Email: ibeilin@citytech.cuny.edu Office: (Library) – TBA Office Hours: Mon/Wed 11:15am-12:15pm
Download syllabus as a word file
Course Website: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/lib1201s3930/
Course Description
In this course we will explore issues in research and documentation for text (in print and online), images, sound, and multimedia. You will investigate where information comes from and how it is organized in both traditional and emerging media. We will examine the ethics of information use and determine how to critically evaluate sources. Throughout the course, you will create and present research and documentation projects using traditional and emerging media and technologies. This is a writing-intensive course. You should expect to spend 4-6 hours outside of class time preparing for class each week.
Course Goals
To introduce you to the theory and practice of research and documentation for all information and media, including:
- Cultural, economic and political factors that affect information and media
- The organization of information in multiple formats
- Developing methods for finding information that is relevant to you
- Critically evaluating information and its sources
- Copyright, fair use, and ethical use of information and media
- The role of documentation and citation in scholarly, professional, and public work
Learning Outcomes
For the successful completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Describe the ways that information is produced and organized in a variety of formats
- Create and articulate a relevant, manageable research topic for your assignments
- Successfully search for and acquire appropriate information about your research topic in a variety of media and formats
- Critically evaluate and select information sources for your assignments and projects
- Use information ethically and responsibly with an awareness of copyright and fair use
- Synthesize information on a topic from a variety of sources and present your analysis in writing and orally
- Collaborate with a group to complete, modify, and document a process online
- Apply documentation methods and citation styles appropriately in your own work
Course Policies
Communication outside of school: Email is the best way to contact me. I do not communicate via text or phone.
Attendance: You are expected to attend every class during the course. The City Tech attendance policy allows a student to be absent during the semester without penalty for up to 3 class sessions. Additional absences will lower your grade in this course.
Lateness: Excessive lateness will lower your grade in this course.
Deadlines: All assignments are due on the dates listed in the Course Schedule below. Failure to submit work on time will result in a lower grade for the assignment.
Classroom Etiquette: Please be respectful of the opinions of others during class discussions and blog interactions. Please silence your cellphone during class, and do not text or IM unless requested to by the professor. Eating is not permitted in the library’s flexible teaching space, but you may bring a drink with a lid.
Plagiarism: All assignments and work in this course must be your own, and you must give proper credit to any information or ideas that are the work of others. No credit will be given for plagiarized work. Please familiarize yourself with the college policy on plagiarism:
NYCCT Statement on Academic Integrity:
Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion.
Further information (including penalties for plagiarism at City Tech) can be found in the Student Handbook: http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/files/students/handbook.pdf
Additional Resources for Students:
The College Learning Centers offer tutoring and writing support in 2 locations: Atrium G18 and Voorhees 217. For more information: http://websupport2.citytech.cuny.edu/learningcenters/
To use a computer on campus visit one of the Computing Centers: http://cis.citytech.cuny.edu/SSLabs.htm
For additional research support, please don’t hesitate to visit the Reference Desk or the library website: http://library.citytech.cuny.edu
Assignments and Grading
Your grade in this course will be based on:
- Class participation 15%
- Blog posts on course website 20%
- Research topic proposal 5%
- Annotated bibliography 7%
- Research paper – outline 3%
- Research paper – draft 10%
- Research paper – final 15%
- Online documentation project 15%
- Class presentation 10%
Course work and assignments
1. Participation in class discussions and activities: You are expected to complete all readings/viewings and come to class prepared to discuss them. Please bring at least 1 question about the readings to every class. In-class activities will include developing research topics, formulating search strategies, evaluating information, etc.
2. Blog: Short blog posts are required throughout the course. See deadlines in the course schedule (below), and details on the course blog https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/lib1201s9930/
3. Research topic proposal: In consultation with the professor, choose a research topic relevant to the course and write a 100 word proposal. You will use this research topic for your annotated bibliography and research paper.
4. Annotated bibliography: Select a minimum of 5 sources in a variety of media formats on your research topic and create an annotated bibliography (100 words minimum per source).
5. Research paper outline: Organize the main ideas that you will discuss in your research paper and show the relationships among the ideas you write about. A well-organized outline make the writing process simpler and more straightforward.
6. Research paper: Write a research paper on your approved topic. Papers must be 5-8 pages in length (not including illustrations or Works Cited), typed, double-spaced. You are required to submit at least one draft of your paper which must be revised before submitting the final version (see deadlines in the course schedule below).
7. Online documentation project: In small groups assigned by the professor, students will build an online resource and collaboratively document their process.
8. Class presentation: Each student group will give a 10-15 minute class presentation describing their online resource and presenting the finished online documentation project.
Full details and requirements for each assignment will be discussed in class and posted on the course blog.
Course Readings
Required Textbook
Badke, W. B. (2011). Research strategies: Finding your way through the information fog. New York: iUniverse, Inc.
This book is available for less than $20 in the City Tech bookstore, and I strongly recommend that you buy it. We will read almost the entire book and it should also be useful to you in other courses. Please use either the third edition (2008) or the fourth edition (2011).
You can also buy it as an eBook (for Nook, Kindle, and other formats including PDF) for $8-10 through the author’s website: http://acts.twu.ca/Library/textbook.htm
The book is also on reserve in the library: CALL NUMBER: Z710 .B23 2008
Additional materials to read or watch are assigned for each class – see the Course Schedule (below). Most are available online (at no cost to you) in library databases or on the internet; the rest are on reserve in the library. Links to materials available online are posted on the course blog.
Required Technology
Reliable access to the internet and to a computer with word processing software are essential for successful completion of assignments. Up to 20% of your grade is dependent upon regular contributions to the course website. Most readings are available via the course website or as a link on this syllabus. The online documentation project requires your group to develop a web-based resource. All written assignments must be word-processed. Lack of internet access is not an acceptable excuse for late or incomplete assignments.
Recommended Reading
There are no assigned readings from these books, but you may find them helpful to consult during the course (they are on reserve in the library).
Devine, J., and Egger-Sider, F. (2009). Going beyond Google: The invisible web in learning and teaching. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. CALL NUMBER: ZA4237 .D4 2009
Discusses expert searching of “deep” web resources, may be useful for research on your paper/project topics.
Riedling, A. M. (2006). Learning to learn: A guide to becoming information literate in the 21st century. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. CALL NUMBER: ZA3075 .R54 2006
This book is similar to our textbook, and offers another set of guidelines for research and writing.
Course Schedule
All readings and assignments are due at the beginning of class on the date listed below. Please write down and bring at least one question about one of the readings to every class, and come to class prepared to discuss all of the day’s assigned readings.
Mon 1/30 1. Introduction to the course; review syllabus; sign up for OpenLab
Reading (in class): “Back to the Coffee House” (handout)
The Information Landscape: Media and Production
Mon 2/6 1. Brief history of media; the lifecycle of information; traditional print
media: journalism, academic/government/research agency publications
Digital text: online versions of print media, “born digital” content
Reading: Badke, Preface, Ch. 1 and Ch. 8
Pavlik, pp. 1-8, Harrington and Meade, pp. 6-9
Viewing: Common Craft blogs and wikis videos
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
2. Alternative media: print (zines, pamphlets, etc.) and electronic (blogs,
wikis, etc.)
Reading: Eland; Zine World; Wright (Part I only)
Assignment: Comment on at least one blog post
Mon 2/13 College closed; no class or office hours
Mon 2/20 College closed; no class or office hours
TUES 2/21 MONDAY SCHEDULE
- Non-text media: sound, images, multimedia
Reading: Pavlik, pp. 79-84; Malitz; Elton
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post; comment on at least one blog post
- Web 2.0 and participatory media
Reading: Web 2.0 (Wikipedia); Baker;
Viewing: Common Craft social media video
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
Issues in Information and Media
Mon 2/27 1. Access: personal, institutional, digital divide
Reading: Martin Ch. 7
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
2. Privacy: changing definitions; challenges of digital media
Reading: Marshall, P. (2009, November 6). Online privacy. CQ Researcher, 19, 933-956; boyd, d. (2008), “Facebook’s Privacy Trainwreck.”
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
Mon 3/5 1. Ethics: copyright, fair use, plagiarism, open access
Reading: Isserman; Center for Social Media sections “Code” and
“Principles”
Viewing: Grey; Lessig; Faden
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
How Information and Media Are Organized
2. Metadata: information about information, taxonomies, folksonomies
Reading: Badke, Ch. 4; Dye; Harrod
Assignment: Write one research journal blog post; comment on at least
one blog post
Mon 3/12 1. Search mechanics: what is a database, how does a search engine work
Reading: Badke, Ch. 3; Liddy; Leibman
Assignment: Comment on at least one blog post
2. The research process: needs assessment, preliminary strategies, topic
Development
Reading: Badke, Ch. 2
Assignment: Comment on at least one blog post
Finding Information and Media
Mon 3/19 1. The research process: refining a topic, creating search strategies
Reading: Badke, Appendix 1 pp. 177-195; review Badke, Ch. 3, pp. 34-41
2. Searching: internet
Reading: Badke, Ch. 6 (all) and Ch. 7, pp. 122-124
Viewing: Common Craft web search strategies video
Assignment: Write one research journal blog post
DUE: Research topic proposal
Mon 3/26 1. Searching: library catalogs
Reading: Badke Ch. 5 pp. 71-76, Library of Congress Classification
Outline
Assignment: Write one research journal blog post
2. Searching: article databases
Reading: Badke Ch. 5, pp. 76-95
Assignment: Comment on at least one blog post
DUE: Annotated bibliography
Using Information and Media
Mon 4/2 1. Evaluation of sources in any format: how to evaluate
Reading: UC Berkeley, Cornell
Assignment: Write one research journal blog post
DUE: Research paper outline
- Evaluation of sources in any format: why to evaluate; evaluation game
Reading: Fister, Grimmelmann
DUE: Research paper outline
Mon 4/9 – No Class (Spring Break) – College & Library are OPEN
Mon 4/16 1. Writing an academic research paper
Reading: Badke, Ch. 10, and Appendix 1, pp. 196-203
Assignment: Write one research journal blog post
Rationale for documentation and citation
Reading: Hauptmann, pp. 7-13
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
2. Documentation: standards, methods and styles for citing text and non-
text media
Reading: Badke Ch. 9, browse Purdue OWL’s APA and MLA Style
sections
DUE: Research paper draft
Mon 4/23 1. Documentation: practical applications
Reading: Edge; Robinson
Assignment: Find one example of process documentation in any format,
read it, and write one blog post in which you describe, summarize and critique it. Be prepared to discuss your example in class!
2. Documentation: standards, methods and styles for practices and
processes
Mon 4/30 DUE: Research paper final version
Introduce group project & form groups
Mon 5/7 Group project work
Presentation of Information and Looking to the Future
Future of information and media, wrapping up
Viewing: Sloan
Mon 5/14 Group project work
Mon 5/21 Student Presentations
DUE before the beginning of class: Online documentation project
Bibliography
Baker, N. (2008, March 20). The charms of Wikipedia. New York Review of Books 55(4).
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21131
Bee, R. (2008). The importance of preserving paper-based objects in a digital world.
Library Quarterly, 78, 179-194.
boyd, d. (2008). Facebook’s Privacy Trainwreck. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 14(1), 13 -20.
Center for Social Media. (2008). The code of best practices in fair use for media literacy
Common Craft. (2007). Blogs in plain English. http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs
Common Craft. (2008). Social media in plain English.
http://www.commoncraft.com/socialmedia
Common Craft. (2007). Wikis in plain English. http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english
Common Craft. (2008). Web search strategies in plain English.
http://www.commoncraft.com/search
Cornell University Library. (2009). Critically analyzing information sources.
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm
Dye, J. (2006). Folksonomy: A game of high-tech (and high-stakes) tag. EContent, 29(3),
38-43.
Edge, I.E. (2006). Write it down! The importance of documentation. Tech Directions
66(3), 16-18.
Eland, T. (2004). Critical thinking, deviant knowledge and the alternative press.
Minnesota Association for Continuing Adult Education Update Newsletter,
December, 4-6. (available at
Elton, S. (2009, August 29). Love for labels. Billboard, 121(34), 4.
Faden, E. (2007). A fair(y) use tale. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo
Fister, B. (2003). The devil in the details: Media representation of ritual abuse and
evaluation of sources. SIMILE: Studies in Media and Information Literacy
Education, 3(2), 1-14.
Gibaldi, J. (2009). MLA handbook for writers of research papers. New York: Modern Language Association of America.
Goodin, D. (2007, January 8). Managing content in a rich-media world. InfoWorld.
http://www.infoworld.com/d/developer-world/managing-content-in-rich-media-world-635?page=0,0
Grey, C.G.P (2011). Copyright: Forever less one day. http://blog.cgpgrey.com/copyright-forever-less-one-day/
Grimmelman, J. (2008/2009). The Google Dilemma. New York Law School Law Review,
53, 939-950. http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018 &context=james_grimmelmann
Harrington, M. and C. Meade. (2008). read:write: Digital possibilities for literature.
Institute for the Future of the Book. http://www.futureofthebook.org.uk/ifbook%20ACE%20report_final.pdf
Harrod, H. (2009, March 28). It’s the playground of narcissistic teenagers and amateur photographers, but 3 billion images (and counting) on Flickr could be the greatest social document of the century. Daily Telegraph, 22.
Hauptman, R. (2008). Documentation. A history and critique of attribution, commentary,
glosses, marginalia, notes, bibliographies, works-cited lists, and citation indexing and analysis. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
(in the library on Reserve: call number PN171 .F56 H38 2008)
Isserman, M. (2003, May 2). Plagiarism: a lie of the mind. Chronicle of Higher Education,
49(34), B12.
Leibman, A. (2010). How search engines work: the mechanics behind the results. Smart Computing, 21(6), 50-51. http://bit.ly/oSkljD
Lessig, L. (2007). Larry Lessig on laws that choke creativity.
http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_creativity.html
Levi, Y. (2008). Digital preservation: An ever-growing challenge. Information Today,
25(8), 22.
Levinson, C. (2006). Anthropology, taxonomies, and publishing. Online, 30(4), 28-30.
Library of Congress. (n.d.). Library of Congress Classification Outline.
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/
Liddy, E. (2001). How a search engine works. Searcher, 9(5), 39-45.
Malitz, D. (2007, October 11). Radiohead’s ‘Rainbows’: Is free release a potential pot of
gold? The Washington Post, C01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/10/AR2007101002442.html
Marshall, Patrick. “Online Privacy.” CQ Researcher 6 Nov. 2009: 933-56. Web. 12 Jan.
2011.
Martin, B. (1998). The politics of research. In Information liberation: Challenging the
corruptions of information power. London: Freedom Press
(available at: http://www.bmartin.cc/pubs/98il/il07.pdf)
Pavlik, J. V. (2008). Media in the digital age. New York: Columbia University Press.
(in the library on Reserve: call number HM851 .P38 2008)
Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) (2009). APA Formatting and Style Guide.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) (2009). MLA Formatting and Style Guide.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Robinson, C. (2009). Documentation dilemmas. Journal for Quality & Participation,
31(4), 35-37.
Sloan, R. (2004.). EPIC 2015 – Museum of Media History.
http://epic.makingithappen.co.uk/
UC Berkeley – Teaching Library Internet Workshops. (2010). Evaluating web pages:
Techniques to apply and questions to ask.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
Web 2.0. (2010, August 9). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Web_2.0
Wright, F. (1997). The history and characteristics of zines, Part I.
http://www.zinebook.com/resource/wright1.html
Zine World. (2007). Zines 101—A quick guide to zines.
http://www.undergroundpress.org/pdf/Zines101.pdf
