INF 2136H
http://mccaffrey.ischool.utoronto.ca/2136/index.html
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L0101
Thursday, 6:30PM-9:30PM, BL 507
Mike McCaffrey (Instructor)
Office: Rm 611, 140 St. George St. (Bissell)
Voice: 416-604-2651
Twitter: @mjmccaffrey (#inf2136 #govinfo #inf2115 #inf2137 #inf2138)
michael.mccaffrey@utoronto.ca
Office Hours : By appointment
Course website: http://mccaffrey.ischool.utoronto.ca/2136/
About the Course
Course Objectives
The primary objective of this course is to demystify government information. Given the extent to which governments of all sorts are involved
in our lives, acquiring an understanding of their information policies and activities is an important part of virtually any information
professional's skill set.
Much of the course will be devoted to an examination of the polices and practices of Canadian federal, provincial and local governments. In
some ways, however, the underlying nature of government information policies and processes is universal. The corporate culture of
bureaucracies and the political pressures most governments face are quite similar regardless of jurisdiction or level of government.
Competence in government information librarianship is thus a skill which is transferrable and the lessons learned from situations in foreign
countries and in international governmental organizations can provide some insight into the management of Canadian government
information. We will therefore devote some time to the publications of the American and British governments as well as key international
organizations.
In this course, I aim to:
Give you an understanding of the current policies and practices of Canadian federal, provincial and local governments in the publishing,
recording of and access to government information.
Train you in the use of foreign, principally American and British, national documents and international, principally UN, documents.
Give you an understanding of the various means by which government information is publicized and distributed.
Enable you to evaluate and use the various bibliographical tools for finding and classifying information.
Expose you to the various approaches to managing government information in librarie and information centress, including the problems
of acquiring, classifying, using and promoting this material.
Explore the needs of users in an effort to determine appropriate collection development policies for libraries.
Examine the world of document librarianship in an effort to understand the role of professional organizations in resource sharing,
continuing education, and the lobbying of governments to enact change in their information policies.
Explore the role of the private sector in managing access to government information.
Discuss the basics of adjunct materials such as data files and maps.
To my mind, government information librarianship is one of the most challenging and interesting of all collection management and public
service careers. Unlike most information providers, governments are driven by politics and the bureaucratic mindset rather than by market
forces and the need to turn a profit. The normal rules thus do not apply. The breadth of the topics governments have studied and on which
they have published is astounding. It is truly a challenging field. Even if documents librarianship not for you, however, you will find that the
skills taught in this course are useful in virtually all forms of library and knowledge work. Oddly enough, I have found that, while proficiency
in this sort of work requires a certain intuition, it is, if you'll pardon the expression, an "acquired intuition." It is indeed a challenging and
fascinating field.
Student Learning Outcomes
The Faculty of Information has established six Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for the MI programme which may be found here:
http://current.ischool.utoronto.ca/studies/learning-outcomes. INF2136 addresses all six to a certain extent but SLOs 1, 5 and, I hope, 6 are
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particularly relevant.
Course Basics
The course is designed to be delivered via a series of lectures. In dadition, a significant amount of classtime wil be given over to practical
exercises and work designed to ensure that students are able to manage government information and to provide competent reference
services.
Course Evaluation
There is no exam for this course. Evaluation of student progress is made via a series of exercises and assignments spread throughout the
term:
Assignment 1: Legislative Exercise (20%)
You will be assigned three pieces of legislation (bills) and will trace their passage through both Houses of Parliament.
Due: October 22nd, 2015
Assignment 2: Statute/Regulations Exercise (20%)
You will be assigned a Federal Statute and will be required to give citations t oassemble the text of the law and all regulations made
under it, current as at a certain, assigned, date. Instructions will be given out with the assignment.
Due: November 5th, 2015
Assignment 3: Issue Paper (30%)
Students will prepare a brief paper providing background information on a current government policy issue, a piece of legislation before
Parliamen, or the work of a specific government Department or Agencyt. Detailed instructions and an approved list of topics will be
provided in class.
Due:December 10th, 2015
Assignment 4: Reference Exercise (30%)
An assignment in which typical reference questions are posed for which you have to find the answer. For each question, you will be
expected to write a couple of sentences on the manner in which you approached it and the lessons you may have learned. For a few of
the questions, I will require a more detailed description of your work.
Due: December 17th, 2015
All assignments are due at the beginning of the designated class. Late assignments will not be accepted and will result in a failure (F grade)
unless formal permission for an extension has been negotiated with the instructor in advance of the due date.
Students with a Disability or Health Concern
Students with diverse learning styles and needs are welcome in this course. In particular, if you have a disability or health consideration that
may require accommodations, please feel free to approach the instructor and/or the Accessibility Services Office at:
http://www.accessibility.utoronto.ca/ as soon as possible. The Accessibility Services staff are available by appointment to assess specific
needs, provide referrals, and arrange appropriate accommodations. The instructor will do everything in his power to assist students in their
completion of the course however any changes in assignment due dates must be agreed to in advance in writing.
Grading Policies
Evaluation of student work will conform to guidelines found in the University of Toronto's Grading Practices Policy available at:
http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies.htm. According to this source, grades in the A range (A+, A and A-) are defined as being
“excellent” and grades in the B range (B+, B, B-) are defined as being “good.”
Academic Integrity
The essence of academic life revolves around respect not only for the ideas of others, but also their rights to those ideas and their
promulgation. It is therefore essential that all of us engaged in the life of the mind take the utmost care that the ideas and expressions of
ideas of other people always be appropriately handled, and, where necessary, cited. For writing assignments, when ideas or materials of
others are used, they must be cited. Please acquaint yourself with the University of Toronto’s Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters at:
http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/behaveac.htm.
This work by Mike McCaffrey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
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Class Schedule
Note: Links will not work until the material is uploaded. This will be done on a weekly basis throughout the term.
Sept. 17
Introduction: Objectives, Assignments. Structure and Organization of the Government of
Canada.
Sept. 24
Government Information Dissemination Policies. Bibliographic Control, Sale and Distribution
of Canadian Federal Government Publications. Key general reference tools and web sites.
Distribution of Assignment 1
Oct 1
Parliamentary Papers: Journals; Debates; Reports and Proceedings of Committees;
Sessional Papers. Bills.
Distribution of Assignment 2
Oct. 8
Bill Tracing Exercises. Federal Statutes and Gazettes.
Oct. 15
Statute Updating Exercises. Regulations.
Oct. 22
Regulation Tracing Exercises. Royal Commissions, White papers, Green Papers. Structure of
the Government of Ontario. Sale and Distribution of Provincial Government Publications.
Assignment 1 due
Oct. 29
Introduction to Statistics. Foreign and International Sources of Statistics.
Nov 5
Canadian Statistics.
Assignment 2 due. Distribution of Assignment 3 and Assignment 4
Nov 12
Reading Week (no classes)
Nov 19
Introduction to International Organization Information. United Nations Publications.
Nov 26
Bretton Woods Institutions. The OECD. The EU.
Dec 3
US, UK and other Foreign National Government Information
Dec 10
Trends in Canadian Government Information Dissemination Policies. Collection Development
Issues. Professional Development. Concluding Remarks.
Assignment 3 due
Dec 17
Assignment 4 due
This work by Mike McCaffrey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
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