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Last revised 7/14/05

Course Syllabus for IRLS 460/560 Information Resource Development

Link to Course Outline

Course Location: Burton Barr Central Library, Phoenix Public Library, 4th Floor Lecture Room

Course Hours: 6:30-9:00 pm, Thursdays

Fall 2005 Instructor:
Tim Wadham, Ph.D.
Youth Services Coordinator
Maricopa County Library District

IRLS 460/560

Information Resource Development

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

University of Arizona Graduate Catalog: Principles of identifying, selecting, acquiring, managing, and evaluating information resources for particular demographic areas.

This course covers the principles and methods of evaluating, selecting and acquiring different kinds of information resources in various media for a variety of library settings, including Academic, Public, School and Special Libraries. Development and maintenance of library collections. Bibliographic tools and on-line databases. Publishers and publishing; censorship issues; acquisition processes.

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COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course is designed to familiarize students with the theory, practice, and issues of collection development in various types of libraries. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:

Specific topics covered include selection and acquisition of materials in various formats, collection development policies, collection evaluation, intellectual freedom, and weeding. Learning will be through lecture, group presentations, and evaluation of collection aids, guest speakers, and completion of a final project proposing an opening day or core library collection in some detail. Three credit hours.

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REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS

Text : Evans, G. Edward and Margaret Zarnosky Sapronaro. Developing Library and Information Center Collections . 5 th edition. Englewood , CO : Libraries Unlimited, 2005.

Web Resources :

AcqWeb's Library & Information Science Resources: Collection Development Sites

Collection Development Training for Arizona Public Libraries:

Readings : To be assigned in class.

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COURSE REQUIREMENTS

All students are required to:

1. Complete five collection development tool assessments. The purpose of this assignment is to allow you to become familiar with the basic types of tools used in collection development.

Project 1: Evaluating General Periodicals as Collection Development Tools. Due September 22

Project 2: Evaluating Adult Fiction Collection Development Tools. Due September 29

Project 3: Evaluating Adult Nonfiction Collection Development Tools. Due September 29

Project 4: Evaluating Children’s Collection Development Tools. Due October 13

Project 5: Evaluating Nonprint and Audiovisual Materials Colllection Development Tools. Due October 26

For each of the five projects, prepare the following:

1. Identify and locate an example of this tool type. Look for examples that may be helpful in your opening day collection assignment.

2. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the tool type as they relate to collection development purposes.

3. Submit a 1-2 page report with the following. Be prepared to discuss your report in class:

a. complete citation of the tool and where you found it.
b. summary of the strengths/weaknesses of the tool
c. brief description of the usefulness of the tool in general and specifically related to your opening day collection assignment if applicable.

Value 20%

2. Collection Development Policy. This is a group project. You will be graded as a group, but will have the opportunity to evaluate each member of the group in terms of participation and collegiality.

Review and critique five different collection development policies from your designated library type. This critique should be a maximum of 5 pages, double spaced, and should be the collective thought of the group.

Write a collection development policy (all parts of it) for your designated library type. This policy is to be a collaborative, consensual endeavor. You may use what is BEST from each of the policy statements reviewed (including legal and intellectual policy statements, etc.), and add suggestions from readings and discussions that you as a group deem appropriate. The policy should be in a form that is friendly and usable. An index to specific areas of the policy should be included. You will present this policy statement to the class as a final part of the assignment, with a copy of the entire work to be given to the instructor at that time. How you present this policy is up to you and your group, but you will be accountable for its presentation and understanding.

Due: November 3

Value 40%

3. Complete an opening day collection assignment. Select, evaluate, organize and present a set of resources on a particular subject area for a particular library environment for an opening day part of a collection.

To learn more about your selected library type and environment, and the particular development issues associated with it, do some background reading on it. Create a bibliography on what you read and review for this part of the assignment.

You must chose a core subject area that you can define and justify based upon the specific type of library/community of information users you have selected. Include this justification as an introduction to your annotated list of resources. Set your criteria and explain it. Include 15 items, print and non-print. Web sites may be included but must meet the criteria of all items, and be a potentially lasting site. They should not be the majority of resources. Include review sources in the annotations for each item.

Prepare a materials budget for the 15 items. This should contain both projected item costs as well as total costs for them in the next five years. Include a plan to sustain them for the next five years. Also define how these items are to be evaluated in terms of viability and retention for the future work of this library. These 15 items should be essential ones that this type of library should contain, and be considered "core" in their value to that library's program and vision.

As a summary to your work, explain the principles and procedures you used. Describe the sources you used for selection and why, as well as any difficulties you encountered along the way. Discuss any general themes or issues that emerge from this work: issues of intellectual freedom, copyright, access, use, currency of materials, sustainability, gaps in this subject area for this user community, etc. A matrix for the 15 resources with the criteria should also be included as part of the paper.

Value 40%

Due December 1

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COURSE POLICIES

Academic Code of Integrity

Students are expected to abide by The University of Arizona Code of Academic Integrity. 'The guiding principle of academic integrity is that a student's submitted work must be the student's own.' If you have any questions regarding what is acceptable practice under this Code, please ask an Instructor.

Accommodating Disabilities

The University has a Disability Resource Center . If you anticipate the need for reasonable accommodations to meet the requirements of this course, you must register with the Disability Resource Center and request that the DRC send me, the Instructor, official notification of your accommodation needs as soon as possible. Please plan to meet with me by appointment or during office hours to discuss accommodations and how my course requirements and activities may impact your ability to fully participate.

Assignment Policies

Incompletes

The 1997-8 University of Arizona General Academic Manual, p.23 reads

The grade of I may be awarded only at the end of a semester, when all but a minor portion of the course work has been satisfactorily completed. The grade of I is not to be awarded when the student is expected to repeat the course; in such a case the grade of E must be assigned. Students should make arrangements with the instructor to receive an incompete grade before the end of the semester ...

If the incomplete is not removed by the instructor within one year the I grade will revert to a failing grade.


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GRADING

Late work will lose one letter grade from the grade it would have gotten had it been turned in on time. However, the final project, the opening day collection, will not be accepted late.

Assignments are due no later than 6:30 pm (the beginning of class) on their assigned due date.

Please include your name at the top of all your assignments.

Grading Criteria :

A=90-100
B=80-89
C=70-79
D=60-69
F=59 and below

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CONTACTING ME

Office Hours: 6:00-6:30 Tuesdays (in classroom), other hours by appointment

E-mail/phone: twadham@email.arizona.edu/602-506-5730

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