UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

School of Information Resources & Library Science

IRLS 501

KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURES I

FALL 2002

Instructor: Dr. Edmund F. SantaVicca

e-mail:santa5@email.arizona.edu

Office hours: virtually anytime

 

Course WebCT support: Lisa K. Hussey

e-mail: lhussey@u.arizona.edu

Phone: 1-520-626-3429

ALL INFORMATION IN THIS SYLLABUS, INCLUDING MODULES, SCHEDULE, GRADING, ETC., IS TENTATIVE AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

Course description: Introduction to the theories and practices used in the organization

                                    of information. Overview of national and international standards

                                    and practices for access to information.

Course objectives: The primary objective of this course is to provide you with a well-

                                    rounded body of knowledge regarding different perspectives and

                                    approaches to the organization and management of knowledge.

                                    Upon completion of the course, you should also have a sound

                                    understanding of the concepts and applications pertinent to

                                    description, classification, indexing & abstracting, vocabulary

                                    control and thesauri, bibliographic and other standards,

user needs, and related topics.

 

THE NATURE OF THIS COURSE

 

            This course is going to be a challenge—for you and for your instructor. This is the first time your instructor has taught a course in a virtual manner; and this may be the first

time that some of you have taken a virtual course. So, within the limits of common sense and decorum, let’s all cut each other some slack, shall we , as we become familiar with the vagaries of WebCT, distance learning and the content of this course?

 

            If this is the first time you have taken a WebCT course, please go to the WebCT homepage and make sure that your computer is capable of supporting this course. If not, either update your browser and other systems and software, or consider dropping the course. This is very, very important. Please check the basic system requirements for participation in a WebCT course.

 

 

 

ALICE IN KNOWLEDGE LAND: A PARABLE

 

            You have my personal guarantee that each and every student is going to feel lost at some point in this course. You will begin to doubt yourself, and you will probably doubt your instructor. You will wonder why certain readings have been assigned, or why they were assigned when they were assigned. You will wonder why certain exercises were devised. You will wonder why certain essays needed to be written.

 

            When you do feel lost in the giant and overgrown forest that is KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION, remember the plight of poor, disoriented Alice (of Wonderland and Looking-Glass fame). Lost in the forest, with so many different ways out, she came upon the Cheshire Cat perched happily on the limb of a tree. Alice pleaded with the feline oracle to please reveal to her which path would be best to get out of the forest.

 

            Cheshire Cat asked a simple question of Alice: “Where would you like to go?”

Alice replied that it really did not matter. “Well, then,” said Cheshire Cat, “it does not really matter which path you take!”

 

            Such is your predicament in taking this course. At this point in time, you probably do not know exactly which other courses you will be taking; and you probably do not know what your first professional position will be. Consequently, it will be difficult to assume which parts of the course will be of greater value than the other parts. Eventually, you will all come out of the forest at a different place, because you will have followed different paths.

 

            Keep in mind that in the world of information and knowledge organization, there are many possible roles for an information professional: creator, producer, editor, distributor, reviewer, bibliographer, indexer, abstractor, cataloger, designer, selector, acquirer, developer, retriever, consultant, disseminator, manager, administrator, interpreter, etc. The knowledge gleaned from this course is valuable for every one of these roles—but, for each, in a different manner.

 

            As you progress through each module—and especially when you are having difficulty understanding a concept or two—stop and ask yourself if this is more relevant to a cataloger than to a systems administrator, or vice versa. Perhaps it will help. Perhaps not. Just remember that you can always pose your plight in the appropriate area of the WebCT DISCUSSION links for this course. Collectively, we will try to help each other.

 

            This course is heavy on reading, heavy on writing, and somewhat heavy on doing. In some cases, I have presented a brief “lecture” for a module. In other cases, such as Module 5, there is no preface to the assignment. Assignments appear to be as detailed as necessary. If any item is not clear, please ask for clarity before you submit it.

 

 

 

 

ASSIGNMENTS

 

            Slack does not include late assignments. All assignments are due on the dates and times indicated. I have configured the course so that you will be unable to submit an assignment after the date and time specified. This means that you should plan ahead, and devise an alternate plan now as to what to do if your computer crashes unexpectedly. The same is true for assigned readings: these should be completed within the time frame of each module.

 

            The schedule of modules, assignments and required readings is listed below. If you can, I strongly advise that you begin the assigned readings listed below as soon as you are able. For some modules, there are additional readings that are not posted below, but that will be given to you when the assignment itself is posted. Each of the assignments, with the exception of the first, will be posted on the date that the previous assignment is due. ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED IN HTML FORMAT (NO EXCEPTIONS), AND MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH THE ASSIGNMENTS WEBCT LINK. DO NOT SUBMIT ASSIGNMENTS USING THE INSTRUCTOR’S E-MAIL ADDRESS.

 

            Unless an assignment necessitates a unique format, all assignments are to be single-spaced and in 12-point font (similar to the Times New Roman 12 that you are reading). Please be sure to single-space between paragraphs. All assignments are to be no longer than the requested maximum length, i.e.,  “1000 words” means “1000 words”, "800 words" means exactly that. If you have a particular fondness for 10-point fonts, or feel that what you have to say cannot be communicated in the specified length, drop this course now. Anyone who submits an assignment that varies from the stated parameters will have that assignment returned to them, with an automatic debit of 100 points. This means in essence, you will receive 0 points for your work. No exceptions. I know this seems a bit harsh; but if you cannot follow basic directions, this is not the right course for you. And please, please proofread your work!

 

            Time Zone issues: As part of a great experiment, your instructor is teaching this course from Europe. As you can well imagine, this can create any number of problems, not the least of which is variation in time. Depending on the season, the date and the location, there is likely to be a 7-10 hour time difference between Arizona and Europe. This means that when you submit an assignment by Friday at 12Noon, it will be approximately Friday at 9pm where I will be. Allowing for technical difficulties, as well as the scheduled hours of Internet cafes, I may not in fact have access to your work until the following Monday. If I am experiencing any difficulties, I will let you know as soon as I know. However, in general, assume that I should have reviewed your assignment no later than the Tuesday following its due date (or approximately, four days after), and that I will be posting a grade no later than Wednesday 5 pm (approximately 9am Arizona time). Do not wait to receive a grade on a previous assignment before you begin the next module.

 

Textbooks/Readings: The following materials are required reading for this course. I

have requested that a copy of each title be placed on 2-hour Reserve for the entire semester. However, you may choose to order/purchase your own copy via inter-library loan, University Bookstore or online vendor.

 

Rowley, J.E. and Farrow, John. Organizing Knowledge: An Introduction to

            Managing Access to Information. 3rd ed. Aldershot, Hampshire, England;

            Burlington, VT: Gower, 2000.      ISBN0566080478

            Location:   MAIN LIBRARY RESERVE  Z 666.5.R69 2000

 

Svenonius, Elaine. The Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization.

            Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000.ISBN0262194333

            Location:   MAIN LIBRARY RESERVE  Z 666.5.S92 2000

 

We will be reading these works in their entirety! There will be other required readings for this course, most of which will either be placed on reserve, or available electronically. Some of the other books you will need to study are part of Reference collections (Main Library and Science Library); and most of the articles you will need to locate can be found online.

 

At the end of this syllabus, you will find a separate bibliography of works related to this course. This list is for your own reference, should you need further explanation of a topic, or want to read more broadly on any of the topics we will cover.

 

You will also find a list of Web sites that can be of value in your understanding of the concepts we will cover.

 

Class Discussion:

            Class discussion regarding any of the topics covered in this course will be conducted through the DISCUSSION link of the course. This will be structured to coincide with each of the eight course modules.

            Students should feel free to pose any question, and to respond to any question. Please understand that you are not required to participate in discussion at all. However, you might benefit from looking at some of the discussion groups and topics from time to time.

 

Student Conduct:

            All students are expected to conduct themselves in accord with the various policies of the University of Arizona, whether in the completion of assignments, use of university resources, or in communicating with other students, staff and faculty. Professionalism and respect should be evident in both real and virtual environments at all times.  

 

 

 

 

Course Outline & Calendar/ Required Readings/ Assignment Due Dates

Module 1: Introduction

Week 1 (Monday 26 August—Friday 30 August)

No required readings.

Assignment #1 due Friday 30 August 

by 12 Noon Arizona time.

 

Module 2: Building Blocks

Weeks 2-3(Friday 30 August—Friday 13 September)

Required readings:

Oxford English Dictionary (online through Sabio)

Entries for DATA, INFORMATION, KNOWLEDGE,

WISDOM

Rowley & Farrow: Introduction, Chapters 1 & 2

Svenonius: Introduction, Chapters 1 & 2

                                    Day, Ronald E. The Modern Invention of Information. 2001.

                                                Chap. 1: Introduction: Remembering "Information'. Pp. 1-

6. (Electronic Reserve)

                                    Chap. 9: Conclusion: "Information" and the Role of Critical

 Theory. Pp. 114-120. (Electronic

 Reserve)

                                                NOTE: Don't be too put off by what you do not understand

in these chapters. Pay more attention to the concepts that you do understand.

                                    Brown & Duguid. The Social Life of Information. 2000.

                                                Chap. 1: Limits to Information. Pp. 11-33. (Electronic

 Reserve)

Additional readings may be given with assignment.

Assignment #2 due Friday 13 September 

by 12 Noon Arizona time.

 

Module 3: Discipline-specific Knowledge

Weeks 4-5 (Friday 13 September—Friday 27 September)

Required readings:

Rowley & Farrow: Chapter 4

7 items on Electronic Reserve by:

Blazek, Herron, Hurt, Ashley, Young, Bowler, Spanner

(Please read these in the order given.)

Additional readings may be given with assignment.

Assignment #3 due Friday 27 September

by 12 Noon Arizona time.

 

Module 4: Description

Weeks 6-7 (Friday 27 September—Friday 11 October)

Required readings:

Stokes (see bibliography): Chapters 1, 2 (Electronic

Reserve)

 

Svenonius: Chapter 3

Rowley & Farrow: Chapters 3, 4 (again), 5

Additional readings may be given with assignment.

Assignment # 4 due Friday 11 October

by 12 Noon Arizona time.

 

            Module 5: Indexing & Abstracting

                                    Weeks 8-9 (Friday 11 October—Friday 25 October)

                                    Required readings:

                                                Svenonius: Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

                                                Rowley & Farrow: Chapters 5, 6, 12

                                                3 items on Electronic Reserve by:

                                                            Katz, Lavely, Tibbo

                                                3 Web sites:

                                                http://gerrylynn.com/indexing_info.html

                                                http://www.osi.hu/cpd/logos/Theartofindexing.html

                                                http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abstracts.html

                                    Additional readings may be given with assignment.

                                    Assignment #5 due Friday 25 October

by 12 Noon Arizona time.

 

            Module 6: Classification

                                    Weeks 10, 11, 12 (Friday 25 October—Friday 15 November)

                                    Required readings:

Rowley & Farrow: Chapters 7, 8, 9

Webliography Categories:

CLASSIFICATION (both categories)

STANDARDS

VOCABULARY CONTROL

AUTHORITY CONTROL

                                    Additional readings may be given with assignment.

                                    Assignment #6 (Part I) due Friday 1 November

by 12 Noon Arizona time.

                                    Assignment #6 (Part II) due Friday 15 November

by 12 Noon Arizona time.

 

            Module 7: Systems and the (D)evolution(?) of Access

                                    Weeks 13-14 (Friday 15 November—Monday 2 December)

                                    Required readings:

                                                Rowley & Farrow: Chapters 10,11,12 (again)

                                    Additional readings may be given with assignment.

                                    Assignment #7 due Monday 2 December

by 12 Noon Arizona time.

 

            Module 8: Summation

                                    Weeks 15-16 (Monday 2 December- Wednesday 11 December)

                                    Required readings:

                                                Rowley & Farrow: Chapter 13

                                    Additional readings may be given with assignment.

                                    Assignment #8 due Wednesday 11 December

by 12 Noon Arizona time.

 

Grading:

Assignment # 1          100 points            Exercise # 1 (defies definition)                              

Assignment # 2          100 points            Citations + 800-word essay                          

Assignment # 3          100 points            Annotations + 500-word essay                 

Assignment # 4          100 points            1000-1500-word essay              

Assignment # 5          100 points             Exercise # 2: Indexing, Abstracting

Assignment # 6          300 points              Exercise # 3: Classification (Major Project)

Assignment # 7          100 points            750-word essay

Assignment # 8          100 points            Annotations + 750-word essay

 

Grading scale:

901—1000 points =A

801—900 points= B

701—800 points= C

less than 701 points = Please consider a career change.

 

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RELATED RESOURCES

 

Bloch, R. Howard, and Hesse, Carla Alison. Future Libraries. Berkeley: University

            Of California Press, 1995.

                        Z 678.9 .F88 1995

 

Borgman, Christine L. From Gutenberg to the Global Information Infrastructure:

            Access to Information in the Networked World. Cambridge, MA; London: MIT

            Press, 2000.

                        ZA 3225 .B67 2000

 

Brown, John Seely, and Duguid, Paul. The Social Life of Information. Boston: Harvard

            Business School Press, 2000.

                        HM 851 .B76 2000

 

Crawford, Walt, and Gorman, Michael. Future Libraries: Dreams, Madness, & Reality.

            Chicago; London: American Library Association, 1995.

                        Z 678 .A4 U624 1995

 

Day, Ronald E. The Modern Invention of Information: Discourse, History, and Power.

            Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2001.

                        HM 851 .D38 2001

 

Genosko, Gary. McLuhan and Baudrillard: The Masters of Implosion. London; New

York: Routledge, 1999.

            P 85 .M23 G46 1999

 

Glossbrenner, Alfred, and Glossbrenner, Emily. Search Engines for the World Wide

Web. 3rd ed. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press, 2001.

            ZA4226 .G57 2001

 

Hoffman, Herbert H. Small Library Cataloging. 3rd ed. Lanham, MD; London:

Scarecrow Press, 2002.

            Z 693 .H64 2002 MAIN LIBRARY RESERVE

 

Kao, Mary Liu. Cataloging and Classification for Library Technicians. 2nd rev. ed.

            New York; Oxford: Haworth Press, 2001.

                        Z 693.5 .U6K36 2001

 

Katz, William A. Introduction to Reference Work.2 vols. 8th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2002.

                        Z 711 .K32 2002

             

Mann, Thomas. Library Research Models: A Guide to Classification, Cataloging and Computers.

            New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

                        Z 711.M361993 MAIN LIBRARY RESERVE

 

McLuhan, Marshall. The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects. Corte

Madera,CA: Gingko Press, 2001.

                        P 90 .M258 2001

 

Rosenfeld, Louis and Morville, Peter. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web.

            Cambridge; Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 1998.

                        TK 5105.888 .R673 1998

 

Stokes, Roy Bishop. Esdaile’s Manual of Bibliography. 6th ed. Edited by Stephen R.

Almagno. Lanham, MD; London: Scarecrow Press, 2001.

Z 1001 .E75 2001

 

Taylor, Arlene. The Organization of Information. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited,

            1999.

                        Z 666.5 .T39 1999 MAIN LIBRARY RESERVE

 

Taylor, Arlene, and Miller, David P. Wynar’s Introduction to Cataloging and 

Classification. 9th ed. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000.

            Z 693 .W94 2000 MAIN LIBRARY RESERVE

 

 

WEBLIOGRAPHY

( Adapted, with permission, from a resource list created by Dr. Anita Sundaram Coleman. Original list is accessible at:  http://www.u.arizona.edu/~asc/kbox.html . Other resources--technical, commercial, educational—can be located by conducting a basic keyword search on the Web, using the terms: knowledge  management  toolbox. And of course you can be even more creative in your search strategies.)

 

Metadata, vocabularies, etc.

Understanding MARC Bibliographic: Machine-Readable Cataloging

            http://lcweb.loc.gov/marc/umb

Dublin Core Metadata Initiative

http://dublincore.org

Digital Libraries: Metadata Resources [IFLANET]

            http://www.ifla.org/ll/metadata.htm

NSF Digital Libraries Initiative Phase II [DLI2]

            http://metamanagement.comm.nsdlib.org/outline.html

Milstead, Jessica. ASIS Thesaurus. 2nd ed.

            http://asis.org/Publications/Thesuarus/tnhome.htm

Getty Research Institute. Introduction to Vocabularies.

            http://www.getty.edu/research/institute/vocabulary/introvocabs

 

Bibliographic Utilities

OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.

            http://www.oclc.org

OCLC MARC: Bibliographic Formats and Standards. 2nd ed.

            http://www.oclc.org/oclc/bib/toc.htm

RLIN MARC Record: Description and Interpretation

            http://www.rlg.org/mrdi/rmrcont.html

 

Selected Standards

ISBD(G): General International Standard Bibliographic Description

            http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/pubs/isbdg.htm

MARC STANDARDS: MARC 21

            http://www.loc.gov/marc/

Categories for the Description of Works of Art

            http://www.getty.edu/research/institute/standards/cdwa

Encoded Archival Description (EAD)

            http://lcweb.loc.gov/ead

Global Information Locator Service (GILS)

            http://www.gils.net/index.html

Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)

            http://www.tei-c.org

isbn.org

            http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp

ISSN International Centre

            http://www.issn.org/

Digital Object Identifier System

            http://www.doi.org

Library of Congress WWW/Z39.50 Gateway

            http://www.loc.gov/z3950/

 

Standards Organizations

National Information Standards Organization

            http://www.niso.org/

W3C: World Wide Web Consortium

            http://www.w3.org

International Organization for Standardization

            http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/ISOOnline.openerpage

 

Classification

Library of Congress Classification Outline

            http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html

Dewey Decimal Classification

            http://www.oclc.org/oclc/fp/about/ddc_21_summaries.htm

Universal Decimal Classification

            http://www.udcc.org

National Library of Medicine Classification

            http://wwwcf.nlm.nih.gov/class

 

Classification, Codes, Indexes, etc.: Variations on a Theme

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)

            http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html

American National Standards Institute

            http://www.ansi.org/

International Register of ISO DCC NSAP schemes

            (Search this one using Google.)

Dictionary of Occupational Titles

            http://www.oalj.dol.gov/libdot.htm

International Dialing Codes

            http://kropla.com/dialcode.htm

Seattle Public Library: Selected Web Sites: Municipal Codes.

            http://www.spl.org/selectedsites/municode.html

Jane Austen’s Bath: Index

            http://www.openworld.co.uk/austen

Arizona State and Local Government (Library of Congress)

            http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/state/az-gov.html

Arizona @ Your Service

            http://www.az.gov/webapp/portal/

Index of Biographies [Mathematicians]

            http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/BiogIndex.html

Six-hex-digit Color Codes for web pages

            http://www.colorado.edu/ITS/docs/webpages/colors

Periodic Table of the Elements

            http://www.unm.edu/~sheaweb/environ/PERIODIC.GIF

Classification of Plants & Animals

            http://www.fi.edu/tfi/units/life/classify/classify.html

Google Directory

            http://www.google.com  Then, click on Directory

 

Vocabulary Control, Thesauri

Library of Congress Subject Headings

            (visit your closest LCSH library)

Sears List of Subject Headings

            (visit your closest Dewey DC library)

Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (TGM)

            http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/print/tgm1/

Art & Architecture Thesaurus

            http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/

National Library of Medicine. Medical Subject Headings.

            http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/mesh.html

ERIC Thesaurus

            http://www.ericfacility.net/extra/pub/thessearch.cfm

AskERIC

            http://www.askeric.org

National Imagery and Mapping Agency. GEOnet Names Server.

            http://164.214.2.59/gns/html/index.html

ASIS Thesaurus of Information Science

            http://www.asis.org/Publications/Thesaurus/istop.htm

 

 

Authority Control

MARC 21 Concise Format for Authority Data

            http://www.loc.gov/marc/authority/ecadhome.html

Library of Congress Online Catalog

            http://catalog.loc.gov/