LIBRARY

PROPOSAL FOR NEW COUR= SE: INFORMATION RESEARCH

Tony Doyle=

May 2006

1. Hour: 1; credit: 1=

2. Prerequisites: non= e

3. Course description= :

A. Catalog descriptio= n.

Covers the fundamenta= ls of research: selecting a viable topic; identifying appropriate sources; databa= se searching methods; proper documentation; information ethics; plagiarism.

B. Expanded descripti= on:

We will cover the fol= lowing topics: (1) The many ways in which information gets to users: books, magazi= nes, journals, websites, wikis, and blogs, as well as the different degrees of reliability accruing to each; the role of peer review in scholarly communication. (2) Electronic research: selecting a manageable topic; choos= ing an appropriate database; identifying keywords; combining keywords with the boolean operators and, or, and not; the different types of databases (full text, abstracts, and index). (3) Books: How is searching for books by topic in a catalog differe= nt from searching for periodical articles by topic in a database? Why do books remain a valuable source for research? (4) Working with bibliographies. (5) Print reference sources and indexes. (6) Evaluating sources: print, organizational and academic websites, blogs, and wikis. (7) Proper documentation with Endnote. (8) Information ethics: intellectual freedom, censorship, intellectual property, copyright, and privacy. (9) Plagiarism a= nd academic integrity.

C. Writing requiremen= ts: pre-test (diagnostic); six at home assignments; an annotated bibliography a= s a final project; a midterm and a final; post test.

4. Rationale

A. Purpose. In its 20= 03 Developing Research and Communication Skills: Guidelines for Information Literacy in the Curriculum the Middle States Commission on Higher Education has affirmed that information literacy—i.e. knowing how to find and evaluate relevant information—is an essential part of a college education. To this end Baruch, LaGuardia, and Queens have alrea= dy joined the national trend in establishing credit-bearing research courses. = The increasing array of internet resources presents a significant challenge to experienced and inexperienced researchers alike. Students need to appreciat= e, through examples, that careful evaluation of potential sources is crucial to successful research.

The course would be a= imed at students taking classes that require documented papers. The library already reaches some 6000 undergraduates a year through single research sessions scheduled by their professors. However, one meeting is not nearly enough to initiate students with serious projects into the intricacies of research. A= lso, single meetings do not permit librarians to track students’ progress = or address their ongoing difficulties. The proposed course would attempt to re= medy these shortcomings. It would allow students to pursue a topic in detail, an= d it would give the librarian the opportunity to monitor their progress.

B. Scheduling. Flexib= le. The course could meet once a week for 50 minutes over the semester or be telescoped in= to 8 weeks. The course could also be offered as a hybrid, with fewer meetings an= d a strong online component, or totally online.

5. Projected enrollme= nt: maximum 25 students/section

6. Supporting materia= ls

Please find sample sy= llabus below.

_____________________= ___________________________________________________________________________= _________________________

Syllabus

Information Research

Course Description

Since the arrival of = the internet the problem for students and researchers alike has become not too little information but too much. This embarrassment of riches means that it= is more important now than ever to have the skills for homing in on the information that you need. The present course strives to meet this need.

We will cover the fol= lowing topics: (1) The many ways in which information gets to users: books, magazi= nes, journals, websites, wikis, and blogs, as well as the different degrees of reliability accruing to each; the role of peer review in scholarly journals. (2) Electronic research: selecting a manageable topic; choosing an appropri= ate database; identifying keywords; combining keywords with the boolean operato= rs and, or, and not; the different types of databases (full text, index and abstract, and index). (3) Books: How is searching for books by subject in a catalog different from searching for magazine or journal articles by subject in a database? Why do books remain a valuable source for research? (4) Working with bibliographies; (5) Evaluati= ng sources: print, organizational websites, blogs, and wikis. (6) Print indexe= s. (7) Proper documentation with Endnote. (8) Information ethics: intellectual freedom, censorship, intellectual property, copyright, and privacy. (9) Plagiarism and academic integrity.

Course Goals.

At the end of the cou= rse you should be able to:

1. Identify an approp= riate topic.

2. Find relevant prin= t and electronic sources on your topic.

3. Use the free web effectively.

4. Evaluate sources, = both print and electronic, as to authority, reliability, and bias.

5. Cite your sources correctly

6. Know what constitu= tes plagiarism

Text: Arlene Rodda Quaratiello, The College Student= 217;s Research Companion, Third Edition. New York: Neal-S= chuman Publishers, 2003.

Assignments:

Quizzes and participa= tion: 15%

Homework: 25%

Midterm: 25%

Final project: 35%

Quizzes. Some classes= will begin with brief quizzes. These will be on the reading due for that day. Th= ere will be no make-ups for those who miss class.

Homework. There will = six short homeworks, three of which will relate to the final project (see below= ).

Final project: A ten component annotated bibliography consisting of two books, four peer-reviewed articles, two magazine articles, and two internet sources.

Please note: There wi= ll be no incompletes.

Schedule

Week 1

Introduction

1. Pre-test (diagnost= ic)

2. Information

a. How is information produced?

b. How does it find its way to you?

c. How do we assess its credibility?

d. Peer review

Rationale: Texts don’t fall from the sky. = Traditionally, published texts had to meet with the approval of an editor. Students need to appreciate that the credibility of a text is earned.<= /p>

Assignment: Select a = three possible topics for you final project; due week two

Week 2

Research topic

1. Choosing a viable = research topic

2. Topic vs thesis

3. What is a database= ?

a. Indexes

b. Indexes with abstracts

c. Full text databases

4. Choosing the right databases:

General databases vs. specialized databases=
Scholarly databases vs. non-scholarly datab= ases

Rationale: Inexperienced researchers tend to cho= ose topics that are either too broad or two narrow. Students nearly always need informed advice about choosing a topic appropriate to the assignment and to= the available literature.

Week 3

Searching<= /span>

1. Boolean methods

2. Subject indexing/h= eadings; thesauruses

3. Searching with con= trolled vocabulary vs. free test searching

4. Work with specific databases

Rationale: Boolean methods are fundamental to da= tabase searching, and successful boolean searching requires familiarity with subje= ct indexing.

Assignment, Boolean exercises; due week 4.

Week 4

Evaluating results

1. Scholarly, trade, = and popular sources

2. Scholarly communic= ation

3. Determining whethe= r the article has a bias—for instance, political or religious—or orientation

4. Plausibility of information

5. Older vs. newer ar= ticles

Rationale: Students need to be able to distingui= sh among different kinds of sources—popular, peer-reviewed, and trade. T= hey also need to know that many magazines have a religious or political orienta= tion or bias.

Week 5

Books

1. Finding them with = key words

2. Using subject head= ings

3. Books as sources of bibliographies

Rationale: Books are still very much with us a s= ource for research. However, the strategy for finding books in a catalog differs from that of finding articles in a database.

Assignment: Five item bibliography on your topic, consisting of two books and three articles.

Due week 6.

Week 6

Working with bibliogr= aphies

Rationale: To the neophyte bibliographies seem t= o be written in code. Students need help in cracking the code. They also need to know how to track down relevant sources in a bibliography.

Week 7

Bibliographies again<= o:p>

1. Putting together a= bibliography: Citations with Endnote.

2. Annotated bibliogr= aphies

3. Writing annotation= s

Rationale: Endnote has vastly simplified the cre= ation of bibliographies. Students will also benefit from looking at sample annotations.

Week 8

Midterm covering week= s 1-7.

Week 9

Conventional reference sources

1. Types of reference sources: bibliographies, biographical sources, statistical sources, subject encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks

2. Print indexes and = print reference sources

Rationale: With the internet students might be inclined to overlook print reference sources. They shouldn’t. Publish= ers continue to produce a myriad of useful special encyclopedias, statistical manuals, and so forth.

Assignment: Write ann= otations for two articles; due week 10.

Week 10

Research on the web I=

1. The internet vs. p= rint

2. Authorship and aut= hority of websites

3. Evidence of bias of websites

Rationale. As the cliché has it, the good= and bad news is that everything is on the internet. The free web offers much th= at is useful to the savvy researcher. Students need a set of easy-to-apply criteria for evaluating the credibility of websites.<= /p>

Week 11

Research on the Web: = II

1. Blogs

2. Wikis

3. Search engines and= search directories

Rationale: a continuation of week 10, with atten= tion to newer web formats; also a look at some search engines/directories besides Google.

Assignment: Evaluatio= n of sample web sources; due week 13.

Week 12

Field trip to a resea= rch library, e.g., NYPL Center for the Huma= nities or the Science, Industry and Business Library.

Rationale: Students d= oing serious research will likely have to go beyond Hunter, and the City has some world class research libraries.

Week 13

Information and argum= ent.

1. What is an argumen= t?

2. How does one evalu= ate arguments?

Rationale: An important aspect of evaluating information is being able to distinguish information pieces from argumentat= ive ones. How does one identify the conclusion in an argumentative piece? How d= oes one identify the premises? Do the premises support the conclusion?

Assignment: Identifyi= ng and evaluating arguments; due week 14.<= o:p>

Week 14

Information ethics

1. Copyright, intelle= ctual property, and fair use

2. Censorship and intellectual freedom

3. Privacy

Rationale: Students should appreciate some of the moral issues that information raises. For instance, what are the moral justifications of copyright? How can copyright promote, rather than hinder, intellectual freedom? How are censorship, intellectual freedom, and privacy related?

Week 15

Academic integrity and plagiarism

Rationale: Students are too often unclear about = what constitutes plagiarism.

Assignment: Final project—ten item bibliography—due.

Week 16

Final exam and post-t= est