LIS484 COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course covers the fundamental concepts and theories pertaining to information science. The course content includes core concepts and theories, information context, user and needs, information seeking and behavior, information interaction and retrieval, information use, and other related topics. Through this course, students will examine, analyze, and synthesize professional and scholarly work in this field, develop an understanding of the history of the field, and project the future of information science and their own leadership role within it. Assignments may range from a literature search, opinion paper, annotated bibliography, in-class presentations on theories and models, to a biographical narrative research of persons in the field.

| Course Learning Outcomes | Master’s Program’s Learning Outcomes | Doctoral Students Learning Outcomes | Course Design |

I. Course Learning Outcomes:

By the time students finish the course, they will be able to:
• Identify and describe existing research, theories and models in information science and related areas
• Examine, analyze, and synthesize the trajectory of professional and scholarly contributions
• Develop an understanding of the history of the field through documenting an information science person’s journey
• Project the future of information science and their own leadership role within it

II. Program Learning Outcomes:

The following codes explain how the LIS 484 course meets the learning outcomes pertaining to the MS program at SLIS (I = Introduced; R = Reinforced; M = Mastered; NA = Not applicable):



#	Program Learning Outcomes	Achievement Level
PLO1	Apply professional standards, tools, and best practices in the information field and across specialized areas.	R
PLO2	Communicate effectively to different audiences through use of oral, written, and visual formats across multiple media.	I
PLO3	Develop appropriate technology strategies across a range of information settings.	N/A
PLO4	Critically analyze and apply research.	R
PLO5	Evaluate and create information services and/or systems to reflect and respond to the needs of diverse communities and stakeholders.	I
PLO6	Demonstrate individual and collaborative leadership ability.	I
PLO7	Be guided by professional ethics and values.	I

 

III. Doctoral Program Learning Outcomes Relevant to This Course:

• Understands scholarship in the field of library, archival, and information science;
• Articulates prominent theories in the field of library, archival, and information science;
• Identifies researchable problems and applies relevant research studies, research designs, and methodologies to tasks requiring problem-solving and critical thinking;
• Analyzes and presents information, including research proposals and findings, clearly and accurately in a variety of formats.

 

IV. Course Design:


Harold Borko (1968) defines Information Science as the “discipline that investigates the properties and behavior of information, the forces governing the flow of information, and the means of processing information for optimum accessibility and usability. It is concerned with that body of knowledge relating to the origination, collection, organization, storage, retrieval, interpretation, transmission, transformation, and utilization of information” (p. 3).

The course is designed as a reading-intensive seminar class to explore various essential concepts (including definitions of Information Science), theories, frameworks, and strategies of inquiry relevant to information science. In a typical class session, while half of the time is focused on lecturing, the other half is devoted to student discussion and/or presentation.

References

Borko, H. (1968). Information science: What is it? American Documentation, 19(1), 3-5.

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| Overview | Description | Materials | Assignments | Schedule | Ethics |

© Rong Tang 2018