INFORMATION RESEARCH SKILLS - LIB 127
SYLLABUS

Instructor:       Dr. Tina Hovekamp
Office:             Second floor of the library, Room 218
Phone:            383-7295
E-mail:            thovekamp@cocc.edu
Office Hour:    Tues & Thurs 12-12:45pm and by appointment

Course description:

First I wish to tell you in my own words why I think this course is important for you. LIB127 was designed to help students with their college experience, specifically with their research assignments.  However, I see the purpose of this course extending beyond the needs for college level research and certainly beyond COCC, trying to help you in your personal, professional, and future education experiences.  This course will expose you to a variety of information tools and resources that you can apply in all facets of your life whether it be for entertainment, personal enrichment, schoolwork, family related needs, etc.  What you'll learn in LIB127 is something you will carry with you regardless of whether you choose to continue your college education here at COCC, at another institution, or as a matter of fact, regardless of whether you choose to stay at college or become a regular library community patron! 

So, having said that, here are the "official" course description and outcomes for LIB127:
This course introduces students to college-level information literacy. Covers library research skills, including the use of electronic periodical databases, online library catalogs, reference materials, government documents, and Internet resources. LIB127 is preparing students for classes such as WR121, WR122 and other courses requiring library research.

Course Outcomes: 

Students who successfully complete Lib 127 will be able to:

1. Recognize the value of information in personal, work and academic settings. 

2. Articulate information needs by formulating a research question and developing effective search strategies.

3. Understand and differentiate between information resources and services available through libraries, other non-profit agencies, and for-profit interests.

4. Locate and retrieve required information using all appropriate resources and services.

5. Critically evaluate retrieved information based on standard criteria.

Specific skills include:

a) effectively using library classification systems to locate materials.

Course requirements and evaluation:

The achievement of the above course outcomes will be reflected in the completion of the following assignments:

Class Policies:

Attendance:  Absences, tardiness, and early departure will ultimately cause you lots of frustration and affect the quality of  the class experience. Students find that regular attendance and weekly homework are necessary to succeed in the course.  With both unexcused and excused absences, it will be your responsibility to find out what lecture material, handouts, assignments, and announcements were missed. 

Assignments:

• You must work on your own on class assignments and quizzes.  Getting help from other students will be considered and treated as plagiarism and dishonest work.

•  If you need help with any of the assignment questions do not hesitate to contact me!  If I can't be reached, our librarians at the reference desk may provide you additional help.

• Assignments will be due on the posted due date at the beginning of the class period. Please note that due dates are firm. I would advise you not to wait until the last minute to complete your assignments because servers and personal computers are known to crash, lines do get busy, etc, etc.

• Late assignments will be accepted only until the next class meeting following the due date, with one full letter grade penalty (i.e., instead of an A you'll receive a B, or instead of a B+, you'll receive a C+, etc). Assignments will not be accepted past that time, unless you have made prior arrangements with me.

Quizzes: You must attend class on the scheduled quiz dates in order to be able to take the course quizzes (for dates refer to the course web page posted above in the syllabus). These tests are not available until the scheduled date and time the class meets.  There will be no make-ups for missed quizzes unless there is an emergency; so make sure you do not miss any of them!

Computer activities: During  class meetings, the computers in this classroom are only for activities related to the course.  Any other activities such as email, computer games, word processing, or surfing the web are not allowed unless they are part of a class assignment.  Students engaged in such activities during regular class will be asked to leave the room and go to the lab, if they wish to continue with their activities. 

Cell phones: No cell phones are allowed during class!