University of Arizona

School of Information Resources & Library Science

IRLS 587: Information Seeking Behaviors

Syllabus - Fall 2003 (Coleman)

Instructor: Anita S. Coleman
Contact details: Office - SIRLS 21, Phone - (520) 621-4026, Email - WebCT
Office Hours: By WebCT email & Appointment in the WebCT Chatroom
WebCT GAT: Anna Lash (aflash@email.arizona.edu)
Course GAT: Wenshang Wang (wangw@u.arizona.edu)
Mode of Instruction: Virtual, WebCT
First day of classes: Aug. 25, 2003; First day for IRLS 587: Sept. 5, 2003
Course Listserv: For WebCT backup and announcements subscribe to IRLS587

Required Text

Case, Donald O. Looking for Information: A Survey of Research on Information Seeking Needs and Behavior. San Diego: Academic Press, 2002. [AP Catalog description]

Catalog Description

IRLS 587: Information Seeking Behaviors (3 units)
Description: Information-seeking theories, methods, and user behaviors will be covered in order to gain an understanding of how different groups of people seek, gather and retrieve information in a variety of information environments. Information-seeking behavior draws on literature from library and information science, psychology, and communications.

Course Description

This course examines the individual and social aspects of human information needs, seeking and use behaviours that are based on theoretical and empirical research. Elements of information behaviors studied are:

Nature of information and knowledge;
Tyes and characteristics of information use and users;
Models and theories of information seeking;
Contexts of information seeking;
Methods to study information seeking behaviors;
The representations of inquiry and the role of language;
The searching strategies and techniques, including emotion, cognition and learning theory.

Goals and Objectives

The main goal of the course is to become familiar with the principles and research related to information seeking. More specifically, by the end of the course, the student will be able to:

Identify the main concepts related to information needs, uses, users, and seeking;
Identify and synthesize the main findings, including the important research programs, questions, theories, and researchers associated with human information seeking behaviors;
Describe and identify the weaknesses and strengths of each of the subfields of research on information seeking;
Apply the concepts and frameworks from the research literature to specific examples and cases;
Observe and analyze information seeking behaviours in a context/environment; and
Design studies for investigating information seeking behaviors in electronic information environments.

Course Requirements

I. Readings

Students are required to read materials as assigned on schedule (see below). The course will be taught online in seminar form. Students are encouraged to ask questions and answer peers; students may also be asked to summarize or interpret readings and complete quizzes and exercises. In addition:

A bibliography of information seeking is available online for download. Note: this is a bit dated now and will be revised sometime during the semester. Use link below or direct URL: http://www.u.arizona.edu/~asc/isbbib.html.
A list of additional research and theory readings may be assigned on an as needed basis.

II. Discussions

Students are expected to participate in written, constructive, collaborative, logical discussion of the readings and topics.

III. User Study

Students are expected to write their major project paper based on a real-world experience. This will involve observation and evaluation of information seeking behaviors in the social context, with human subjects, and/with systems assigned. The project paper will describe a research proposal to study some aspect of information behavior and include a small pilot or feasibility study. The goal of the pilot study is to provide students with field experience in studying/observing users. More information on specific research methods can be found in the text.

Methods of Assessment

Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation and two deliverables: Research Proposal and Research Project Report. The Report is the cumulative and final version of proposal modified based on graded feedback; additionally, it will include the data from pilot study you conducted using methods and users as you outlined originally.

More specific information about the Research Proposal and the Research Project Report will be given on a separate handout within WebCT.

Grading Formula

Grading for the course will be as follows:

Research Proposal - 40%

Research Project Report - 60%

Course Grades

Course grades will be assigned as follows:

A= 90-100 (Superior Work)
B=80-89 (Very Good)
C=70-79 (Marginally Satisfactory)
F=Below 69 (Failed to meet requirements)

Schedule

Note: Chapters refer to text (Author: Case)

Week 1: Aug. 29
Course Overview, Introduction, Syllabus
Week 2: Sept. 5
What is Information Behavior? Chapters 1, 2
Week 3: Sept. 12
What is information? Chapter 3
Week 4: Sept. 19
What is information seeking? Chapters 4, 5
Week 5: Sept. 26
Four models of information behavior Chapter 6
Week 6: Oct. 3
Is there a theory of Information Behavior? Chapter 7
Week 7: Oct. 10
What is Research? Chapter 8
Week 8: Oct. 17
What are research methods we can use and what does the research show? Chapter 9 & 10
Week 9: Oct. 24
Student presentations: Share & Discuss Research Proposal
Week 10: Oct. 31
Submit 1st deliverable in WebCT Dropbox by 5:00 pm: Research Proposal
Week 11: Nov. 7
Student presentations: Share and Discuss Research Proposal
Week 12: Nov. 14
What does the research tell us about occupational groups? Chapter 11
Week 13: Nov. 21
What do the demographics tell us? What conclusions can we reach? Chapter 12 & 13
Week 14: Nov. 28
Have a Happy Thanksgiving Break!
Week 15, Dec. 5
Student Discussions
Week 16: Dec. 12
Submit 2nd deliverable in WebCT Dropbox by 5:00 pm: Research Project Report
Week 17 - Finals Week: Dec 19
Enjoy your successful fall 2003!

Notes

Observe the UA Code of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity.
Unexcused work will be returned ungraded.
All work must be turned in html format; work that is not in html format will be returned ungraded.
Course deliverables must be submitted through the WebCT Dropbox.

Coleman Home | Bibliography | Learning Showcase
First Created: 05/23/03
Created By: Anita S. Coleman