GORDON MUIR Fall 2009
LIB105 Introduction to Information
and Technology Literacy
SECTION YE: "Biology - The Chemistry of Life" Learning Community
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.”
Please 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 understanding of the principles and
concepts of information technologies through oral and
written
assignments.
This class is a component of "Biology - The Chemistry of Life"
Learning
Community. As my contribution to the learning community, I will be
attending your Biology Lab regularly. Three of your Biology
Lab sessions
(September 22nd, October 27th, December 1st -- the labs that deal with
individual or group presentations) will take place in another location
(Feinberg 129)
instead of
the Biology Lab. Oral expression, via public
presentations, is a
required
component of learning communities. Each
presentation will be
evaluated by your
classmates, your lab aide,
Janice Marchut Conrad,
Peter Conrad and me
according to the criteria
listed in the back of your
Biology lab protocol book.
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, evaluate and cite information
resources. Some of you may be
familiar with all the technology tools I will be
using in class; others may
have little or no experience using the various
technology tools.
For this class students should always bring a computer storage device.
Some of the work you do in class is directly applicable to what you will be
doing in other courses in the Learning Community.
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 (or students) is encouraged.
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 tools
[GraphPad
Prism],
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
FRIDAY 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. You
can always
contact me via email. 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
Interview
40%
Email Exam questions
7%
Total
100%
Grading Technology Literacy Component:
Word 10%
Prism
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 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
8/25 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 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 an email
message to
gordon.muir@plattsburgh.edu responding to the questions from
class.
9/1
Chapter
2: Taking Charge
In Class #2 A &
B on Background (Reference) Sources
Graphing: GraphPad Prism 5 - which you will use in BIO Lab
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.
9/8 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
9/15
Chapter 4: Metadata and the Power of Controlled Vocabularies
In Class #4 on locating books
Citing Books using scientific citation format (use this)
PowerPoint
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?
9/22
Chapter 5: Library Catalogs and Journal Databases
In Class #5 on locating full text articles
Homework: p.94 #4, 9
PowerPoint Assignment
9/29 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
10/6 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.
10/13 No Class this week
10/20 Interviews Begin
Date This Page Last Edited
09/29/09
Gordon Muir gordon.muir@plattsburgh.edu