LIS532K 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 literature search, opinion paper, annotated bibliography, in-class presentations on theories and models, to biographical narrative research of persons in the field.

| Course Learning Outcomes | Program Learning Outcome | Course Design |

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

Program Learning Outcomes:

The following codes explain how the LIS 532K online course meets the learning outcomes pertaining to the MS program at SLIS (I = Introduced; R = Reinforced; M = Mastered; NA = Not applicable):
• Apply professional standards, tools, and best practices in the information field and across specialized areas.    R
• Communicate effectively to different audiences through use of oral, written, and visual formats across multiple media.    I/R
• Develop appropriate technology strategies across a range of information settings    N/A
• Critically analyze and apply research.    R
• Evaluate and create information services and/or systems to reflect and respond to the needs of diverse communities and stakeholders.    I
• Demonstrate individual and collaborative leadership ability.    I
• Be guided by professional ethics and values.    I

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 for student discussion and/or presentation.

References

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

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

© Rong Tang 2017