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LIBR 200-01
LIBR 200-10
Information and Society
Fall 2010 Course Outline

Dr. Ziming Liu
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Office Hours: Virtually by e-mail or in person by appointment


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Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII | Part XIII | Part XIV

Part I. Libraries and Society

History of libraries, information services and information technology. Role of libraries and their relationship to other information providers. Examines the provision of library and information services in the information society.

REQUIRED READING

Harris, M., Hannah, S. & Harris, P. (1998). Into the future. (2nd ed.). Greenwich, CT: Ablex: pp. 23-25, chap. 2a, chap. 2b (pp. 23-50).

Intner, S. (1998, March). The Good Professional: A New Vision. American Libraries, 48-50.

Lynch, B. P., & Smith, K. R. (2001). The changing nature of work in academic libraries. College & Research Libraries, 62(5), 407-420. [PDF 1.4 MB]

Rubin, Chap. 2

Part II. Characteristics of Information

Introduction to the concepts of information in a free society and a historical perspective on the need to provide equal access to information in order to maintain a democratic society.

REQUIRED READING:

Rubin, chap. 1.

Schramm, William. (1975). How communication works. Mass media and society. 2nd ed., Alan Wells, ed., Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield: pp. 171-179.

Part III. The Information Society

Discusses the concept of the "Information Society" and places it in a political, historical, and sociological perspective. Considers the role of technology in society and how it relates to social change.

REQUIRED READING:

Bell, D. (1980). The social framework of the information society. The Microelectronics revolution: The complete guide to the new technology and its impact on society. Tom Forester, ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press: 500-549.

Liu, Z. (2003). Trends in transforming scholarly communication and their implications. Information Processing and Management, 39(6): 889-898. [PDF 76 KB]

Thirunarayanan, M. (2003). From thinkers to clickers: The World Wide Web and the transformation of the essence of being human. Ubiquity, 4 (12).

Part IV. Library and Information Professional Response to Technological Change

The social, political, and technical changes caused by technology in the information workplace.

REQUIRED READING

Rubin, chap. 6

Stevens, N. (1991). A popular history of library technology. Library technology 1970-1990: Shaping the library of the future: Research contributions from the 1990 Computers in Libraries Conference, Nancy M. Nelson, ed. Westport, CT: Meckler: pp. 1-13.

p. 1-5
p. 6-13

Broderick, D. M. (1998). Net or not, people need libraries. American Libraries, 62-64.

Part V. Status of Librarianship as a Profession

Explores the socially constructed role of the library and information professions.

REQUIRED READING

Harris & Hannah, chap. 2a & chap. 2b.

Rubin, chaps. 3, 4

Harris, R. (1992). Librarianship: The erosion of a woman’s profession. Chap. 9.

Part VI. Ethics of the Profession

Examines the ethical basis for professional activities.

REQUIRED READING

Harris & Hannah, chap. 4 & chap. 4b.

Rubin, chap. 10

Part VII. Valuing the Information Professional

Assesses the economic and social value added by the work of information professionals.

Part VIII. Understanding the Information User

Examines theories and methodologies for determining user information needs and helping expand information literacy skills.

REQUIRED READING

Graham, L. & Metaxas, P. T. (2003). "Of course it's true; I saw it on the Internet!" Critical thinking in the Internet era. Communications of the ACM, 46(5), 70-75.

Kozel, K. (1998). Re-thinking the end-user’s experience: What filmmakers, teachers, and advertisers can teach us. E-Media Professional. pp. 61-63 & pp. 64-67.

Spink, A.; Cole, C. (2001). Information and poverty: Information seeking channels used by African American low-income household. Library and Information Science Research, 23, 45-65.

Vaugham, K. (2003). Changing use patterns of print journals in the digital age. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 54(12), 1149-1152. [PDF 59 KB]

Whitmire, E. (2001). The relationship between undergraduates' background characteristics and college experiences and their academic library use. College & Research Libraries, 62(6), 528-540. [PDF, 1 MB]

Part IX. Special Populations, Multiculturalism and Values

The multicultural mission of information workers and information institutions to serve a variety of special populations.

REQUIRED READING

Asher, C., Case, E., and Zhong, Y. (2009, May). Serving generation 1.5: Academic library use and students from non-English-speaking households. College & Research Libraries, 70(3), 258-272.

Burke, S. K. (2008). Use of Public Libraries by Immigrants. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 48(2), 164-174.

Caidi, N.; Allard, D. (2005). Social inclusion of newcomers to Canada: An information problem? Library and Information Science Research, 27(3), 302-324.

Fish, J. (1992, February). Responding to cultural diversity: A library in transition.Wilson Library Bulletin. 34-37.

Hendricks, Y. (1991, April). The Japanese as library patrons. C&RL News, 221-225.

Part X. Professionalism and Values and Professional Associations

Explores the mission and activities of professional organizations.

REQUIRED READING

Rubin, chap. 5

Weber, S. (1999). Competencies for information professionals. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science. Oct/Nov: 28-29

Part XI. Information Economics:

Examines the economic issues related to information access and ownership.

REQUIRED READING

Rubin, chap. 8

Bertot, J. C., McClure, C. R., Jaeger P. T. (2005). Public libraries struggle to meet internet demand: New study shows libraries need support to sustain online services. American Libraries, 36(7), 78-80.

Schaffner, B. L. (2001). Electronic resources: A wolf in sheep's clothing. College & Research Libraries, 62(3), 239-249.

Wagner, A. B. (2003). Managing tradeoffs in the electronic age. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 54(12), 1160-1164. [PDF, 85 KB]

Part XII. Information Policy

Examines major policy issues related to information with special emphasis on information policy in a democratic society.

REQUIRED READING

Harris & Hannah, chap. 3a, chap. 3b, & chap. 6.

Rubin, chap. 9

Barlow, J. (1994, March). Economy of (everything) ideas. Wired, 85-90, 126-129.

Part XIII. Intellectual Property, and Intellectual Freedom: "Issues of Controversy"

Examines issues relating to information ownership and intellectual freedom.

REQUIRED READING

Anderson, B. (2002). First sale, digital copyright, and libraries. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 21(1), 73-76.

Allison, R. Y. (1998). Libraries and the Internet, part III. Library authority to filter/block Internet sites. Illinois Libraries, 80, 43-45.

Gasaway, L. N. (1999). Copyright corner: Copyright protection extended. Information Outlook, 3, 36-37.

Johnson, D. (2005). Maintaining intellectual freedom in a filtered world. Learning & Leading with Technology, 32(8), 39-41.

Montana, J. C. (1999, January). Copyright law and the Internet.The Information Management Journal,33, 52-56.

Russell, C. (2003). Understanding and protecting fair use. Public Libraries, 42(5),

XIV. Information Futures

Examines critical issues and predictions for the future of the information society

REQUIRED READING

Frey, T. (2007). The future of libraries. Available at http://www.davinciinstitute.com/page.php?ID=120

Grafton, A. (2007, November 5). Future reading: Digitization and its discontents. New Yorker, 83(34).

Hendrix, J. (2010). Checking out the future: Perspectives from the library community on information technology and 21st-century libraries.