SYLLABUS--IIST 605
INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES
Spring 2016
Mondays 4:15-7:05, Husted 302
Instructor: Steve Black
blacks@strose.edu or seblack@albany.edu (I try to check my UAlbany mail daily, but I check
my Saint Rose e-mail more frequently)
(518) 458-5494
My office is in The College of Saint Rose library, at 392 Western Ave. I am normally in at least
9-4 Monday-Friday, plus some Sundays and evenings. You are welcome to visit! If you travel a
long distance to Albany, check ahead to be sure I'll be available.
SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES
The overall objective of this course is to prepare students to understand and perform
reference and information work in libraries. This course introduces students to a range of
information sources and the history, philosophy, and practice of reference services. By the end of
the semester, students should be able to:
 choose appropriate information sources to answer reference questions
 understand best practices of reference interviewing and developing effective search strategies
 describe methods and challenges of connecting library patrons to the most appropriate
information sources
 explain the role of reference services in helping patrons become information literate
 describe methods and challenges of promoting reference services
 discuss current issues in reference services, including policy issues in various library settings.
READINGS
See “Assignments” below. There is no textbook to buy for this class.
Please have the following documents with you in class to refer to as needed:
RUSA Professional Competencies for Reference and User Services Librarians,
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/resources/guidelines/professional.cfm.
RUSA Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers,
http://www.ala.org/rusa/resources/guidelines/guidelinesbehavioral
Association of College & Research Libraries, Information Literacy Competency Standards for
Higher Education, http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency
Framework for Information Literacy http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework
ATTENDANCE POLICY
All students are expected to be to class on time, to stay the entire class period, to pay
attention, and to actively participate in class. I will take attendance at the beginning and end of
each class, each counts equally. Attendance and participation in class activities counts for
6% of course grade. If you have a laptop, please bring it to class.
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GRADING STANDARDS
Letter
A
Percentage
score
96-100
A-
90-95
B+
85-89
B
80-84
B-
75-79
C+
C
E
70-74
60-69
0-59
Performance indicators
Complete, thorough, and accurate. Exemplary expression of
both the spirit and letter of the assignment; clearly shows
intellectual engagement with the material.
Complete and well written, with very few errors. Clearly
expresses comprehension of the topic.
Mostly well done and competently written, but contains a
few errors and/or does not express understanding of
important aspects of the topic.
Mostly complete and competently done, but has some errors
and/or neglects to address important aspects of the topic.
Substantially completed and displays understanding, but with
multiple errors or omissions.
Partially completed and/or contains substantial errors
Incomplete and/or with numerous errors or omissions.
Very poorly done, displaying minimal effort
Grades on late reader responses will be reduced by 25%. Assignments more
than a day late will be reduced by half.
Incompletes for the course will be given only under truly extraordinary circumstances.
POLICY ON STUDENTS WORKING TOGETHER
Librarianship is a collaborative, collegial profession. As such, I encourage you to discuss
the readings as much as you would like with your peers, but of course the wording of your work
must be your own. Naturally, the University's policy on academic honesty applies to this course.
Part of that policy reads "Plagiarism includes . . .submission of another student's work as one's
own." Working together on the “What’s the best source” assignment is allowed, but "together" is
defined as being physically in the same time & place. Dividing the work, as in “you do the odd
ones and I’ll do the even ones” is NOT allowed. If you work together with someone, write a note
at the beginning of your assignment indicating who you worked with and what you did together.
ASSIGNMENTS
Please submit assignments on white paper, stapled in the upper left corner, with your name at the
top of the first page.
READER RESPONSES (28% OF GRADE (4% EACH), DUE DATES LISTED BELOW)
Respond to each of the following assigned readings in approximately 500 words. Include
1) what you found most interesting, 2) what the most important points are for the practice of
librarianship, 3) at least one question you'd ask the author if they visited our class. If there is
anything you disagree with, include that and explain why. We will discuss these readings as an
integral part of the class on the day each is due, so it’s essential to complete these reader
responses on time.
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Green, Samuel S. Personal Relations Between Librarians and Readers, American Library
Journal, no. 1, Nov. 1876, 74-81. Online at
http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/jrichardson/DIS220/personal.htm. Due Feb. 1
Rolla, P.J. (2009). User Tags versus Subject Headings, Library Resources and Technical
Services, 53(3), 174-184. Due Feb. 8
Magi, Trina J. and Patricia E. Mardeusz. (2013). Why Some Students Continue to Value
Individual, Face-to-Face Research Consultations in a Technology-Rich World, College &
Research Libraries 74(6), 605-618.
OR
Pattee, A. S. (2008). What do You Know? Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association
for Library Service to Children, 6(1), 30-39. Due Feb. 15
Dewdney, P., & Michell, G. (1996). Oranges and Peaches: Understanding Communication
Accidents in the Reference Interview. RQ, 35(4), 520-23,526-36.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20862995 Due Feb. 22
Ross, Catherine S. and Patricia Dewdney. Negative Closure: Strategies and Counter-strategies in
the Reference Transaction, Reference & User Services Quarterly, v. 38, no. 2, 1998, 151163. Due March 7
Trott, Barry and Isabel Silver. (2014). Outreach Activities for Librarian Liaisons. Reference &
User Services Quarterly, 54(2), 8-14.
OR
Burke, S. K., & Strothmann, M. (2015). Adult Readers’ Advisory Services through Public
Library Websites. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 55(2), 132-143. Due March 28
Tyckoson, D. A. (2012). Issues and Trends in the Management of Reference Services: A
Historical Perspective. Journal of Library Administration, 52(6/7), 581-600.
doi:10.1080/01930826.2012.707953. Due April 11
CLASS PRESENTATION/TEACHING EXERCISE (20% OF GRADE, MARCH 21-APRIL 18
[INDIVIDUAL TIMES WILL BE ASSIGNED BY FEB. 15] )
Make a presentation to class on a searching technique, and have your classmates do an exercise
to practice the skill. The exercise must require them to find specific thing(s), using the
instructions and directions you provide them. Your demonstration/instructions should take no
more than 5 minutes. Design the exercise so your classmates can complete it in 10 minutes.
Suggested skills to present and have fellow students complete an exercise:
Find an appropriate LCSH term for a topic
Find an appropriate ERIC Thesaurus term for a topic
Find an appropriate PsycINFO Thesaurus term for a topic
Use MeSH to find a specific descriptor, e.g. Carcinogens--pharmacokinetics
Difference in MLA International Bibliography between Thesaurus and Names as Subjects
When and how to use Boolean operator NOT
Search by classification code in Sociological Abstracts
Search by classification code in PsycINFO
Use e-discover to search within a particular journal, e.g. College & Research Libraries
Use e-discover to limit results by geographical region
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Use the index function in a database to do an author search
When and how to use the "times cited by" feature in PsycINFO
When and how to use the "citing articles" feature in ScienceDirect
How to find company financial data
Use the West Key number system to find court cases on a specific topic
Use Journal Citation Reports (in the Web of Science) to identify the most-cited journals in a
discipline
Find an obituary in the New York Times--ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Find a specific article in the Wall Street Journal--ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Use AtoZMaps to find a special-purpose map (e.g. a tree or bird species distribution map)
Use Book Review Digest to find reviews of a book
How to use Reader's Guide Retrospective to find articles on a topic published before 1920
Use advanced search in SpringerLink
Find information about a journal or magazine in Ulrich's International Periodical Directory (aka
Ulrichsweb)
RESEARCH PAPER (23% of grade, due April 25)
Write a research paper of 8-12 pages that cites a minimum of 6 sources from scholarly journals.
It may be on any topic directly relevant to information sources and services. Your research paper
must be original work you complete for this class (don’t redo prior work from another class).
Find and read published articles relevant to your topic. Develop a clear thesis and synthesize the
information you have found. Critically analyze the works you cite, do not simply summarize.
Be sure to include in your search the following journals, and browse the most recent year of each
of these to check for relevant research.
Reference and User Services Quarterly
College & Research Libraries
portal: Libraries and the academy
Journal of Academic Librarianship
If you choose a topic that is specific to school, public, or special libraries, let me know and we
will agree on an alternate list of "must read" journals.
WHAT’S THE BEST SOURCE? (23% of Grade, Due May 2 [last day of class])
This assignment is a combination of a "scavenger hunt" and a compare/contrast exercise.
For each of the following mock reference questions, find the best answer you can using Google,
Wikipedia, and library resources linked from http://library.albany.edu/, including the Minerva
catalog. For each question, write the answer found in each of the three sources. If the answer is
not straightforward, describe the ifs, ands, and buts. For the library resources, specify what you
used. Then compare and contrast the quality of answers in you found in Google, Wikipedia, and
library resources.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How much does the CEO of General Electric make in total compensation a year?
I want to read up on the diagnosis and treatment of dementia.
How much cabbage is grown for sale in New York State?
What are the most important and prestigious astronomy journals?
What did reviewers have to say about Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring when it was first
published?
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6. Which breeds of pigs make the best pets?
7. Who was Albert Leary Gihon (born Sept. 28, 1833)?
8. What type of national government does Bhutan have?
9. What are didjeridus made of?
10. My 10 year old niece loves horses. She reads a little below her grade level. Can you
recommend a few books about horses that might get her reading more?
11. Why are races on tracks run counter clockwise?
12. What is Lillian Virginia Mountweazel famous for?
13. What was the “City Beautiful Movement”?
14. What is the origin of the phrase “the whole nine yards”?
15. What were/are the worst invasive species of all time?
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STEVE BLACK’S IST 605 CALENDAR FALL 2014
Date
Jan. 25
Feb. 1
Feb. 8
Feb. 15
Feb. 22
Feb. 29
March 7
March 14
March 21
March 28
April 4
April 11
April 18
April 25
May 2
Class topics (We’ll also have some guest
speakers TBA).
Introduction; pros and cons of discovery
services
History of reference; transitioning from
print to online reference sources; library
catalogs and WorldCat; making best use of
searchable fields
Authority control and controlled
vocabulary; browsing, searching, following
citations
Fundamentals of reference interviewing;
ready reference sources; literature sources
Assignment due
Green, Samuel S. Personal
Relations Between Librarians and
Readers
Rolla, “User Tags versus Subject
Headings”
Magi & Mardeusz, Why Some
Students Continue to Value…
OR Pattee, “What do You
Know?”
Dewdney & Michell, “Oranges
and Peaches”
RUSA Behavioral Guidelines government
sources
RUSA professional competencies; Special
guidelines for medical and legal
information; medical sources; biography
sources
LibGuides, online tutorials, virtual reference Ross & Dewdney, “Negative
Closure”
SPRING BREAK, no class
Psychosocial aspects of reference;
presentations/teaching exercises
Liaison work; reader’s advisory; marketing Trott & Silver, "Outreach
reference services; presentations/teaching
Activities…" OR Burke &
exercises
Strothmann, “Adult Readers’
Advisory Services. . . “
Assessing the effectiveness of reference and
collections; music and art sources;
presentations/teaching exercises
Information Literacy Standards; modes of
Tyckoson, D. A. Issues and
instruction; presentations/teaching exercises Trends in the Management of
Reference Services
Information Literacy Framework;
presentations
Share and discuss findings from research
Research Paper
paper
Sharing and discussion of “What’s the Best What’s the Best Source?
Source?”
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