LIBR 610: THEORETICAL AND RESEARCH FOUNDATIONS OF LIBRARY/INFORMATION STUDIES – COURSE SYLLABUS

 

Program: Master of Library and Information Studies
Year: Winter Session 2005-2006, term 1
Location: TEF 320
Instructor: Ann Curry [term 1]; Edie Rasmussen [term 2]
Office location: TEF 322
Office phone: AC: (604) 822-4250; ER: (604) 827-5486
Office hours: Wednesdays 1-3 (by appointment if possible) . Please make appointments by email
E-mail address: ann.curry@ubc.ca ; edie.rasmussen@ubc.ca
Course website address: http://www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/libr569j/05-06-wt1/index.htm [coming soon]

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Course Goal: To develop an understanding of the environment for library, archival and information studies, from an academic and research perspective.

Course Objectives:

• To provide an understanding of the university as a social and cultural structure and the place of the PhD within it
• To understand the role of research and publication in the university and in society in general
• To understand the nature and role of research and publication in library, archival, and information studies

Course Topics: See course schedule.

Course Restrictions: Limited to students in the PhD program

Format of the course: Seminars, readings, guest speakers.

Required and Recommended Reading :

Required:

• Textbook: D. Kennedy (1997). Academic Duty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Weekly readings as specified in schedule.

Course Assignments:

Term 1

Assignment	Due Date	Value
Seminar Presentations	As scheduled	45%
Term Paper	As scheduled	45%
Participation	N/A	10%

Term 2

Assignment	Due Date	Value
Formal Seminars/Discussion	As scheduled	45%
Research Proposal/Project	TBA	45%
Participation	N/A	10%

Course Schedule TERM 1 (TERM 2 – TBA)

Date	Topics	Faculty and Guests
Week 1 Sept. 6 Class begins at 10:30 a.m. today	Introduction Doctoral programs, policies, procedures Communication resources The Doctoral Student Community	AC
Week 2 Sept 12 ***NOTE CHANGED DATE 1:30-3	Advanced Library Research Techniques Seminar on LIS Research Resources at UBC	Hilde Colenbrander (conf)
Week 3 Sept. 20	Grant-writing for doctoral students in LIS	AC
Week 4 Sept. 27	The PhD degree History Different paths in different countries/culture PhD degrees in LIS and Archival Studies Issues in LIS and Archival Master’s Education	AC
Week 5 Oct. 4	Research and the University University as a social entity Structure of the university The university as a research environment Academic freedom   Research and Society	Student-lead seminar   AC   Joe Tennis (conf)   Someone from VP Research Office or Sian Echard
Week 6 Oct. 11	Characterizing LIS Research: Style and quality   (Note: Attend LIBR 540 class from 1:30-4:30 on Oct. 13 to get Dialog refresher needed to prepare for Oct. 18 class)	AC Rick Kopak (conf)   Student-lead seminar
Week 7 Oct. 18	Characterizing LIS Research Bibliometric analysis	AC Edie Rasmussen
Week 8 Oct. 25	Ethics and the politics of research History, present, and possible future issues Case Studies	AC
Week 9 Nov. 1	Reading/Research Week. No Class
Week 10 Nov. 8	Ethics in the student’s area of research   Ethics and the practice of research History and purpose of ethical review committees Ethical review process at UBC	AC Student-lead seminar   Rep. from Research Services (11-12)
Week 11 Nov. 15	Reading/Research Week. No Class
Week 12 Nov. 22	The research record Scholarly communication   The publication process The referee/review process Recent developments in LAIS publishing E-publishing	AC Martin Dowding (conf)
Week 13 Nov. 29	Student presentations/ Wrapup

Readings

Week 1

Week 2

• http://www.alise.org/index.html
• http://informationr.net/wl/
• http://ils.unc.edu/phd/ALISE/ 

Week 3 – TBA

Week 4

• Gorman, M. (2003). Whither library education?
  http://www.fh-potsdam.de/EUCLID/tmp/Gorman-keynote.doc
• Preston, H. “Distance learning masters students in the Department of Information Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth: past, present and future.” Education for Information v. 23 no. 1/2 (March 2005) p. 103-20.
• Reeling, P.G. (1992). “Doctorate recipients in library science: how they compare with doctorate recipients in other disciplines.” JELIS 33 (4): 311-329.

Week 5

• Altbach, P.G. (2001). Ch. 1, “The American academic model in comparative perspective”. In: In Defense of American Higher Education. Johns Hopkins UP. pp. 11-37.
• Kennedy, D. (1997). Academic Duty Chapters 1, 2, 6, and 9.
• LaPidus, J.P. (2001). Ch. 10, “ Graduate education and research”. In: In Defense of American Higher Education. Johns Hopkins UP. pp. 249-276.
• Lynch, M.D. and T.D. Wilson (1997). The impact of doctoral research in information science and librarianship. BLRIC Report No. 61. Available at: http://informationr.net/tdw/publ/impact/impact1.html
• UBC. TREK 2010: Green Paper. http://www.vision.ubc.ca/greenpaper.html

Week 6

• Anwar, M. A. “ From doctoral dissertation to publication: a study of 1995 American graduates in Library and Information Sciences .” Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 36 (4) (December 2004) p. 151-7
• Floyd, B.L. and J.C. Philip (1997) “A question of quality: how authors and editors perceive library literature.” College & Research Libraries 58: 81-93.
• Hernon, P. (1999) “Research in library and information science-reflections on the journal literature.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 25(4): 263-266.
• Hernon, P. (1991). “The elusive nature of research in LIS.” In McClure, C.R. and Hernon, P. eds. (1991). Library and Information Science Research:
• Perspectives and Strategies for Improvement Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Pp. 3-14.
• Lynch, B.P. (1991). “Research, theory, and the practice of LIS.” In McClure, C.R. and Hernon, P. eds. (1991). Library and Information Science Research: Perspectives and Strategies for Improvement Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Pp. 358-366.
• McClure, C.R. and A. Bishop (1989). “The status of research in library/information science: guarded optimism.” College & Research Libraries 50: 127-143.
• Michaels, J. (1993). “Library and information science research: are we scholars or parasites?” LISR 15: 297-298.
• Van House, N.A. (1991). “Assessing the quantity, quality, and impact of LIS research.” In McClure, C.R. and Hernon, P. eds. (1991). Library and Information Science Research: Perspectives and Strategies for Improvement Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Pp. 85-100.

Week 7

• Cronin, B. and K. Overfelt (1994). “Citation-based auditing of academic performance.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science 45: 61-72.
• Garland , K. (1991) “The nature of publications authored by library and information science faculty.” LISR 13: 49-60.
• Jarvelin, K. and P. Vakkari (1990). “Content analysis of research articles in library and information science.” LISR 12: 395-421.
• Pettigrew, K.E and P.T. Nichols (1994) “Publication patterns of LIS faculty from 1982-1992: Effects of doctoral programs.” LISR 16: 139-156.
• Powell, R.R (1999). “Recent trends in research: a methodological essay.” LISR 21(1): 91-119

Week 8

• Altman, E. “Scientific and Research Misconduct.” Chapter in Research Misconduct: Issues, Implication, and Strategies by Altman and Hernon.
• Benatar, S.R. “Reflections and Recommendations on Research Ethics in Developing Countries.” Social Science & Medicine 54(2002): 1131-1141.
• Carlin A., “Disciplinary Debates and Bases of Interdisciplinary Studies: The Place of Research Ethics in Library and Information Science.” Library & Information Science Research 25 (1) (Spring 2003): 3-18.
• Curry, A. “Unreliable Research: Are Librarians Liable?” IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) Journal 31(1) (2005): 28-34. Expanded version of paper delivered at the IFLA Conference in Buenos Aires, 2004.
• “Editorial: Fraud and Misconduct in Library and Information Science Research.” Library and Information Science Research 18 (1996): 199-206.
• Kennedy, D. (1997). Chapter 8, “To tell the truth”. In: Academic Duty. Harvard UP. Pp. 210-240.

Week 9

Week 10

• Oakes, J. Michael. “Risks and Wrongs in Social Science Research: An Evaluator’s Guide to the IRB.” Evaluation Review 26 (5): 443-479 (October 2002).
• UBC Office of Research Services. < http://www.orsil.ubc.ca/index.htm> . Click on “Research Ethics.” Click on “Behavioural REB.” Click on “Forms & Guidance Notes.” Click on “Application …” and click on “ Guidance notes …”

Week 11

Week 12

• Ashcroft, L. and S. McIvor (2000). “LIS research and publishing: the forces of change.” Library Review 49(9): 461-468.
• Bates, M.J. on selecting a publication venue:
  http://www2.sis.pitt.edu/~dguild/resources /MarciaBates.html
• Bates, M.J. (1998). “The Role of Publication Type in the Evaluation of LIS Programs.” Library and Information Science Research 20: 187-198.
• Borgman, C.L., and J. Furner (2002). “Scholarly communication and bibliometrics.” ARIST 36: 3-72.
• Citeseer database: http://www.citeseer.org
• Harter, S.P., (1998) “Scholarly Communication and Electronic Journals: An Impact Study.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science 49(6), pp.507-516
• Ingwersen, P. (1998). “The calculation of Web impact factors.” Journal of Documentation 54(2): 236- 243.
• Institute for Scientific Information (1994). “The impact factor.” Current Contents Available at
  http://www.isinet.com/isi/hot/essays/journalcitationreports/7.html
• Kennedy, D. (1997). Ch. 7, “To publish”. In: Academic Duty. Harvard UP. Pp. 186-209.
• Kling, R. and E. Callahan (2003). “Electronic journals, the Internet, and scholarly communication.” ARIST 37: 127-177.

Week 13

Course Policies

Attendance: The calendar states: “Regular attendance is expected of students in all their classes (including lectures, laboratories, tutorials, seminars, etc.). Students who neglect their academic work and assignments may be excluded from the final examinations. Students who are unavoidably absent because of illness or disability should report to their instructors on return to classes.”

Evaluation: Terms 1 and 2 will be graded separately and averaged for the course grade.

Written & Spoken English Requirement: Written and spoken work may receive a lower mark if it is, in the opinion of the instructor, deficient in English.