LIS 415: Information Organization

Communication information

Email is the best way to contact me. I will respond as soon as possible. Please include LIS 415 in the subject line of the email to ensure it grabs my attention.

When I email you, I will use your official simmons.edu address. To avoid missing important messages, make sure that you are checking your Simmons email regularly or that you have it set up to forward to an account that you are checking regularly.

Requirements

At a minimum, students are expected to:

• attend each class and lab session
• be prepared for class
• read the required materials
• watch the required video materials
• participate in the in-class exercises
• complete all homework assignments on time
• participate fully in group or partnered activities
• check e-mail
• participate in the class's Moodle site

Attendance

Class attendance is expected each week; roll will be taken. You should be in class on time (or early), and stay through the end of class. Habitual tardiness and more than one absence will lower your participation grade.

Sometimes missing class is unavoidable. Students who must miss a class due to religious observance, work obligations, illness, or family emergency should notify the instructor by e-mail before class time.

Readings

Each unit in the course syllabus contains a list of required readings. Required readings are available via your textbook, Moodle, or on the web; some additional readings may be available through the library or in the SLIS West office. Required readings may be done before or after the corresponding class session. Each student must figure out what works best for them.

In the syllabus, on each unit page, author hyperlinks will take you to the bibliography for the full citation; URLs and title links will take you to outside websites or to e-resources through Simmons University Library.

The unit web pages also list encyclopedia articles and recommended readings relevant to that unit, but there are no expectations that you will be reading anything other than the required readings and the materials related to the discussion boards.

Assignments

The assignments for the term reflect the ideas and activities that were addressed in readings, discussed in lectures (live and video), and practiced in the lab sessions/in-class exercises. Assignments may address both conceptual and practical aspects of information organization. While you are working on assignments, it can be helpful to review your notes from class.

You should expect to work with different partners throughout the semester. Paired assignments are to be done only with your partner, not in larger groups. Only one version of the assignment will be submitted from each pair with your agreed-upon answers.

Due dates for the assignments are included in the syllabus. Assignments are due 1-2 weeks after being distributed depending on the assignment. If you are unsure or confused about what is expected in an assignment or the meaning of a particular question, please ask questions via email. If I don't hear from you, I will assume that you know what you are doing. Please do not wait until the night before an assignment is due to contact me with questions related to the assignments. This substantially decreases the odds that I will get your message and be able to respond in time to assist you before the deadline. Please get into the habit of starting your assignments early.

Please review your work before turning it in to your instructor. If there are missing pages or missing answers, you will lose points for the missing portions of the assignment. You are expected to successfully complete every assignment in the semester. There are no make-up or extra credit assignments in this class. If you miss an assignment, you will receive a zero (0%) for that assignment. All assignments must be attempted in order for you to pass this course.

Assignments are to be submitted via email. Please email your assignment by 9 am on the day that the assignment is due. All submissions must be in the form of Microsoft Word documents (.doc or .docx only; no PDFs or links to Google Docs, please). If you use word processing software other than MS Word, then please make sure that you submit assignments that have been converted to the approved format.

Please use the following document-naming formula for your submitted files:

LastName1-LastName2-LIS415-SectionNo.-Assignment-name.File extension

The last names should be in alphabetical order. For example, when you and a partner submit the first assignment, the file name should look similar to this:

Jones-Smith-LIS415-0#-Retrieval-Tools.docx

Graded assignments typically will be returned to students one to two weeks after submission. Although there is never enough time to go through the answers of the graded assignments during class time, I will gladly meet with you to discuss any problems or questions you might have about your returned assignments.

Late Policy

I am very serious about deadlines. Deadlines in the workplace are consequential; missing deadlines can have an impact on your livelihood. So, in this class, all assignments are to be completed and submitted on time.

If late work appears to be unavoidable, students should advise the instructor as to the circumstances as soon as possible. No assignments will be accepted after the due date unless the instructor has previously granted an extension. Extensions are never more than three (3) days in length. Extensions will not be granted within 24 hours of the due date. Again, please plan ahead!

Grades on approved late assignments will be reduced by 5% or one-half of a letter grade for each day that the assignment is late. There are no exceptions. If the assignment has not been received within three (3) days of the original due date, you will receive a zero (0%) for that assignment. Remember, turning in an incomplete assignment is better than receiving a zero.

Incompletes

Students who become ill, have a medical emergency, a death in the immediate family, extreme hardship, or unusual circumstances may request an incomplete from the instructor. Students must be performing at a passing level to be considered eligible for an incomplete. Students must work with the SLIS M.S.-Program Manager in order to request an incomplete. If approval is granted, the incomplete must be finished before the first week of the following term (e.g., if you take an incomplete in the spring semester, you must finish the incomplete before summer classes begin). If the incomplete is not finished by the deadline, you will receive zeros in all outstanding assignments.

Zoom-taught sections/sessions

For some sections of this course, Zoom is our classroom and should be treated as such. For others, it is used only for lab sessions. No matter the circumstances, we should respect our learning space. Behaviors/activities that are inappropriate for an on-campus course should be avoided for a Zoom-based classroom as well. Although this course or part of this course is being taught online, it is a synchronous class. That means students are expected to be seated in the Zoom classroom on the dates and times listed in the course schedule.

Students are expected to be in a safe and somewhat private environment while in the Zoom classroom. Students need to be in a space where they can listen closely, take notes, participate in group exercises, speak freely and audibly, and so on. In short, they need to be in an environment conducive to learning. This means, during class time, students should not be driving a car, running errands, etc.

For online synchronous sessions, it is important for students to have stable Internet connections and reliable computing equipment. Live-streaming requires a certain amount of bandwidth and computing power. Zoom's help center is found here. Many in-class activities will require opening multiple windows and using information tools with varying levels of success regarding adaptive design. The small screens of smartphones and tablets are often inadequate for completing the activities. If reliable Internet access and computing equipment are issues, synchronous sessions may prove to be a difficult mode of delivery. If you are having issues with Internet access and/or computing equipment, you may wish to contact Simmons Technology for advice on how to mitigate these issues.

I typically do not record the class sessions in Zoom. If a student knows they will be absent, the professor may record the session for later viewing, upon request.

I do not require students to be on-screen during the entire class session. I ask that you be on-screen during discussions and exercises. You may turn off your cameras during lecture portions of the class.

SLIS Student Policies

Simmons University Policies

For information regarding these Simmons University policies on Academic Integrity, Accessibility Services, Sexual Harassment Policy, and more, please see the Syllabus Policies website.

Other Information

Land Acknowledgment: Simmons SLIS recognizes that the land on which we work and study is the rightful heritage of peoples known, including the Massachusett, Pawtucket, Pocumtuc, Nonotuck, and Nipmuck peoples, as well as peoples unknown to us. We gratefully respect not only their attachment and claim to the land, but the centuries of stewardship which allows us and our institution to prosper here. As grateful, but uninvited guests on this land, we will continue to work to be accountable to the needs of Native American and Indigenous peoples.

Changes to the Syllabus: This syllabus is not a contract. The instructor reserves the right to alter the course requirements, schedule, and/or assignments based on new materials, class discussions, or other legitimate pedagogical objectives. Students will be given notice of relevant changes in class or via e-mail.

Digital Student Products: Any digital work produced in this course and maintained on a Simmons server will be erased 90 days after the end of the course. In some cases, a 30-day extension is available with the permission of the SLIS Tech Manager. SLIS Students are ultimately responsible for preserving the longevity of their digital coursework. You can do this most effectively by using the resources that are made available from SLIS Tech or SLIS faculty.

Copying of Student Products: Unless the student indicates otherwise by e-mail to the instructor, the instructor may be collecting copies of student work for use in the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or the COA accreditation processes. Student names will be removed from the student work prior to use.

SLT: For more information about how this course meets the state requirements for students in the School Library-Teacher program, click the link.

Recommendations: I happily provide employment and scholarship references for students that do well in my advanced classes (LIS 416 and LIS 417). I do not, however, provide references for students who have taken only LIS 415 with me. Please understand that LIS 415 is an introductory-level course and I need to see more of your work, at an advanced level, to be comfortable providing a reference.