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LIBS 6012: Analyzing and Synthesizing Professional Library Information Spring 2016 East Carolina University Master of Library Science Programs Department of Interdisciplinary Professions

Instructor Dr. Elaine Yontz East Carolina University E-mail: [email protected] Ragsdale 112—Mail Stop 172 Phone: 252/373-1150 Greenville, NC 27858- 4353

Office Hours: Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 am - 11:15 am Other times by appointment

I can meet with you in person in my Ragsdale office, via phone, or over email.

Messages left at the office phone number, 252/373-1150, are saved as audio files and immediately sent to me via email.

I ordinarily check PirateMail and Blackboard at least once each weekday. If I will be away from this schedule due to travel or other responsibilities, I will let you know ahead of time if I can.

Should you need to contact me in the evening, over a weekend, or while I am traveling, feel free to call or text to Page 2 of 14 229/269-9484 (note Georgia area code). If you text, put your full name and the course number (6012) in the first message.

About the Course

Course Description: Planning and conducting basic research and applying research methods to solve problems are essential skills for librarians in all types of library settings. Skill as a researcher, and as a consumer of research publications, is necessary for sharing knowledge, and advances the field in general. This course will introduce you to various types of research methods used in the social sciences and how to apply them appropriately to your personal research as a student and later as a practicing librarian. Prerequisite: LIBS 6010 or permission of the instructor.

Course Learning Objectives:

 Understand and apply the fundamentals of quantitative and qualitative research methods  Understand and locate research literature of the field  Apply the principles and methods used to assess the actual and potential value of new research  Apply research to professional problems

MLS Program Objective met by LIBS 6012:

2. Analyze, evaluate and synthesize research literature in library and information science and design basic practitioner research

Required Texts:

2 Page 3 of 14 American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: APA.

Wildemuth, B. (2009). Applications of social research methods to questions in information and library science. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Course Overview

There are four modules in this course. Each one begins with chapter readings from the textbook, and three modules include an assigned landmark study in library and information science. Each module includes one or more companion activities, such as contributing to a topic blog or completing a short exercise. Three of the modules include tests over the readings. Begin each module by doing the readings, take the test over the readings, and then contribute to the topic blog. Each module ends with a task or exercise.

Module 1 introduces you to thinking about research in general and you will read from the textbook, read the landmark study, and contribute to the topic blog. Then you will take Test 1 in Blackboard. The last task in Module 1 is to generate a research question(s) of interest, or formulate a hypothesis(ses). By the end of the course, you will be prepared to develop a brief research proposal based on the research question(s) or hypothesis(ses).

Module 2 prepares you to explore and select the most appropriate research design to pursue the research questions or hypotheses and find related research on your topic. You will read from the textbook, read the landmark study, and contribute to the Page 4 of 14 topic blog. Then you will take Test 2 in Blackboard, and complete a database search exercise.

Module 3 prepares you to determine what data would be collected, and how it might be collected in search of answers to your research question(s) or to support your hypothesis(es). You will read from the textbook, read the landmark study, and contribute to the topic blog. Then you will take Test 3 in Blackboard, and complete a citation exercise.

Module 4 completes the course by asking students to write a brief research proposal based on their own research question(s) and providing critiques for two other students’ research proposals. Students may work with a classmate-partner to develop the research proposal. You will read from the textbook, complete CITI training modules, develop a brief research proposal, post it to a discussion board, and critique two other classmates’ proposals.

The CITI training modules may be completed at any time during the course, but must be completed and reported by December 14. I suggest working on the CITI modules early in the course, as the information in the modules may affect how you want to design your final course project.

100 score points are distributed across these activities as follows:

 Tests = 15 points (5 points for each of three tests)  Blogs = 30 points (10 points each for three topic blogs)  Exercises and CITI exam – 15 points (five points each for three tasks) 4 Page 5 of 14  Research proposal = 35 points  Critique of classmates’ proposals = 5 points

Critical Dates

Classes begin Jan 11 Personal Introductions due Jan 15 State Holiday Jan 18 Module 1 due Feb 8 Spring Break March 6-13 Module 2 due March 14 Drop course without academic penalty by March 21 5pm State Holiday March 25-27 Module 3 due April 4 Classes End April 26 Reading Day April 27 Final Exams April 28-May 5 Module 4 and TaskStream due* May 2 Course grades visible in OneStop by 5pm May 7

* Internal deadlines for Module 4  April 11: Post research proposal draft on Discussion Board  April 18: Critique 2 classmates' proposals on Discussion Board  May 2: Post your final research proposal in two places: Blackboard and TaskStream  May 2: Complete the reflection in TaskStream  May 2: Complete CITI online tutorials and submit completion report Page 6 of 14 About the Assignments

Complete information about the assignments is contained in separate module folders under the “Assignments” button at the Blackboard course site. Each module includes a reading assignment and related activities. Activities include four writing assignments (three blogs and a research proposal, which is the course artifact), three tests over the readings, and completion of an online training program (CITI training).

Because it is not unusual, and can be very useful for investigators to partner and then collaborate on research projects, you will be able to collaborate with one other student in the class on the course artifact. Only one assignment per partnership should be submitted. The partners will receive the same grade. It is up to partners to determine that the work distribution is fair and equal. If you choose not to collaborate or if you begin the course late, you can work individually on the assignments with no penalties.

The College of Education and the Master of Library Science Program have chosen the American Psychological Association publication style using the in-text and reference list options as the required style. A quick guide is available at http://www.apastyle.org/ You should now own a copy of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th Ed.). For online guides to APA style, including the APA Style Guide to Electronic References, see http://www.ecu.edu/cs- lib/Reference/refdesk/style.cfm These documents are included, along with an APA tutorial under the “Other Course Docs” button.

How to Complete and Submit Assignments

6 Page 7 of 14 Assignments are due by 11:59 pm on the due date. If an assignment is submitted late, I will grade it if I have time, but I reserve the right not to accept it. This means, the only way to make sure that your assignment will be graded is to meet the due date. If you need an extended deadline, contact me in advance if you can; I will be as flexible as I can be. The exception to this policy involves your final research proposal and reflection; see below. Your final research proposal and the reflection are your “final exam” for this course. The research proposal is due in both Blackboard and Taskstream on May 2, and the Reflection assignment is due in TaskStream on May 2. May 2 is the Monday of Exam Week. If your research proposal is not in Blackboard and your research proposal and reflection are not in TaskStream by May 2, your course grade will be reduced by one letter. Like most of the MLS program courses, this is a writing- intensive course. For students who recognize that writing may be a barrier to their success, I highly recommend the University Writing Center’s Online Writing Lab. Lab personnel will review papers submitted online and return them with diagnostic suggestions for improvement. Complete information on how to submit is available at: https://ecu.mywconline.com/

Review and Grading of Assignments

Grading will be based on the following criteria: adherence to assignment requirements; the detailed, concise and logical presentation of information that addresses the assignment requirements; use of resource materials to justify responses; and use of appropriate grammar and style. This is a graduate-level course: the instructor will be expecting and grading all assignments at that level of ability. Written work that shows a lack Page 8 of 14 of understanding of subject matter, is unclear or poorly organized, contains few or irrelevant details, does not follow directions, contains little or unsubstantiated evaluative commentary, or is otherwise poorly written, prepared (e.g. typos, grammatical errors), or documented will receive low grades. Please remember that while an electronic spell check of a document will note most misspellings, spell checkers do not recognize context and verb agreement. This is still something that people do better than machines. Students should use the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) to prepare citations in this course. You will learn in the course about ways to copy reference citations from the web, but please know that these are not always done correctly. You are responsible for editing these to conform to APA style if necessary.

Grading Scale: The course assignments total 100 points in value. These points comprise your final grade for the course. The grading scale is as follows:

93 - 100 total points results in a final grade of "A" 85 - 92 total points results in a final grade of "B" 75 - 84 total points results in a final grade of "C" 00-74 total points results in a final grade of “F”

Additional Course Information and ECU Course Policies

ADA Accommodation

East Carolina University seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act (ADAA). Students requesting 8 Page 9 of 14 accommodations based on a disability must be registered with the Department for Disability Support Services (DSS) http://www.ecu.edu/cs-studentlife/dss/ and located in Slay 138 (252) 737-1016 (Voice/TTY).

Individuals in need of additional information or training should contact DSS at (252) 737-1016.

Copyright

The intellectual property used or created in LIBS 6012 and fixed in any tangible medium (electronic or paper format) is fully protected by the copyright law as embodied by US Code Title 17. Examples of intellectual property include the intellectual property of you and your classmates as expressed in course assignments and electronic discourses, and the course instructor as expressed in his course syllabus, class assignments, course resources, and presentations of an audio/video nature. The copyright law does allow what is described as “fair use" of copyright materials. Under “fair use” of copyright protected materials used or generated within LIBS 6012, students may only utilize protected intellectual property in support of their education pursuits in this class as long as fully cited and authorship/creator acknowledgement is noted. Please ask the instructor if you have any questions regarding copyright law and “fair use.”

Privacy

While individual privacy is highly valued, it should be noted that there is no absolute safeguard to guarantee and protect the right to privacy in all circumstances and environments. Accidents may happen, mistakes can be made, and safeguards can be overcome. Page 10 of 14

As a result, students should be hesitant to share personally identifiable information (i.e. personal contact information, Student ID number, etc.) or other sensitive information (i.e. personal finances, health information, gripes about supervisors or work situations) about themselves, their family members, or close friends.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to turn in original work and adhere to the principles of Academic Integrity. All resources quoted, noted, or used as an example in students’ work should be provided at the end of the course artifact as “References,” and noted with in- text references.

Students shall avoid all forms of academic dishonesty, including but not limited to:

 Cheating - obtaining or attempting to obtain, or aiding another to obtain credit for work, or any improvement in evaluation of performance, by any dishonest or deceptive means.

 Plagiarism – the use or nearly exact use of others’ intellectual property without attribution and without enclosing the property in quotation marks or other identifying notation. Multiple and extended quotes or paraphrasing of another’s intellectual property will be considered plagiarism even if the source is named when it degrades the overall originality of the work. Basically this means you cannot cabbage together an assignment from found documents.

10 Page 11 of 14  Submitting work prepared for another course – do not submit in whole or part, assignments that have been prepared for another course. This defeats the learning objectives of the assignment, unfairly advantages you over other students, and would usually earn a poor grade anyway because it would not match elements on the grading rubric.

These are behaviors I expect of all students:

 I will use only my own assigned/selected username and password when participating in online activities such as tests or assignments.  I will use only materials permitted by my instructor while taking online tests.  I will discuss only appropriate course materials and not test content with other students.  I will do my own work and will not share individual assignments with others unless I have the instructor’s permission.  I will prepare assignments and cite materials according to APA style.  I will not provide answers to other students during a test, such as using an online communication tool to send/receive answers.  I will not copy and or provide another student with test questions accessed during an exam.  Any student suspected of violating ECU’s Academic Integrity policy will be charged accordingly. The complete policy and charge procedures are available at: http://www.ecu.edu/csstudentlife/policyhub/academic_integrit y.cfm

Technology Related Information Page 12 of 14

Contingency Plan for Course Delivery in Case of Technical Challenges

PirateMail is the supplementary communication vehicle for the course and is our first choice if Blackboard becomes unavailable. I will use either provided phone numbers or alternate email addresses to deliver course information in the event that both ECU email and Blackboard fail for an extended period of time. Extreme emergencies resulting in wide scale electrical, phone outages will be dealt with as appropriate to the situation and following procedures determined by the University.

Technology Assistance and Resources

Technical assistance and resources for using Blackboard software are available within the course Blackboard site (Blackboard Support tab at the top of the window).

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Technology Requirements

In order to successfully complete this course, you will be required to have access to and be able to effectively use personal computers, the Internet, email programs, online databases, and Microsoft Word. While I can sometimes offer advice and counsel with the use of these technologies, I’m not able to troubleshoot your computer. But I will help you as best I can and refer you elsewhere for assistance.

Use the latest version of either Firefox or Chrome as the browser when you are using Blackboard. Previous experience has shown that several Blackboard features will not work properly if you don’t.

Back up all your documents for this course. $5 spent on a thumb drive could be the best $5 you will ever spend. And don’t ever give a university professor your only copy of anything .

Please note: This syllabus may be subject to change before or during the CURRENT semester. Changes to the syllabus will be posted as Announcements.

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