LIS 415: Information Organization

Topics Calendar


Unit #

Date

Name

Description


Unit 1

Sep 3

Introduction and Environments

The various settings in which information is organized for posterity are examined in this unit. Is there a basic human need to organize? What is the organization of information?

Libraries, archives, museums, digital libraries, your own workspace, and the Internet


Unit 2

Sep 10

Retrieval Tools & Systems

Tools that have been developed in various settings are described and examined, such as:

Catalogs, Indexes, Finding Aids, Bibliographies, Museum Registers and Databases, Bibliographic Utilities, OPACs, and Search Engines


Unit 3

Sep 17
Metadata Basics

The unit is an introduction to metadata concepts, various types of metadata, and tools to create, use and maintain metadata.

Descriptive metadata, Administrative metadata, Structural metadata, METS, Meta-metadata, and Preservation metadata


Unit 4

Sep 24

Encoding Standards

Ways in which surrogate records can be encoded for computer-readability are explored.

MARC, SGML, XML Schemas and DTDs, RDF, etc.


Unit 5

Oct 1

Description

The unit explores standards for creating metadata records that serve as short surrogates for information resources in retrieval systems.

FRBR, ISBD, AACR2, Dublin Core, RDA, DACS, etc.


Unit 6

Oct 8

Access and Authority Control

The unit describes the process of creating access points for names and titles of works that are represented in information resources; providing consistency in form of access points with references from alternate forms is also explored.

Choosing primary and secondary access points, Rules for name creation, Authority records, Authority control, Cross-references


Unit 7

Oct 15

Aboutness and Subject Analysis

The process of determining what subject(s) an information resource is about is examined.

Nature of Aboutness, Approaches to Aboutness, The work of Wilson, Langridge, Taylor, and Joudrey, Consistency


Unit 8

Oct 22

Oct 29

Vocabulary Control

Controlled vocabularies are presented as the best means for providing verbal subject access to information resources.

Week 1: Controlled vocabulary theory, Thesaurus construction
Week 2: Applying controlled vocabularies, LCSH, Sears, and AAT


Unit 9

Nov 5

Nov 12

Nov 19

Categorization, Classification, and Arrangement

Symbolic representation of subject concepts and categorization of concepts are examined and presented as additional means for providing subject access to information resources.

Week 1: Categorization, Hierarchical Classification, Faceted Classification
Week 2: Dewey Decimal Classification
Week 3: Library of Congress Classification, Cuttering and Book Numbers


Unit 10

Dec 3

History of Information Organization

The progression of the development of the organization of information is traced, including the development of technological influences.

Projects on Information Organization during Antiquity, Middle Ages, Renaissance and the French Revolution; Projects on Panizzi, Jewett, Cutter, Dewey, Otlet & La Fontaine, Ranganathan, etc.


Dec 10

The Future - Final Projects

Other Issues/Topics in Information Organization

The Future of Cataloging


Back to the Syllabus

Updated June 16, 2008.