Using Information Technology B. Williams & S. Sawyer, 2006	The Research Process M. Bolner & G. Poirier, 2003	Using Sources Effectively R. Harris, 2007

Course Goals (From ACRL's Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education)

After completion of the course students should be able to:

1. Determine the nature and extent of needed information
   
   
2. Access information effectively and efficiently
   
   
3. Evaluate information and its sources critically and incorporate selected information into a knowledge base and value system
   
   
4. Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
   
   
5. Understand the variety of economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and to access and use information ethically and legally.
   

Course Outcomes

After completion of the course students should be able to demonstrate a basic knowledge of:

1. Standard systems of organizing recorded knowledge
   
   
2. The use of standard electronic resources, including online catalogs, databases, and the Internet
   
   
3. Methods of identifying specific information needs
   
   
4. Methods of determining appropriate material formats
   
   
5. Methods of identifying and retrieving appropriate materials
   
   
6. Methods of evaluating the reliability or quality of materials
   
   
7. Methods of organizing and documenting materials for a specific purpose
   
   
8. Ethical issues including copyright, privacy, equity, etc.
   

Teaching Strategies
This course will be taught in a lecture/discussion mode with supplementary online discussion and assignments. Weekly exercises, online quizzes, and other assignments are structured to provide practical experience and a basic knowledge of information-related issued. Most readings will be from textbooks and online lecture notes, but supplemental readings from journals and the Internet will be included as appropriate.

Course Requirements

1. Attendance and Participation: 10% (500 points)
   
   
2. Weekly Quizzes and Assignments: 50% (2500 points)
   
   
3. Midterm Exam: 20% (1000 points)
   
   
4. Research Paper and Presentation: 20% (500 points each = 1000 points)
   
   Total points = 5000

Grading %

• A = 93-100
  
• B = 84-92
  
• C = 73-83
  
• D = 64-72
  
• F = 0-63

Weekly Schedule of Topics
Subject to Revision

Lecture 1

Course Introduction, Course Syllabus
Defining Information, Blackboard Basics

Lecture 2

History of Information and Libraries, Types of Libraries
Introduction to Information Technology

Lecture 3

Academic Honesty
Plagiarism, and Copyright

Lecture 4

Classification Systems, Library Catalogs
Research Papers, Application Software

Lecture 5

Evaluating Sources, Print Reference Sources
Systems Software

Lecture 6

Periodicals, Scholarly Publication,
Computer Hardware

Lecture 7

Boolean Searching
Databases

Lecture 8

Midterm Exam
Database Searching

Lecture 9

History of the Computer,
History of the Internet and World Wide Web

Lecture 10

Search Engines and Directories
Evaluation of Online Resources

Lecture 11

Annotated Bibliographies, Print and Online Job Searching
Microsoft Word

Lecture 12

Microsoft Word

Lecture 13

Microsoft Power Point

Lecture 14

Microsoft Excel
Financial Literacy

Final Presentations

Course Policies

1. Students are expected to read the texts and other assigned readings.
   
   
2. Class attendance is expected. Participation is 10% of the grade and students must be present during the entire class time to receive attendance credit.
   
   
3. All assignments must be typed or in legible handwriting. Late assignments will not receive full credit.
   
   
4. All major course documents (syllabus, lecture notes, assignments, etc.) will be posted on the Blackboard site.
   
   
5. Writing skills: Any student who suspects that he/she has a deficit in grammatical skills or whose work in the early stages of the term indicates a weakness in such skills is encouraged to seek assistance from the writing lab offered through the Department of English. All work must be in standard English; inappropriate grammar, punctuation, and/or spelling will result in lower grades.
   
   
6. Plagiarism is a serious offense and will not be tolerated.

Academic Code of Conduct

Students are expected to follow the Academic Code of Conduct, which includes mutual respect and academic honesty.

"When cheating is discovered, the faculty member may give the student an F on the work involved or in the course. If further disciplinary action is deemed appropriate, the student should be reported to the dean of students. In addition to being a violation of academic honesty, cheating violates the Code of Student Conduct and may be grounds for probation, suspension, and/or expulsion. Students on disciplinary suspension may not enroll in any courses offered by The University of Southern Mississippi." USM Undergraduate Bulletin, p. 15.

"Plagiarism is scholarly theft, and it is defined as the unacknowledged use of secondary sources. More specifically, any written or oral presentation in which the writer or speaker does not distinguish clearly between original and borrowed material constitutes plagiarism. Because students, as scholars, must make frequent use of the concepts and facts developed by other scholars, plagiarism is not the mere use of another's facts and ideas. However, it is plagiarism when students present the work of other scholars as if it were their own work. Plagiarism is committed in a number of ways:

1. Reproducing another author's writing as if it were one's own.
2. Paraphrasing another author's work without citing the original.
3. Borrowing from another author's ideas, even though those ideas are reworded, without giving credit.
4. Copying another author's organization without giving credit.

Plagiarism is a serious offense. An act of plagiarism may lead to a failing grade on the paper and in the course, as well as sanctions that may be imposed by the student judicial system." USM Undergraduate Bulletin, p. 30; USM Student Handbook, p. 73.