Office: Library E760
Office Hours: by appointment

Purpose:  Information service is the intermediation provided by information professionals between clients and the information they need.  This course will introduce you to the skills, theories, tools, and functions associated with successful intermediation.

Objectives:  By the end of this class, you will be able to:

1. Identify, compare, and evaluate information sources; identify and use the sources most likely to contain specific types of information.
2. Discuss the reference and intermediation process, including techniques of question negotiation, search strategies, and information provision.
3. Discuss current issues in information service.

Assignments and Grading:

8 weekly bibliographic and discussion exercises (10 points each):	80 points
Mini paper: reference desk observation:	20
Mini paper: report on a professional electronic conference:	20
Bibliographic guide:	40
Final exam (take home):	40
Total:	200

Weekly bibliographic and discussion exercises are due by 4pm on the Friday before the next class.   That is to give me time to read and grade your work so that we can discuss the results in class.  You may hand assignments into my SLIS mailbox, or email them to me.   If you choose email, it is your responsibility to make a paper copy for the next class (in case I cannot access the electronic copy).   I can accept electronic documents in ASCII or IBM format only.

All other assignments will be accepted in paper copy only.
No late assignments will be accepted unless you have previously obtained my consent.

You must complete all assignments in order to pass the course.  Indiana University and School of Library and Information Science policies on academic dishonesty will be followed.  Students found to be engaging in plagiarism, cheating, or other types of dishonesty will receive an F for the course.

Class 1  January 10 Introductions What makes a good reference librarian? Information literacy	Assignment Due:
January 17: MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY -- no classes!
Class 2 January 24 Control and access tools: IUCAT Categories of sources Information lifecycle and information seeking Search strategies Read: Katz vol. I ch. 1 Katz vol. II ch1, ch 7-8 Keefer, Jane. 1993. The Hungry Rats Syndrome: Library Anxiety, Information Literacy, and the Academic Reference Process. RQ 32(3):333-39.	Jan 21: Exercise 1 Describe services from local reference department
Class 3 January 31 More Control and Access Tools: National Catalogs, Trade Bibliographies The reference interview Ethics Read: Katz I ch 4 Katz II ch 6, 10 (pp.237-48) Ross, Catherine Sheldrick and Patricia Dewdney. 1986. Reference Interviewing Skills: Twelve Common Questions. Public Libraries Spring: 7-9. ALA Code of Ethics: http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/ethics.html Library Bill of Rights: http://www.ala.org/work/freedom/lbr.html	Jan 28: Exercise 2 IUCAT; Recall interaction with reference librarian
Class 4 February 7 Evaluating sources Searching the web and evaluating web sites Information retrieval theory Read: Katz I ch 2-3 Borgman, C.L. 1996. Why Are Online Catalogs Still Hard to Use? JASIS 47:493-503. Kirk, Elizabeth E. 2000. Evaluating Information Found on the Internet: http://milton.mse.jhu.edu:8001/research/education/net.html Bristow, Ann and Liu, Jian. 1997. The Library and the Web: http://www.indiana.edu/~librcsd/eval/ann-jian.html	Nothing due this week!
Class 5 February 14 Indexes and Abstracts Bibliographic Instruction Read: Katz I ch 5 Katz II ch 9 Rettig, James. 1995. The Convergence of the Twain or Titanic Collision? BI and Reference in the 1990s Sea of Change. Reference Services Review Spring: 7-20.	Due: Feb 11 Exercise 3 Choose and evaluate reference tools that are both web-based and traditional.
Class 6 February 21 Subject and Newspaper Indexes and Abstracts Intellectual Freedom Copyright Read: Katz I ch 6 Rosenbaum, Howard. 1996. In the Trenches of the Digital Revolution: Intellectual Freedom and the "Public" Digital Library. ASIS Proceeedings of the 1996 Mid-Year Meeting: 163-76. Malmquist, K. 1996. Legal Issues Regarding Library Patrons. IN: McNeil, B. and D. J. Johnson, eds. Patron Behavior in Libraries: A Handbook of Positive Approaches to Negative Situations. Chicago: ALA. Pp. 95-105.	Due: Feb 18 Exercise 4 Catalogs, Indexes, and Abstracts
Class 7 February 28 Encyclopedias Issues in Patron Service Read: Katz I ch 7 Edmonds, Leslie et al. 1991. Reference Services to Special Groups. IN: Bopp, Richard E. and Smith, Linda C. Reference and Information Services: An Introduction. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited. Pp. 207-33.	Due: Feb 25 Exercise 5 Encyclopedias
Class 8 March 6 Dictionaries Reference Interview role plays Read: Katz I ch 10 Dervin, B. and Dewdney, P. 1986. Neutral Questioning: A New Approach to the Reference Interview. RQ :506-13. Taylor, R. S. 1968. Question-Negotiation and Information Seeking in Libraries. College and Research Libraries 29:178-94. Dewdney, P. & Mitchell, G. 1996. Oranges & Peaches: Understanding Communication Accidents in the Reference Interview. RQ 35:520-36	Due: March 3 Mini paper: reference observation Exercise 6 Dictionaries
March 13 Spring Break: Enjoy!
Class 9 March 20 Ready Reference Sources User-centered reference service Reference interviews: practice with real patrons Read: Katz I ch 8	Nothing due this week!
Class 10 March 27 More ready reference Business and consumer sources User-centered reference service Read: take a break; review	Due: March 24 Exercise 7 Ready reference
Class 11 April 3 Biographical Sources Patron privacy and sensitive topics Read: Katz I ch 9	Nothing due this week!
Class 12 April 10 Government Documents Professional Sources Professional issues; role of professional associations Read: Katz I ch 12	Due: April 7 Mini paper: report on professional electronic conference
Class 13 April 17 Geographical Sources Evaluating reference service; accuracy of librarian answers. Read: Katz I ch 11 Katz II ch 10 (pp. 248-66)	Due: April 14 Exercise 8: Biographical, Geographical, and government sources
Class 14 April 24 The future of reference Reference Librarians Speak Out: A Panel Discussion Read: Lewis, David. 1997. Change and Transition in Public Services. IN: Restructuring Academic Libraries: Organizational Development in the Wake of Technological Change, ed. Charles A. Schwartz. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries:31-53. Bristow, Ann. 1998. Traditions. IN Finding Common Ground: Creating the Library of the Future Without Diminishing the Library of the Past. Ed. Cheryl LaGuardia and Barbara A. Mitchell. New York: Neal-Schuman:116-20. Rettig, James. 1996. Future Reference: "Sired by a Hurricane, Dam'd by an Earthquake. Reference Librarian :75-94. Tisdale, Sallie. 1997. Silence Please: The Public Library as Entertainment Center. Harper's Magazine March: 294 (1762): 65-- .	Due: April 21 Bibliography assignment
	Due: May 1, 5pm Take-home exam