School of Library and Information Science
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Louisiana State University
School of Library and Information Science
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This course introduces the students to (1) hardware, software, networking, and telecommunications issues relating to information technologies used in libraries information settings, (2) experience with appropriate software packages and search systems, (3) information retrieval techniques, (4) system specification and implementation issues, and (5) Website design techniques.
LIS 7008 is a service-learning optional course. Servie-learning is community-based learning; is "a course-based, credit bearing educational experience in which students (1) participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs and (2) reflect on the service activity in such a way to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility" (Bringle & Hatcher, 1995). The Center for Community Engagement, Learning, and Leadership (CCELL) at LSU facilitates service-learning and community-engaged research. Experiential learning refers to the learning process of combining classroom knowledge with practical work experience.
For the course project, students will work in pairs or a team of three to design a Website for a real entity of their choice. The rationale for working with a real entity is for the students to integrate and extend knowledge acquired throughout the course and to apply that knowledge to solve a problem of substantial scope in the real world, while providing technological assistance to our community. The students who work with a public, non-profit entity are recognized by CCELL as taking a service-learning course. Students who work with a private, small business entity are not particularly recognized.
Student Trip Travel Insurance Requirement: Every student participating in a service-learning or experiential learning class must have field trip insurance secured for every off-campus visit she/he makes to a community partner site. Every student needs to fill out a form for requesting trip insurance available at the Office of Risk Management Website. The insurance is free to students.
| Instructor | Teaching Assistant | |
|---|---|---|
| Name: | Yejun Wu | Steven Buras |
| Email: | wuyj (at) lsu (dot) edu | sburas3 (at) tigers (dot) lsu (dot) edu |
| Office: | 272 Coates Hall | 266 Coates Hall (the SLIS Lab)* |
| Office or Lab Hour: | by email | June: W: 5-6:30PM, Sat: 10:30PM-12PM, by appointment July: Sat: 10:30AM-12PM, by appointment |
The teaching assistant will conduct lab sessions at the SLIS Open Lab once or twice a week on a schedule that will be discussed in our first class. Lab sessions provide an opportunity for students to seek clarification of information contained in the reading assignments or presented in class, to seek help with hands-on computer use (including the homework assignments), to review material in preparation for exams, and to seek help with their projects and the associated materials. Lab sessions are unstructured, and students are free to come and go as they please. There will be no lab sessions if they conflict with LSU-observed academic holidays.
I will be on travels this summer, and so not be available for face-to-face meetings. I can chat with you on MSN, Skype or Moodle upon request, but emailing me or emailing/meeting with TA is the fastest way to get an answer. When you email me, please put "LIS 7008" (followed by your topic) in the Subject line (if your message is related to the course) so that you can get a quick response.
Students wishing to discuss accommodations for unusual circumstances (such as diability issues) should contact me no later than the second week of classes.
Students are expected to demonstrate mastery of the following prerequisite knowledge through the course. These skills are not taught as a part of this course. Students concerned about their mastery of specific skills on this list are advised to discuss the matter with the TA or the instructor prior to the second class of the semester.
Required text books:
Recommended books:
You will need to obtain an myLSU (the earlier PAWS account) so that you can access Moodle, LSU's wireless network and download necessary software (such as FileZilla FTP Client). Every student will be assigned an FTP account by the instructor to host his/her homework and project at the class Web server. You are also allowed to use commercial Web space (such as http://freehostia.com/) to host your homework and project, but we do not provide any technical support. (I am not marketing freehostia.com; I am simply using it as an example.)
It is required that students arrange for regular access to a computer with an Internet connection, either at home or at work, unless they will be on campus daily. There is a tremendous amount of detail to be mastered in this course, and experience suggests that there is no way to learn it all if you only have access to computing facilities only one or two days a week. For this reason, you should plan to use a computer in an intellectually meaningful way at least five days a week. Furthermore, since much of the information in the course will be distributed only electronically (through Moodle, on the course Web site or by email), access to a computer throughout the week will be important to ensure that you have timely access to this information. If you have a broadband Internet connection at home (cable modem or a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connection) then you should be able to reach the University's computers through that conection. Help getting connected is available from ITS Help Desk or http://grok.lsu.edu (read Wireless at LSU and Student Section). Networked computers on compus are available at Public Access Computer Labs. The SLIS Open Lab has also some networked computers available. The current schedule of the SLIS Lab is:
M-Th: 7:30am - 8:00pm
F-Sat: 8:00am - 4:30pm
Sun: 12pm - 6pm
Note: closed on home football game days.
In addition to a networked computer, you also need a computer microphone for recording an audio message (see
homework 4).
| Component | Percentage | Computation |
|---|---|---|
| Midterm and Final | 35% | Best=25%, the other=10%. |
| Term Project | 40% | Project will be graded together with report, with higher weight to the project (e.g., 30% project, 10% report). Your project report will help me understand your project better. |
| Homework/Quiz | 15% | 3% each for best 5. |
| Class Participation | 10% | Active contribution to discussions on Moodle
We will count intellectually meaningful posts that advance discussions on Moodle. Any post fewer than 25 words, or expressing
an opinion without evidence or reason will be ignored when grading. However,
recommending good learning materials will be credited.
Online discussion postings will be counted up to the time when the final exam starts. The formula for calculating online postings is: 50 + [(short_posting_count * 0.5 + long_posting_count)/average_count] * 40, where long_posting_count is the nubmer of meaningful postings longer than 100 words, and short_posting_count is the number of meaningful postings with a length between 25 and 100 words. |
Scores for each course requirement (homework assignment, exam, document, project, class participation) will be assigned on a 100 point scale (with 90-100=A, 80-89=B, 70-79=C, etc). No curve will be used when assigning final grades. Historically, about one-third of the students have earned at least an A-, and a small number of students (varying between zero and three each semester) have received grades below B-.
There will be one quiz and two exams (i.e., one midterm and one final). The principal purpose of the quiz is to support self-assessment and demystify the mid-term exam. More credit will be given for the better of the two exams. Quiz grading is described below.
Students will post their homework on their own course Web sites (except for the first homework). The homework assigned for a class session is usually due before the beginning of its next class unless otherwise specified. Solutions will be posted electronically or discussed in my lecture slides after the assignment is due. There will be 6 assignments. Credit for partial work will be given. Late assignments will be corrected, but will receive no credit. The lowest 2 homework/quiz grades will be dropped, so only the best 5 of these 7 grades will be used to compute the average. All material included in the homework is testable, however, so skipping an assignment is a bad idea.
For the term project, teams (preferably three-person teams) will design and implement some type of application in a way that makes substantial use of advanced technologies learned in this class. Team work is required. Two-person teams are allowed. Four-person teams are usually not allowed except in a very special circumstance. Each group will be asked to discuss their project ideas and plans right after the midterm exam. Groups are highly encouraged, however, to get an earlier start, they may submit a one page description of their plans by email to solicit feedback at any time. See the Project page for information about deliverables and due time.
Each group will submit one project (including one project report) and each member of the group will receive a same grade for that project. However, please do not think of not contributing to the project because the project will be tested in the final exam. In addition, a self-evaluation and cross-evaluation form for the project, a reflective essay assignment, and a project survey will be distributed to the class to collect information about whether you participated in the project seriously, and how much you have contributed to the project.
Online discussions on Moodle will count towards your grade of class participation. Recommending interesting learning materials, asking questions and answering questions are all positive contributions. See the "Grading" section of this page for how your online discussions will be credited.
Students may work together on the homework assignments, but all of the material that is turned in for grading must be produced individually. For example, students may form study groups and work out solutions together on a whiteboard, but it would not be permissible for one student to create a computer file containing the answers and then for other students to copy that file and submit it as their own work. The goal of this policy is to encourage the use of homework as a learning aid. A concentration on grades to the exclusion of learning when working on the homework can be counterproductive, since each exam is worth at least as much as all of the homework assignments together.
Students are not allowed to consult any other living person in the quiz and exams. Any instances of academic misconduct will be reported to the Office of the Dean of Students for investigation and judgment.