Library Science Degree Program

East Carolina University

Library Science Degree Program

LIBS 6972 Research Methods in Library and Information Studies

Instructor

Dr. John B Harer East Carolina University

E-mail: Ragsdale 126A

Phone: 252/328-4389 Mail Stop 172

Greenville, NC 27858-4353

ADA Accommodation: Any student with a documented disability (physical or cognitive) who requires academic accommodations should contact the instructor immediately. East Carolina University seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students requesting accommodations based on a disability must be registered with the Department for Disability Support Services located in Slay 138 ((252) 737-1016 (Voice/TTY)). For more information on the department's ADA compliance, click ADA compliance information.

Office Hours: Monday: 10:00-Noon and Wednesday: 1:00-4:00

Other times by appointment

I usually monitor my email and voice mail throughout the day. Day time email responses generally happen more frequently, with the exception of times when I must attend meetings. For nights and weekends, I cannot promise a quick turnaround, but generally answer emails before the end of the day.

Syllabus and Course Information for LIBS 6972

Prerequisites: All Tier 1 and Tier 2 courses.

Catalog Description: Various available resources and the problems of research in library and information studies. http://catalog.ecu.edu/preview_entity.php?catoid=3&ent_oid=189&returnto=192

Course Description: Conducting research and contributing to the professional knowledge of our profession is an essential skill for you as a professional librarian. This course will introduce you to the various types of research and resources in library and information studies. LIBS 6972 is an overview of research resources, techniques, and strategies as applied to the definition, identification, and evaluation of research problems. The course will cover:

·  Introduction to research: Theories on research for libraries

·  Qualitative methods of research: naturalistic approaches to site selection, sampling, researcher role and instrumentation

·  Quantitative methods of research: statistical measurement, hypothesis selection, instrumentation, experimental designs

·  Action research for libraries

·  Other forms of research: case studies, Delphi technique, content analysis, citation analysis, historical research

·  Data gathering and statistics: descriptive statistics, inferential statistics

Course Objectives:

The course objectives are to:

·  demonstratecritical analysis of disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship in LIS;

·  evaluateresearch problems, theoretical frameworks and research methodologies.

At the end of the course, students will:

·  demonstratecritical analysis of disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship in LIS

·  demonstratetheoretical and methodological approaches used by LIS scholars

·  have reviewedthe ongoing research and scholarly pursuits of ECU LIS faculty

·  evaluateresearch problems, theoretical frameworks and research methodologies

Course Calendar: The course calendar is available within the Blackboard site for this class. The calendar is subject to change by the instructor with prior announced notice.

Module Assignment and Maximum Points:

·  Starter Kit: 3 pts

·  Module 1: Introduction, statistical literacy 7 pts

·  Module 2: Ethical issues, Knowledge and

·  norms of production its production 10 pts

·  Module 3: Research question development 5 pts

·  Module 4: Internal and external validity: 5 pts

·  Module 5: Sampling 10 pts

·  Module 6: Survey Research 15 pts

·  Module 7: Statistical techniques 10 pts

·  Module 8: Bibliometrics and citations 10 pts

·  Writing the research report: 20 pts

·  Finals period: 5 pts

(I encourage you to complete a draft of your artifact for this course for this course by July 21. I will use the remaining part of the week to review your draft and return to you for improvements [if any]).

Instructional Methods: This course is a graduate level course that should requires outside reading and studying of professional literature resources, student research and synthesis of findings, graduate level writing and presentation skills. This course is primarily a self-driven learning experience

Assistance from the instructor is available to you in your learning experience. The instructor will provide additional support and effort whenever requested by a student and keep providing it until the student is comfortable in their knowledge/abilities.

LIBS 6972 course materials will be made available via the instructor’s ECU Blackboard site (https://blackboard.ecu.edu/ ). The LIBS 6972 course is an asynchronous course in delivery. This means that there are no mandatory dates or times that a student must be online or communicating with classmates or the instructor.

Course Resources for LIBS 6972

Required readings, as listed in the modules, if any, will be provided in the Blackboard course menu

Required Text:

Powell, Ron and Connaway, Lynn. (2004). Basic research methods for librarians. 4thedition. Libraries Unlimited: Westport, CT.

Suggested text:

APA Style Manual. 5th edition. American Psychological Association.

APA Style Guide to Electronic References (PDF). This is an electronic copy of the APA Electronic References in PDF format. If you want the link to purchase the electronic copy, please visit http://books.apa.org/books.cfm?id=4210509&toc=yes .

Resources: I will periodically send out additional research resources for students. I will post these resources in the course Blackboard site in each Modules menu. Other useful resources can be found below:

·  Access to the electronic journals available via ECU’s Joyner Library can be found at: http://jw3mh2cm6n.search.serialssolutions.com/ .

·  Access to the ECU databases available for students can be found at: http://media.lib.ecu.edu/erdbs/ .

·  Conducting research at a distance http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/distance/conducting.cfm

·  Getting articles from Joyner http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/distance/articles.cfm

·  Pirate Source LIS research resources http://media.lib.ecu.edu/reference/piratesource/index.cfm?subjectid=100

·  Internet Searching http://www.ecu.edu/cs-educ/ci/sped/internetsearch.cfm

·  Writing Resources http://www.ecu.edu/cs-educ/ci/sped/writingres.cfm

·  Technology resources http://www.ecu.edu/cs-educ/ci/sped/techres.cfm

·  Study Skills http://www.ecu.edu/cs-educ/ci/sped/studyskills.cfm

·  Evaluating web information and searching online http://core.ecu.edu/engl/smithcath/7730/7730L5.HTM

LIBS 6972 Assignments (General Information)

All assignment information (i.e. description, criteria, grading rubrics, resources, etc.) are available in BB in the Course assignments section. The Course Assignments section has six separate module menus

Things that apply to all assignments:

·  Submit all assignments in a 12-point font (Arial, Calibri, Comic Sans, Tahoma, Trebuchet are preferred) of easy reading ability, double-space format unless otherwise noted. Charts, tables, etc. within an assignment or that accompany assignment are to be single spaced; references need to use the 12 point font and are double spaced. Charts, tables, etc. can use smaller fonts when needed.

·  Page limits do not include title pages, references, or attachments. Attachments to any assignment are limited to 2 pages/ slides as appropriate to the assignment.

·  Students shall submit assignments directly to Dr. Harer via the Blackboard assignment link in the assignment menu or by email () using attachments or via fax at 252-328-4368

·  Students shall create their assignments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, as the assignment indicates. If you are required to use other software to complete an assignment, please check with Dr. Harer prior to submitting the assignment for usability and access.

·  PowerPoint submissions (if any) must be self-explanatory and not simply an outline of key terms/ideas (i.e. bullet points alone will not suffice.) The presentation must provide the viewer with all of the pertinent information necessary to understand the salient points of the message, as you will not be there in person to fill in the missing information.

·  I will send each student feedback on their assignment grades and comments about your paper in the paper itself. Grades will also be added to your grade book

LIBS 6972 Grading Information (General)

The grading of written assignments will be based on the following criteria: adherence to assignment requirements, the detailed, concise and logical presentation of information that addresses the assignment requirements and grading rubric components, use of resource materials to justify responses, compositional style, and use of appropriate grammar and style. Written work that shows a lack of understanding of subject matter, is unclear or poorly organized, contains few or irrelevant details, does not follow directions, contains little or unsubstantiated evaluative commentary, or is otherwise poorly written, prepared (e.g. typos, grammatical errors), or documented will receive low grades. Students should use the American Psychological Association (APA) version 5 citation format for all assignments and throughout their work.

The rubrics indicate what assignment components are being graded and their priorities; i.e. the more points a grading rubric component is worth, the larger the portion of the information in the submitted assignment addressing that rubric.

Final Exam Period: The university requires that all classes, including online classes, hold a final exams period. The university does not require a final exam be given, only that some learning experience and/or assessment be provided. For this online class, a class discussion on the day of the final (July 29) will be the final requirement.

All assignments are due by midnight on their due date.

Late submissions: Late submissions are considered late when your instructor (Dr. Harer) checks for your submission after the official due date and time. If an assignment is submitted late, 10% of its score will be deducted in addition to score deductions for rubric assessments. Excessive late submissions (more than 3) will result in a “One grade letter downgrade” of your final grade.

Incompletes: Incompletes will not be provided to students unless there is an extreme exception to normal life conditions, i.e. serious family/personal illness, major life trauma, etc. Incompletesneed to be approved at least 3 weeks before the end of the semester by the instructor and the student must have completed at least 2/3 of all course assignments before any consideration of an incomplete will be provided.

Grading Scale: Grades for the course shall consist of 10 module assignments. The course assignments total 100 points in value. These points comprise your final grade for the course. The grade scale is as follows:

·  93 - 100 total points results in a final grade of "A"

·  85 - 92 total points results in a final grade of "B"

·  75 - 84 total points results in a final grade of "C"

·  00 - 74 total points results in a final grade of "F"

Class participation: Student participation is required in all communications, online inquiries / discussions, etc. throughout the semester.

Portfolio Artifact and Reflective Statement: Information regarding the portfolio artifact (Assignment) and the reflective statement for the artifact will be available in Assignment and in the “Course Docs” section of the course Blackboard site.

Copyright: All of intellectual property used or created in LIBS 6972 created on any tangible medium (electronic or paper format) is fully protected by the copyright law as embodied by US Code Title 17. Examples of intellectual property include the intellectual property of you, your classmates as expressed in course assignments and email discourses, and the course instructor as expressed in his course syllabus, class assignments, course resources, and presentations of an audio/video nature. The copyright law does allow what is described as “fair use" of copyright materials. Under “fair use” of copyright protected materials used or generated within LIBS 6972, students may only utilize protected intellectual property in support of their education pursuits in this class as long as fully cited and authorship/creator acknowledgement is noted. Please ask the instructor if you have any questions regarding copyright law and “fair use.”

Academic Integrity: Students are expected to turn in original work and adhere to all "Academic Honesty" policies and procedures. All resources consulted for the work should be listed as “Consulted or Background Sources” and all resources actually used (quoted, cited, exampled, etc.) should be listed in detail. When you quote a resource verbatim, you must enclose the text in quotation marks and identify the original resource in your citations following proper APA Manual of Style rules. Ideas that you paraphrase must be attributed, even if you are not quoting the original source verbatim. Any use of copyright protected materials in your assignments must follow all applicable copyright and intellectual property laws.

Students shall avoid all forms of deliberate academic dishonesty, including but not limited to:

·  Collusion – students concealing their collaborating in the completion or production of course assignments submitted for credit when specifically prohibited in advance by the instructor.

·  Plagiarism – the use or nearly exact use of others intellectual property without attribution and without enclosing the property in quotation marks or other identifier notation. An extended quotation or paraphrase of another’s intellectual property must be attributed to its source and will be considered plagiarism if not attributed to its source.

Changes to syllabus: This syllabus may be subject to some alteration, as needs arise, before or during the CURRENT term.

3