
Word
10%
Excel
10%
PowerPoint
10%
Total
30%
Course
Total
130%
4. Interview --
At the end of the 8 weeks of class meetings I will schedule a
30-minute interview with
each student. During this interview, which
features a
question/answer/demonstrate
format, you
will demonstrate
what you have learned about accessing information in a
variety of
formats.
A further explanation of this will be given later in the semester.
5. The Interview will cover the material that would ordinarily be in a final
exam
for
the
course. The Email Exam questions will serve as a wrap up for
the course.
Syllabus
8/27
Introduction to course and computers, Email
Course Explanation: Syllabus, ANGEL, E-Reserves, etc.
Evolution of Scientific Information
In Class #1 on locating Primary and Secondary Sources
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Information Fog
Homework: p.14 #4, 8, and the question below:
Name a topic for which your research would change based upon the
need for primary rather than secondary information. Explain why.
Homework: Send a message to gordon.muir@plattsburgh.edu
responding to the questions
distributed in class.
9/3 Chapter 2: Taking Charge
In Class #2 A &
B on Background (Reference) Sources
Graphing: Excel Assessment
Homework: p.30 #3, 4, and the following question below:
When you
begin research on a topic for a paper, often you end
up pursuing a different topic than the one you began
researching. For example you may start with the topic of
global warming and end up with a paper on the shrinking
habitat of polar bears. How and why did this happen? Be
specific in your answer.
9/10 Chapter 3:
Database Searching with Keywords and Hierarchies
In Class #3 on locating journal articles
Citing journals using scientific citation format (use this)
Homework: Microsoft Word Assessment (see
handout)
Homework: p.48-49 # 5, 6, 7
9/17
Chapter 4: Metadata and the Power of Controlled Vocabularies
In Class #4 on locating books
Citing Books using scientific citation format (use this)
Excel
Assessment
Homework: p.68 #3 and the
questions below:
In your
opinion, what are the advantages to using a controlled
vocabulary?
What are the disadvantages to
using a controlled
vocabulary?
9/24
Chapter 5: Library Catalogs and Journal Databases
In Class #5 on locating full text articles
Homework: p.94 #4, 9
PowerPoint Assignment
10/1 Chapter 6: Internet Research
In Class #6 on Electronic Resources (Part 1)
Citing Web sites using scientific citation format (use this)
Homework: p. 117 #3, 4, 8
10/8 Chapter 7: Other
Resources and Case Studies in Research
In Class #6 on Evaluating Web sites (Part 2)
Use this to evaluate your website
Interview Review
Homework: p.134 #1
Extra Credit Homework 1: Answer the following
questions:
1) Explain plagiarism in your own words.
2) Explain the concept of ownership of information/copyright
as you understand it.
Extra Credit Homework 2: Describe your response to the
following statements:
1) If you can find some web pages on your topic, you don't
need to do any additional research.
2) If you can find some books on your topic and get access to
them, you don’t need to find any journal articles on the topic.
10/15 No Class this week
10/19 Interviews Begin
Date Last Modified
09/29/09
Page Maintained by Gordon Muir
gordon.muir@plattsburgh.edu