S533 Online Searching: Spring 2013 p. 1 of 8 S533 Online Searching Spring 2013 Contact Information: Instructor: Dr. Xi Niu Office: IT 479 Email: xiniu@iupui.edu Textbook: Suzanne Bell, Librarian’s Guide to Online Searching. Libraries Unlimited, 3rd Ed. 2012 OR 2nd Ed. 2009. Do not use the 1st edition; it is missing several chapters we will use. Be sure to have this in-hand BEFORE class starts. The 2nd edition has different examples but covers the same topics. When a chapter number is given, I will indicate if it differs between editions. All other required readings will be posted in Oncourse. This syllabus has: WHAT: Course description and outcomes WHY: Relation to MLS and librarianship goals HOW: Assignments and schedule POLICIES: Attendance, grading, academic misconduct, and disability accommodation WHAT Catalog description: Principles, methods, and techniques of advanced online information retrieval (IR). Characteristics of and search strategies for the use of bibliographic, referral, citation, fact, numeric, and full text databases and search systems. Considers standards, use of communications software, front-ends and micro-based IR systems, and creation of in-house databases. Course learning outcomes: Upon completing this course students will know: Concepts in judging search effectiveness (relevance, recall, precision) Current and future trends in the indexing and retrieval of different types of information Principles for effective patron interactions and instruction And be able to: Select appropriate free and subscription online resources as matches for scholarly, citizen and consumer topics Identify effective controlled vocabulary, natural language, citation and other strategies and appropriate format and other limitations for searches Construct effective advanced, multi-step and multi-type searches in OPACS, subscription databases, and major free databases, using a variety of interfaces Communicate professionally with patrons individually and through user guides WHY How does this relate to masters-level librarianship? ALA Core Competences of Librarianship: quoting directly from the ALA CCL1 1 http://www.ala.org/ala/educationcareers/careers/corecomp/corecompetences/index.cfm S533 Online Searching: Spring 2013 p. 2 of 8 The most important competences addressed in this course are: 5. Reference and User Services 5A. The concepts, principles, and techniques of reference and user services that provide access to relevant and accurate recorded knowledge and information to individuals of all ages and groups. 5B. Techniques used to retrieve, evaluate, and synthesize information from diverse sources for use by individuals of all ages and groups. These areas are also involved: 3. Organization of Recorded Knowledge and Information 3C. The systems of cataloging, metadata, indexing, and classification standards and methods used to organize recorded knowledge and information. 4. Technological Knowledge and Skills 4A. Information, communication, assistive, and related technologies as they affect the resources, service delivery, and uses of libraries and other information agencies. 4B. The application of information, communication, assistive, and related technology and tools consistent with professional ethics and prevailing service norms and applications. 4C. The methods of assessing and evaluating the specifications, efficacy, and cost efficiency of technology-based products and services. 4D. The principles and techniques necessary to identify and analyze emerging technologies and innovations in order to recognize and implement relevant technological improvements. This is a course in connecting users with relevant information using online methods. It is about users, information, and connections. Indiana University MLS Program Goals: Assist and Educate Users of Libraries and Information Centers Analyze and identify information needs of diverse communities of users. Educate users and potential users to locate, use and evaluate information resources and tools. Analyze and evaluate information systems and services in a variety of settings. For this course, you need to know what these are, from S401 and S501 (required) and also S503 or 504 (recommended): A bibliographic database: a stand-alone/discrete entity that provides citations to journal articles (and some other materials) with some form of subject access/indexing. The difference between controlled vocabulary (from a thesaurus or authorized index/list) and free, natural, or user-assigned terms. The difference between an OPAC/library (book/materials) catalog, a restrictedaccess database, and the open Web. This course is designed to be most useful for students in academic, special/research, and public libraries. Most of the examples and research will be from academic and special (scientific) library settings, and there is an emphasis on understanding scholarly research and communication. Final projects allow students to focus on particular user groups, going into more depth in understanding specific resources and services. S533 Online Searching: Spring 2013 p. 3 of 8 HOW Course Format: The spring session consists of 15 instructional weeks, with one “unit” each week. Each week begins on Monday and ends on Thursday midnight Papers, exercises and postings are due by Thursday midnight. Papers, exercises and postings that are on time, will be graded by the end of Saturday. There is a penalty-free grace period for Friday until midnight. Items turned in on Fridays may not be graded until Monday. Every additional day late means 5 point deduction. You can work ahead if you need to arrange for time “off” for foreseeable issues like vacations and weddings. If you experience unforeseen personal issues, let me know. I can give you extended due dates: this is not ‘extra’ time but merely a replacement for time you may have lost to accidents or illness. You need to communicate about this. There are two types of units: Forum & Response & Exercise (FRE) Paper/Project: 1 paper, 2 projects Do not wait until three days of the scheduled Unit to work on a paper or project. They are larger in scale than the FRE groups. For a Forum & Response & Exercise unit you will: Post an activity in a Forum, as described in the Unit directions Respond to someone else’s activity / posting from the previous FRE unit Complete an Exercise turned in via Assignments 20% for all Forums and Responses 20% for all Exercises Papers: Future: Choose among 4 topics in the future of information retrieval; readings are provided; 500-700 word essay. SEO/Discovery: Choose among 3 topics (search engine optimization, discovery systems, next generation catalogs; find commercial reports; 500-700 word essay 10% for each paper Search Mastery Project: conduct a search for a hypothetical patron (including a patron interview), produce a patron report and an analysis. 20% for the search and analysis Option Project: Choose from among 3 different options (database reviewing/collection management; usability testing; patron instruction) 15% for the project 5% for comments on others’ projects S533 Online Searching: Spring 2013 p. 4 of 8 Topics/Readings/Timetable White: These are FRE Units. Each involves a Forum, a Response, and an Exercise. These are due by midnight of that unit’s date. Green: These are paper/project due dates/units. DO NOT WAIT until three days to work on these projects. Blue: These are reminder items UnitsDUE by MIDNIGHT Classes begin Monday January 7 Unit 1: FRE Begins January 7 DUE Thursday January 10 midnight Unit 2: FRE Begins January 14 DUE Thursday January 17 midnight Jan. 14th Unit 3: FRE Begins January 21 DUE Thursday January 24 midnight Topics, Readings Make sure you have your textbook! Topic: Google and Databases: Orientation to Online Searching Relevance, precision, recall Readings: Bell, Chapter 1 Letzing, John. "Google to Roll out Smarter Search." Wall Street Journal, May 17 2012, B6. Needleman, Sarah E., and Emily Maltby. "As Google Tweaks Searches, Some Get Lost in the Web." Wall Street Journal, May 17 2012, B1. Forum-1: Google/Bing/Relevance, assigned topics Response: post in the Introductions Forum Exercise-1: Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, Google OPACs Book subject headings Review of Boolean Breaking down questions Bell, Chapters 2, 3, 6 [skim] Poo, D. C. C., & Khoo, C. S. G. (2009). Online catalog subject searching Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences (Third ed., pp. 39533962). New York: Taylor and Francis. (Read ONLY 3953-3956) Forum-2: Tutorial critiques Response to Forum-1: improve search with advanced features Exercise-2: OPAC searching 100% refund period ends Bibliographic databases # 1: Education, Library Science Metasearching Bell, Chapter 4, sections on Library Literature and ERIC Baker, S., & Gonzalez, A. C. (2012). Graduate students and federated searching. Internet Reference Services Quarterly, 17(1), 13-31. Forum-3: Finding subject terms in different databases S533 Online Searching: Spring 2013 p. 5 of 8 Jan. 2oth Unit 4: FRE Begins January 28 DUE Thursday January 31 midnight Feb. 3rd Unit 5: FRE Begins February 4 DUE Thursday February 7 midnight Unit 6: FRE Begins February 11 DUE Thursday February 14 midnight Unit 7: PAPER DUE Thursday Response to Forum-2: Provide an example for a tutorial Exercise-3: Assigned searches, evaluating subject terms 75% refund period ends Bibliographic databases # 2: Humanities, Social Sciences Limits: years, publication types Bell, Chapter 4/PsycINFO; Chapter 7 Abels, E. G. (2009). Business information and its users Encyclopedia of library and information science (pp. 693-700). New York: Taylor and Francis. Forum-4: Social science topics and terms; limits Response to Forum-3: Metasearching Exercise-4: Humanities database comparison 25% refund period ends Bibliographic databases # 3 Medical databases Exploding, focus, subheadings Bell, Chapter 5 (just PubMed/Medline) Rana, G., Bradley, D. R., Hamstra, S. J., Ross, P. T., Schumacher, R. E., Frohna, J. G., Haftel, H.M., Lypson, M. L. (2011). A validated search assessment tool: assessing practice-based learning and improvement in a residency program. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 99(1), 77-81. Forum-5: Create a medical search topic Response to Forum-4: General vs. specialized database searching Exercise-5: Comparing major medical database interfaces & results Searches based on tracing Citation searching, scientific Legal, patent searches ALL: Bell, Chapter 5 (Web of Science) CHOOSE ONE AREA: Citation searching: Nisonger, Thomas E. "Citation Autobiography: An Investigation of ISI Database Coverage in Determining Author Citedness." College & Research Libraries 65.2 (2004): 152-63. Patent searching: White, M. J. (2009). Patents and patent searching Encyclopedia of Library and Information Studies (Third ed., pp. 4114-4126). New York: Taylor and Francis Legal searching: Arewa, O. B. (2006). Open access in a closed universe: Lexis, Westlaw, law schools, and the legal information market. Lewis and Clark Law Review, 10, 797+. Forum-6 Choice: Patent or Legal or Citation Response to Forum-5: Medical text/systematic review searching Exercise-6: Comparing trace vs. subject searching Concept paper: Future of Information Retrieval S533 Online Searching: Spring 2013 p. 6 of 8 21st Unit 8: FRE Begins February 25th DUE Thursday February 28 midnight Unit 9: PROJECT Interview questions by March 7th Unit 10: FRE Begins March 18th DUE Thursday March 21 midnight Unit 11: PAPER DUE Thursday March 28st Unit 12: FRE Begins April 1 DUE Thursday April 4 midnight Friday April 5 Unit 13: PROJECT Due: Thursday April 11 Unit 14: PROJECT Due: Thursday Patrons Information Seeking Behavior Interviewing Bell, Chapter 9 CHOOSE ONE ELIS information seeking article [listed in instructions] Forum-8: Scenarios and interview questions Response to Forum-6: use ISB readings to comment on database interfaces/ capacities Exercise-8: Reflection on user experience Search mastery topics/scenarios assigned Initial user interview March 11-17th: Spring Break User instruction Bell, Chapter 12 DaCosta, J. W. (2010). Is there an information literacy skills gap to be bridged? An examination of faculty perceptions and activities relating to information literacy in the United States and England. College & Research Libraries, 71(3), 203-222. Forum-10: User cheat-sheet Response-to-9: Relate a database to a user group Exercise-10: Critiquing LibGuides Concept paper: Search Engine Optimization OR Federated/Discovery/ New Catalog systems Management: Evaluation and selection of databases Bell, Chapter 11 IUPUI Database Prices spreadsheet RUSA Machine-Assisted Reference Section (MARS). (2011). Best free reference websites: thirteenth annual lists. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 51(1), 19-24. Forum-12: Database reviews/usability Response-to-10: Strong points of cheat-sheets/populations Exercise-12: Database selection worksheet and critique No later: Pick final project (send to instructor via email Search mastery project Project: choice of database review/selection, usability, or patron instruction S533 Online Searching: Spring 2013 p. 7 of 8 April 18 Unit 15: COMMENT: By April 25 Comment on Search Mastery and Project from other students Course Administration and Policies Attendance: Students are expected to access Oncourse at least 3-4 times per week. If you have an emergency, contact the instructor as soon as possible. If you do not complete at least half of all activities during the first two weeks of class, you can be administratively withdrawn. This would occur after the tuition refund dates. (This is a campus policy, adapted to a summer and online format). Students can use any IU-campus computer lab if they lose connectivity at home. Grading: This course follows the general standards found in the SLIS Bulletin: http://www.slis.indiana.edu/Courses/forms/grades.html For assignments, the philosophy is the same: A assignments will be completed with both full mastery and high originality; B assignments will show solid understanding; Cs or below will be assigned when it is apparent that not all aspects of an assignment have been completed satisfactorily. Play close attention to assignment requirements. Failure to complete required sections of assignments will result in C or lower grades. The Oncourse Gradebook will be used. Exercises and projects are returned, with comments, through the Assignments tool, not the Gradebook. Comments on Forum postings are found in the Forum gradebook comments section. Letter grades will be assigned and translated into percentage scores: A = 98 A- = 93 B+= 88 B = 83 B - = 78 C+ = 73 C = 68 C- = 63 Oncourse will then calculate weighted averages and translate the results into the following scale: A = 95-100 A- = 90-94 B+ = 85-89 B = 80-84 B- = 75-79 C+ = 70-74 C = 65-69 PLEASE NOTE: The numbers specified here are arbitrarily designated in order to conform to Oncourse’s mathematics. A “B” effort is NOT one in which you have completed 83% of the requirements. A “B” / 83 grade is assigned to “good work…meeting course expectations.” If a due date is missed, a zero is assigned when grading begins for the next unit. Academic misconduct Students are expected to do their own, individual, and original work. Work that is plagiarized (using other people’s writings without attribution) or re-purposed (handing in work done for another class) will result in a minimum in the failure of that section. You will learn from what other people do and post (in Forums), but there are no group projects. WHENEVER you quote from someone else you need to use quote marks. When you do not use quote marks, you are representing that wording as your own creation; this is plagiarism, even if you use a footnote/citation. In some assignments you will provide descriptions of materials (books, articles). It is fine to use summaries or abstracts you find elsewhere, as long as you use quote marks to clearly mark what you yourself did not write. S533 Online Searching: Spring 2013 p. 8 of 8 For the paper, TurnItIn will be used. This identifies passages that are identical to articles and other resources. If you use quote marks, this is just fine. If it appears that you have not marked work that is not your own, I will let you know. You may dispute this in a meeting (phone, email, or in person, at your choosing). You would need to redo the assignment, and the existence of the incident will be reported, according to campus policy. Accommodations: Students needing accommodations because of a disability will need to register with Adaptive Educational Services (AES) and complete the appropriate forms issued by AES before accommodations will be given. The AES office is located in Taylor Hall, UC 100. You can also reach the office by calling 274-3241. Visit http://aes.iupui.edu/ for more information. Most resources should be accessible to visually-impaired students. All assignment directions are in Word documents. If assigned pdfs or websites are inaccessible, please contact the instructor. Students who create projects for the public assignments should incorporate ‘alt’ tags for images or enough text so that the meaning is accessible to students using screen readers.