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By meredithfarkas - Posted on November 29th, 2007
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Spring 2008 Greensheet

 

LIBR 246-13

Information Technology Tools and Applications - Advanced

(Topic: Building the social library online: Social Networking and Web 2.0 Tools)

Spring 2008 Greensheet

 

Meredith Farkas

meredithfarkas@gmail.com (please put LIBR246 in the subject line of any e-mails you send)

Phone: 802-485-2168

IM: AIM librarianmer

Office hours: Online via IM and Meebo Room (in classroom) Thursdays 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm PT and Mondays 11am – 12pm PT; phone meetings by appointment.

 

Class begins January 23 in our classroom (http://sociallibraries.com/libr246-13/) which uses Drupal, an online content management system that allows for the creation of multiple blogs in a single space. Students will receive their login informaton via MySJSU messaging and can begin using the course site on January 20.

 

Course Description

Social software is rapidly changing the way we all work and play online. Social technologies have turned the web into a participatory medium (Web 2.0) where everyone can add their own creativity and knowledge to the whole. It is also opening up new opportunities for reaching out to patrons and providing library services in the online medium. This course is focused on developing the skills and knowledge necessary to evaluate, implement and maintain social software tools. We will examine the social technologies that define Web 2.0 and how libraries can capitalize on these tools to improve communication between the library and its patrons, build online communities, and better share information professionally.

Many social software tools are quite easy to get started with. It takes mere minutes to create a blog or a wiki and start adding content to them. This has led many libraries to dive into these technologies without properly planning for their ongoing use and maintenance. Blog posts must be made engaging so that people will read them. Wikis must be made inviting so that people will contribute. While the technologies are not difficult to learn, the challenge is to make them effective, engaging and useful in your library. This course will focus on social software best practices, highlighting successful examples and discovering what makes them so effective.

This course will involve a significant amount of hands-on experience with the technologies as well as frequent reflections on how to apply what you've learned in a professional setting. You will have the opportunity to explore social software from an academic standpoint and a practical standpoint; understanding how communities form through these tools and how you can capitalize on them in a library setting.

 

Course Prerequisites: LIBR 202 required; prior experience with HTML recommended.

 

Course Objectives

  • Utilize social software tools for information collection, management, dissemination and collaboration.

  • Evaluate social software tools and specific implementations of these tools.

  • Understand how communities form through the use of social software tools.

  • Identify best practices for individual social software tools.

  • Design concrete services using social software tools that can be implemented in libraries and information organizations and plan for their marketing and continued maintenance.

 

SLIS Core Competencies

LIBR 246 supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:

  • design, query and evaluate information retrieval systems;

  • understand the system of standards and methods used to control and create information structures and apply basic principles involved in the organization and representation of knowledge;

  • demonstrate proficiency in the use of current information and communication technologies, and other related technologies, as they affect the resources and uses of libraries and other types of information providing entities.

In addition, this section supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:

  • demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations;

  • apply the fundamental principles of planning, management and marketing/advocacy.

 

Textbooks and Readings

Farkas, M. (2007). Social software in libraries: Building collaboration, communication, and community online. Medford, NJ: Information Today.

 

Course Requirements

Course Format

This course will primarily take place in the content management system Drupal. Please be aware that what you will write for this class will be openly available on the Web and open to comment from your classmates and (to a limited extent) the public. The goal is to make the experience of using social technologies in this course much like the experiences you would have using the same technologies in a library setting.

 

Elluminate

There will be four Elluminate sessions during the course, which will require some verbal participation. You will need to purchase a USB headset or microphone to participate in Elluminate sessions and to create a podcast for the class. If you don't get a headset, you will need speakers (built-in or external) or headphones to hear the sessions (as well as to hear the class lectures). Be sure you have had Elluminate training or have taken a tutorial. For more information, see the Student Guide at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/software/elluminate/students/

 

Technology Requirements

You will need a current and fast internet connection like DSL, Cable, or FIOS. Please see the home computing environment requirements at:

http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/homecomputing.htm

You will also need to be able to access sites like Facebook and MySpace and so must have access to a computer that doesn't block popular social networking sites.

 

Assignments


Participation in weekly exercises

30 pts

Blog critique

5 pts

Social Software Dynamics Paper

20 pts

Group Project

20 pts

Participation

25 pts

 

  • Weekly exercises (30 points)

There will be ten weekly exerciese that will allow you to practice what you learned that week. Weekly exercises are due on Tuesday by 11:59 pm PST.

 

  • Blog paper (5 points)

You will write a 3-5 page paper discussing the elements that you believe make a blog successful, illustrated with examples from libraries.

 

  • Social software dynamics paper (20 points)

You will examine a social software tool or a phenomenon of Web 2.0 from an academic perspective. You can choose your own topic, but it must be approved by me. Examples of possible topics will be provided if you are having trouble thinking of a topic.

 

  • Group Project (20 points)

You will form into groups of 4 or 5 to develop a detailed proposal for implementing a specific tool or group of tools in a specific library type or related setting.

 

  • Participation (25 points)

Participation is measured based on fulfillment of your weekly expectations of blogging, commenting on your classmates' blog posts and contributing to the class collection of links in del.icio.us. Additionally, attendance at all four Elluminate sessions is required.

 

Course Calendar

(subject to change with fair notice)

 


Date

Topic

Assignment Due

(all due by 11:59 pm on Tuesday)

1/23

Social software, Web 2.0 and Library 2.0

 

1/30

Blogs

Elluminate session 2/5

Exercise 1 Due

2/6

Blogs (continued)

Blog Paper Due

2/13

RSS

Exercise 2 Due

 

2/20

RSS and Mashups

Elluminate session 2/26

Exercise 3 Due

2/27

Social Bookmarking, Tagging and Social Search

Exercise 4 Due

3/5

Wikis and Collaboration Tools

Exercise 5 Due

3/12

Social Networking Software and Online Communities

Exercise 6 Due

 

3/19

Communication Tools (IM, Web Conferencing, VOIP, SMS)

Elluminate session 4/1 Exercise 7 Due

4/2

Gaming and MUVE's

Social Software Dynamics Paper Due

4/9

Podcasting

Exercise 8 Due

4/16

Video and Photo Sharing

Exercise 9 Due

4/23

Social Software Best Practices

Exercise 10 Due

 

4/30

Selling Social Software

Elluminate session 5/6 Group Presentations 5/6

Group Project Due

5/7

Wrap up

 

 

Grading

  1. How letter grades are determined

    The standard SJSU SLIS Grading Scale is as follows:


97-100

A

94-96

A-

91-93

B+

88-90

B

85-87

B-

82-84

C+

79-81

C

76-78

C-

73-75

D+

70-72

D

67-69

D-

Below 67

F

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

    • C represents Adequate work; a grade of “C” counts for credit for the course

    • B represents Good work; a grade of “B” clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;

    • A represents Exceptional work; a grade of “A” will be assigned for outstanding work only.

      Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0.

 

Late Assignments

Assignments that are up to one week late will only receive half credit. I will not accept any assignment more than 1 week late. Late group projects will not be accepted. Exceptions will be considered in extreme cases.

 

Academic Integrity

Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San José State University, and the University’s Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The policy on academic integrity can be found at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/S07-2.htm.

 

Reasonable Accommodation of Disabilities

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, please e-mail me as soon as possible. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires that students with disabilities register with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) to establish record of their disability. No matter where students reside, they should contact the SJSU DRC to register. The DRC Web site: http://www.drc.sjsu.edu/ß