Instructor: Don
Fallis
Room: CCIT
311
Time: See Format below
Office Hours: TBA
Office: SIRLS 14
Telephone: 520-621-5223
E-mail: fallis@email.arizona.edu
NOTE! This course provides 3 credit hours. It provides 2 credit hours toward the SIRLS Residency requirement. Please contact me if you have any questions about this.
NOTE! This course satisfies the SIRLS Managment of Information Services requirement.
Information services—such as libraries—are made up of a number of systems (acquisitions, circulation, reference, etc.). In the face of limited resources, managers of information services need to make these systems run as efficiently as possible. In order to do this, they need to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of these systems. This course provides an introduction to quantitative methods for analyzing and evaluating the various systems that make up an information service. Using examples drawn from library and information services, this course will cover the basics of resource allocation, network analysis, queuing theory, and decision analysis.
It must be noted that systems analysis and evaluation involves mathematics. In particular, it involves the construction of mathematical models of the systems that make up an information service. Understanding how these models are constructed will allow managers of information services to better understand how these systems work and to make better decisions. This course will focus on fairly straightforward mathematical models. We will use spreadsheet software (viz., Microsoft Excel) to implement these models. As a result, familiarity with basic algebra will be sufficient mathematical background for this course.
Note about Spreadsheet Software: A large number of the assignments and exercises in this course will make use of Microsoft Excel. No prior facility with Microsoft Excel will be assumed. A side-benefit of this course is that it will improve your skills with spreadsheet software. And systems analysis and evaluation is just one of the ways in which facility with spreadsheet software is valuable for managers of information services. Finally, please consult with the instructor if you are interested in using spreadsheet software other than Microsoft Excel.
The course will be partly virtual and partly on-campus. The on-campus portion will take place over two weekends: February 16-17 and March 23-24. On the Saturdays, we will meet from 9am to 4pm. On the Sundays, we will meet from 8am to 1pm. (There will be several breaks.) The virtual portion will be on WebCT. Course materials, assignments, and exams will be posted on the WebCT site for this course. In addition, WebCT will be used for discussion and communication about the course before and after the weekend sessions. Several short assignments will be posted on WebCT during the course of the semester. There will be two exams during the semester. These exams will be posted on WebCT a few days after each of the two weekend sessions. Each of these exams will be due one week after they are posted. During the last few weeks of the semester, students (working in teams of two) will give online presentations that apply systems analysis and evaluation techniques to some aspect of an information service.
Textbook:
Readings:Kirkwood, Craig W. 1997. Strategic Decision Making: Multiobjective Decision Analysis With Spreadsheets. Belmont, California: Duxbury Press.
Note: All of these readings will either be available online or through electronic reserves.Fasana, Paul J. 1973. "Systems Analysis." Library Trends 21:465-78. Bommer, Michael. 1975. "Operations Research in Libraries: A Critical Assessment." Journal of the American Society for Information Science 26: 137-39. Rowley, Jenny E. and Peter J. Rowley. 1981. "Models." Pp. 9-15 in Operations Research: A Tool for Library Management. Chicago: ALA. Brookes, B. C. 1970. "The Viability of Branch Libraries." Journal of Librarianship 2:14-21. Rowley, Jenny E. and Peter J. Rowley. 1981. "Queuing." Pp. 44-54 in Operations Research: A Tool for Library Management. Chicago: ALA. Kraft, Donald H. and Bert R. Boyce. 1991. "Resource Allocation." Pp. 52-60 and 68-9 in Operations Research for Libraries and Information Agencies, San Diego: Academic Press. Kraft, Donald H. and Bert R. Boyce. 1991. "Stochastic Processes and Library Models." Pp. 103-10 in Operations Research for Libraries and Information Agencies, San Diego: Academic Press. Rowley, Jenny E. and Peter J. Rowley. 1981. "Networks." Pp. 69-79 in Operations Research: A Tool for Library Management. Chicago: ALA. Evans, Edward, Harold Borko, and Patricia Ferguson. 1972. "Review of Criteria Used to Measure Library Effectiveness." Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 60:102-10. Hamburg, M., Ramist, L. E., and Bommer, M. R. W. 1972. "Library Objectives and Performance Measures and Their Use in Decision Making." Library Quarterly 42:107-28. Franklin, Benjamin. 1772. "Letter to Joseph Priestley." http://www.4literature.net/Benjamin_Franklin/Selections_from_Franklin_s_Miscellaneo/.
| Presentation | 30% |
| Exam One | 20% |
| Exam Two | 20% |
| Short Assignments | 20% |
| Participation | 10% |
| 1. Systems Analysis and Information Services | Fasana "Systems Analysis"; Bommer "Operations Research in Libraries" |
| 2. Mathematical Modeling | Rowley "Models"; Brookes "The Viability of Branch Libraries" |
| 3. Queuing Theory | Rowley "Queuing" |
| 4. Resource Allocation | Kraft/Boyce "Resource Allocation" |
| 5. Stochastic Processes | Kraft/Boyce "Stochastic Processes and Library Models" |
| 6. Network Analysis | Rowley "Networks" |
| 7. Strategic Decision Making | Kirkwood Chapter 1 |
| 8. Identifying the Objectives of Information Services | Kirkwood Chapter 2; Evans/Borko/Ferguson "Review of Criteria Used to Measure Library Effectiveness"; Hamburg/Ramist/Bommer "Library Objectives and Performance Measures and Their Use in Decision Making" |
| 9. Identifying Alternative Courses of Action | Kirkwood Chapter 3 |
| 10. Multiple Objectives and Tradeoffs | Kirkwood Chapter 4; Franklin "Letter to Joseph Priestley" |
FURTHER INFORMATION
This syllabus is subject to addition and modification during the course of the semester. This class will have a listserv: IRLS613@listserv.arizona.edu. Please subscribe (see Subscription Information for instructions).
WebCT Code of Academic Integrity SIRLS Computer Requirements
This document was last updated on January 5, 2002.