LIB 1201 – Research & Documentation for the Information Age
Section 9932
Spring 2013
See the schedule for details of assignments and readings.
Prof. Anne Leonard
Tues/Thurs 2:30-3:45 p.m.
Classroom: A543 (Library)
Office: A439b (Library)
Phone: 718.260.5487
Email: aleonard@citytech.cuny.edu
Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 3:45-4:45 p.m. and by appointment
Course Website: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/lib1201sp13s9932/
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
Contacting the professor: Please speak with me if there is anything you find unclear about the readings or assignments, or if you have concerns about your work in the course. Email is the best way to contact me – I will respond within 48 hours (and usually sooner). I also hold regular office hours at 3:45-4:45 Tues/Thurs and by appointment.
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: Please be on time for class. Late students may miss important course material and can be disruptive to the rest of the class. 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.
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. The CIS Help Desk is located in the Welcome Center on the Atrium ground floor.
I hope that you will become very familiar with the City Tech Library during this course. 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 including discussion facilitating 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%
Participation in class discussions and activities: You are expected to complete all readings/viewings and come to class prepared to discuss them. In-class activities will include developing research topics, formulating search strategies, evaluating information, etc. You are expected to check the course site several times a week for updates, announcements, links to readings, and other important information not covered on the syllabus.
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/lib1201sp13s9932/
Class discussion facilitating: during six to seven class meetings, groups of 2-3 students will lead class discussion on the day’s assigned readings.
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.
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).
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 makes the writing process simpler and more straightforward.
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).
Online documentation project: In small groups assigned by the professor, students will build an online resource and collaboratively document their process.
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.
Required Textbook
Badke, William. Research strategies : finding your way through the information fog. New York: Iuniverse, 2011.
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 the fourth edition (2011).
You can also buy it as an eBook (for Nook, Kindle, Kobo and other formats including PDF) for $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 2011
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. Over 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.
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.
Tues 1/29 Introduction to the course and each other; review syllabus; sign up for OpenLab and join the course site on the OpenLab
The Information Landscape: Media and Production
Thurs 1/31 Brief history of media; the lifecycle of information; traditional print media: journalism, academic/government/research agency publications
Reading: Read Badke: Preface, Ch. 1 and Ch. 8
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
Tues 2/5 Digital text: online versions of print media, “born digital” content
Reading: Pavlik pp. 1-8, Mod
Viewing: Common Craft blogs and wikis videos
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
Thurs 2/7 Non-text media: sound, images, multimedia
Reading: Pavlik pp. 79-84, Sisario, Elton
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
Tues 2/12 College and library closed
Thurs 2/14 Alternative media: print (zines, pamphlets, etc.) and electronic (blogs, wikis, etc.)
Reading: Eland, Zine World, Wright (Part I only)
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
Tues 2/19 Web 2.0, Web 3.0, participatory media, and big data
Reading: Web 2.0 (Wikipedia), Baker, Tufte; Viewing: Common Craft social media video
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
Issues in Information and Media
Thurs 2/21 Class will meet in the library’s multimedia projection room for a viewing of Rip! A Remix Manifesto
Copyright and fair use; open access
Reading:, Center for Social Media sections “Code” and “Principles”; Viewing: Grey, Lessig, Faden
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
Tues 2/26 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: comment on at least one blog post
Thurs 2/28 Ethics: Plagiarism
Reading: Isserman
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
Tues 3/5 Access: personal, institutional, digital divide
Reading: Martin Ch. 7
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
How Information and Media Are Organized
Thurs 3/7 Metadata: information about information, taxonomies, folksonomies
Reading: Badke Ch. 4, Dye, Harrod
Assignment: Comment on at least one blog post
Tues 3/12 Search mechanics: what is a database, how does a search engine work
Reading: Badke Ch. 3, Liddy
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
Finding Information and Media
Thurs 3/14 The research process: needs assessment, preliminary strategies, topic development
Reading: Badke Ch. 2
Assignment: Comment on at least one blog post
DUE: Research topic proposal draft
Tues 3/19 The research process: refining a topic, creating search strategies
Reading: Badke Appendix 1 pp. 177-195, review Badke Ch. 3 pp. 34-41
Assignment: Write one research journal blog post; see blog for prompt
Thurs 3/21 Searching: internet
Reading: Badke Ch. 6 (all) and Ch. 7 pp. 122-124; Viewing: Common Craft web search strategies video
DUE: Research topic proposal final
Tues 3/26 Spring Break; college and library are OPEN
Thurs 3/28 Spring Break; college and library are OPEN
Tues 4/2 Spring Break; college and library are OPEN
Thurs 4/4 Searching: library catalogs
Reading: Badke Ch. 5 pp. 71-76, Library of Congress Classification Outline
Assignment: Write one research journal blog post; see blog for prompt
Tues 4/9 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
Thurs 4/11 Evaluation of sources in any format: how to evaluate
Reading: UC Berkeley, Cornell
Assignment: Write one research journal blog post; see blog for prompt
Tues 4/16 Evaluation of sources in any format: why to evaluate; evaluation game
Reading: Fister, Grimmelman
Assignment: Comment on at least one blog post
DUE: Research paper outline
Thurs 4/18 Writing an academic research paper
Reading: Badke Ch. 10 and Appendix 1 pp. 196-203
Assignment: Write one research journal blog post
Tues 4/23 Rationale for documentation and citation
Reading: Hauptman pp. 7-13
Assignment: Write one reading response blog post
Thurs 4/25 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
Tues 4/29 Documentation: practical applications
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!
Reading: Edge, Robinson
Thurs 5/1 Documentation: standards, methods and styles for practices and processes
Tues 5/7 Introduce group project & form groups
DUE: Research paper final version
Presentation of Information and Looking to the Future
Thurs 5/9 Group project work
Tues 5/14 Group project work
Thurs 5/16 Group project work
Tues 5/21 Student Presentations
Thurs 5/23 Student Presentations
DUE before the beginning of class: Online documentation project
Required Readings and Viewings
Aung-Thwin, Mila, Kat Baulu, Germaine Y. G. Wong, Brett Gaylor, Lawrence Lessig, Cory Doctorow, Gilberto Gil, Marybeth Peters, and Talk Girl. Rip!: A Remix Manifesto. New York, N.Y: Disinformation, 2009.
Baker, Nicholson. “The Charms of Wikipedia.” The New York Review of Books. N.p., 20 Mar. 2008. 55(4). https://www.msu.edu/~jmonberg/415/Schedule_files/Baker%20on%20Charms%20of%20Wikipedia.pdf
boyd, danah. “Facebook’s Privacy Trainwreck.” Convergence. 14.1 (2008): 13-20.
Center for Social Media. Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education. Washington, D.C.: Center for Social Media, 2008.
Common Craft. Blogs in plain English. Commoncraft.com, 2008. Web. http://www.commoncraft.com/video/blogs
Common Craft. Social media in plain English. Commoncraft.com, 2008. Web. http://www.commoncraft.com/video/social-media
Common Craft. Wikis in plain English. Commoncraft.com, 2008. Web. http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english
Common Craft. Web search strategies in plain English. Commoncraft.com, 2008. Web. http://www.commoncraft.com/search
Cornell University Library. “Critically analyzing information sources.” 2009. Web. http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm.
Dye, Jessica. “Folksonomy: A game of high-tech (and high-stakes) tag.” EContent, 29(3), 38-43: 2006.
Edge, Irene E. “Write it Down!” Tech Directions Oct. 2006: 16+. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Jan. 2013.
Eland, Thomas. “Critical Thinking, Deviant Knowledge and the Alternative Press.” Minnesota Association for Continuing Adult Education Update Newsletter (2004): 4-6. 2004. Web.
Elton, Serona. “Love For Labels.” Billboard 121.34 (2009): 4. Academic Search Complete. Web.
Fister, Barbara. “The Devil in the Details: Media Representation of ‘Ritual Abuse’ and Evaluation of Sources.” SIMILE: Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education. 3.2 (2003): 1-14.
Grimmelman, James. “The Google Dilemma.” New York Law School Law Review, 53, 939-950, 2008/2009. http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018 &context=james_grimmelmann
Harrod, Horatia. “Flickr: The World’s Photo Album.” Telegraph.co.uk 26 Mar. 2009. Web.
Hauptman, Robert. Documentation: A History and Critique of Attribution, Commentary, Glosses, Marginalia, Notes, Bibliographies, Works-Cited Lists and Citation Indexing and Analysis. Jefferson N.C.: McFarland & Company, 2008. (in the library on Reserve: call number PN171 .F56 H38 2008)
Lessig, Lawrence. “Larry Lessig on laws that choke creativity.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. Web. 2007. http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_creativity.html
Library of Congress. Library of Congress Classification Outline. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/
Liddy, Elizabeth. “How a search engine works.” Searcher, 9(5), 39-45, 2001.
Malitz, David. “Radiohead’s ‘Rainbows’: Is Free Release A Potential Pot of Gold?” The Washington Post 11 Oct. 2007. 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.
Martin, Brian. “The politics of research.” In Information liberation: Challenging the corruptions of information power. London: Freedom Press, 1998. (available at: http://www.bmartin.cc/pubs/98il/il07.pdf)
Mod, Craig. “Post Artifact Books and Publishing.” CraigMod.com. Web. 2011. http://craigmod.com/journal/post_artifact/
Pavlik, John V. Media in the Digital Age. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008.
(in the library on Reserve: call number HM851 .P38 2008)
Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL). APA Formatting and Style Guide. Web. 2009. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL). MLA Formatting and Style Guide. Web. 2009. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Robinson, Christine. “Documentation Dilemmas.” The Journal for Quality and Participation. 31.4 (2009): 35.
Sloan, Robin. EPIC 2015 – Museum of Media History. http://epic.makingithappen.co.uk/. Web. 2004.
Tufte, Edward R. Visual and Statistical Thinking: Displays of Evidence for Making Decisions. Cheshire, Conn: Graphic Press, 1997. http://www.cs.cofc.edu/~bowring/classes/csci%20392/docs/Tufte.PDF
UC Berkeley – Teaching Library Internet Workshops. “Evaluating web pages: Techniques to apply and questions to ask.” Web. 2009.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
“Web 2.0.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Web_2.0
Wright, Fred. “The History and Characteristics of Zines, Part I.” Zinebook.com, 1997. Web. 25 Jan. 2013. http://www.zinebook.com/resource/wright1.html.
Zine World. “Zines 101—A quick guide to zines.” 2007. Web. http://www.undergroundpress.org/pdf/Zines101.pdf
