HSU Library
Communication 280: Introduction to Information Research
Skills
Spring 2002
Instructor: Robert Sathrum
Email: rls2@humboldt.edu
Phone: 707-826-5617
Office: Library 116
Current Schedule
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Time: Thursday 1-1:50pm
Room: Library 114
Format: Lecture, discussion, demonstration, exercises
Grading: Credit/No Credit
Required Texts: None
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Course Description |
Course Requirements |
Course Goals |
Course Outline
Course Description
This 1-unit class provides strategies,
sources, and techniques for effective use of library and information
sources in print and electronic format. Students will learn about the
structure of information; defining an information topic; developing
effective research strategies; tools for locating information in print
sources, databases, and the Internet; evaluating information and citing
information.
Course Requirements
To receive credit for this class:
- Attend class regularly and participate in class discussion and
activities
- Satisfactorily complete all class exercises and homework assignments
or design a plan of study that complements information research in another
class
- Create a poster or PowerPoint presentation that summarizes the
research steps, strategies, and key resources that you used to gather
information for a presentation or paper that you prepared for another
class.
Course Goals
Knowing how to find, evaluate and use information is an essential part of
a liberal education. As part of the educational process of achieving this
purpose this course is designed to fulfill the following introductory
level information competency goals:
- Develop reasonable familiarity with HSU Library resources and
services, both physical and virtual.
- Understand the role and importance of information in scholarly and
practical pursuits
- Understand the variety in content and format of information
- Develop the ability to formulate and state an information need,
problem or issue
- Determine the information requirements for a research question,
problem or issue on order to formulate a "search strategy" that will use
the proper information tools and sources.
- Develop the capability to locate and retrieve relevant information
using a variety of information tools
- Develop the ability to critically evaluate and analyze information
content gathered from a variety of sources.
- Understand the ethical, legal and socio-political issues surrounding
the use of information.
The class is a combination of broader information competency concepts and
instruction in use of specific information resources.
Course Outline
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January 24
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Introduction to the HSU Library and
Library Web; Pre-Test
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January 31
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Information World: Types
of Information, Information Cycle, Nature of Research
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February 7
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Strategies for Research Part
1: Defining & Analyzing Your Information Need
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February 14
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Strategies for Research Part
2: Creating a Search Strategy
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February 21
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Classification Systems &
Call Numbers, Catalyst--HSU Library Catalog, Library of Congress Subject
Headings
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February 28
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Using Reference Materials:
Print & Electronic
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March 7
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Using Electronic Indexes to
Locate Periodical Articles
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March 14
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Searching & Retrieving
Information from Fulltext Databases
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March 21
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Spring Break
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March 28
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Other Library Catalogs &
Discipline Indexes; Interlibrary Loan
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April 4
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Using the Internet: Internet
Search Tools
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April 11
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Using Federal & State
Government Documents (Guest lecture - Ray Wang, Government Documents
Librarian)
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April 18
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Evaluating Information
Sources (Guest lecture - Sharon Chadwick, Physical/Medical Sciences
Librarian)
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April 25
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Information Use (Ethical, Legal &
Socio-Political Issues): Citing Sources, Plagiarism, Copyright (Guest
lecture - Corryn Crosby-Muilenburg, Social Sciences Librarian)
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May 2
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Class Presentations (Poster or
PowerPoint Demonstrations)
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May 9
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Post-Test, Class Evaluation
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Send comments and suggestions about this page to: Robert Sathrum
Last Updated: February 14, 2002