LIS 415: Information Organization

Unit 1: Introduction to Information Organization in Different Environments

Topic Areas

This unit provides an introduction to the course and an overview of the basics of organizing information resources in various information environments such as libraries, archives, museums, etc.

Learning Objectives
  • Communicate what is expected of you in the course and what you can expect from the instructor.
  • Identify the basic goals or “objects” of information organization.
  • Identify environments and contexts in which information can be organized.
  • Describe differences among the organizing processes in various information environments.
Guiding Questions
  • Is there a basic need to organize?
  • Why do we organize?
  • What is information organization?
  • What is the difference between personal information organization and institutional information organization?
  • How is information organization different among libraries, archives, museums, online environments, etc.?
Required Readings

Week 1: Introduction to Information Organization in Different Environments

Joudrey, The Organization of Information, preliminaries and Chapter 1 (p. 1-10)

Chin, "File Not Found" (link to article, but article also in Moodle) 

Oh, "Types of Personal Information Categorization"

 

Week 2: Information Environments

Joudrey, The Organization of Information, Chapters 1 & 2

Recommended Readings

Remember, only the readings listed under Required Readings must be completed. These are for your information if you wish to explore topics further.

Relevant Articles from The Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science

Remember, only the readings listed under Required Readings must be completed. These are for your information if you wish to explore topics further.

  • Allen and Stein, "Visual Resources Management in Cultural Institutions"
  • Baldoni and Joudrey, "Cataloging"
  • Cunningham, "Archives"
  • Dillon and Turnbull, "Information Architecture"
  • Helfer and Heinrich, "Technical Services"
  • Jorgensen, "Still Image Indexing"
  • Jones et al., "Personal Information Management"
  • Joudrey, "Cataloging"
  • Maxwell, "Bibliographic Control"
  • Mulvany, "Back-of-the-Book Indexing"
  • Myburgh, "Records Organization and Access"
  • Neilson, "Museum Registration and Documentation"
  • O'Hara and Hall, "Semantic Web"
  • Sweeney, "Provenance of Archival Materials"
  • Thomas, "Special Collections"
  • Turner, "Moving Image Indexing"
  • Weinberg, "Indexing: History and Theory"