Course Prefix/Number: LIS 2004
Course Title: Introduction to Internet Research
Credit Hours: One (1) Semester Hour
Date of Syllabus: Spring B 2009
Instructor: Rachel Owens
Phone number: (386) 506-3842
Email: owensr@daytonastate.edu
Office hours are: M-F, 10:00 am - 12:00 noon and 3:00 - 5:00 pm
Reading Material
There is no required textbook for this course. Each lesson contains the required reading material. Each lesson includes links to supplemental reading and source material.
Objectives
Information literacy has become an essential competency in the current environment of ever-increasing technological change and the resulting information explosion. The American Library Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy says "Ultimately, information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they know how knowledge is organized, how to find information, and how to use information in such a way that others can learn from them. They are people prepared for lifelong learning, because they can always find the information needed for any task or decision at hand."
An enormous amount of information is available via the Internet, much of it in an unmediated format with no indication as to its authenticity, validity, and reliability. This course introduces students to the concept of using the Internet as an information retrieval tool, and teaches strategies for locating and analyzing information. The course is designed to help students develop the basic information literacy skills necessary for college course work, general research, and for lifelong learning in an information-centered society.
Attendance/Withdrawal Policies
Within the first week of the semester, you must provide your instructor with an e-mail address and current phone number.
Work at your own pace but don't procrastinate! Several lessons take some time to complete, as does the course project.
Although this class does not meet physically and attendance is not taken, all work must be submitted to your instructor by the due dates indicated at the end of each assignment. Prompt submittal of assignments constitutes attendance in the course. The Course Schedule provides due dates for all course materials.
General Course Instructions
You must be willing to work independently and be self-motivated .
You must have basic proficiency in the following:
Formatting and composing a document in a word processor
Sending, receiving, and replying to e-mail
Accessing a web page by typing the URL into the browser “Location” or “Address” box
Downloading and saving a file
Managing electronic files and folders
You must begin the course by carefully reading this Syllabus and the Course Project pages. You may then progress to the Course Introduction and then the lessons. You should complete the chapters and assignments sequentially, beginning with Lesson 1, since each of the lessons expands on information provided in previous lessons.
A quiz follows the reading material for each lesson. Follow the quiz instructions carefully. Quizzes 1 through 6 should be answered by filling in the text boxes. When you have finished filling in all the answers, you should copy and paste all of your answers into a text or word processor file, and save the file as a backup. Then click the send button to submit your answers. You should get a response that your message has been sent. If you have problems in sending the form, contact your instructor for instructions on how to proceed.
You should back up all answers submitted for the course quizzes and final exam. To copy and paste answers from a quiz text box into a text or word processor program (Wordpad, Word, etc.):
Position your cursor at the beginning of your answer, highlight the entire text (make sure you have all the text highlighted if the scroll bars have been activated by the length of the text).
Press Ctrl C to copy (or click Edit—Copy)
Open your text or word processor program and press Ctrl V (or click Edit—Paste) to paste the text.
Save the file with the notation of the exercise number.
If you are providing a URL (address for a web page) as an answer to a quiz question, please be very careful. The URL must be correct or you will lose points. To avoid errors in typing a URL, you may want to copy and paste the URL into your message.
Although you may work at your own pace, don't wait until the last minute to begin working on lesson quizzes or the project. Several of the lessons take some time to complete, as does the course project.
Each quiz should be sent to your instructor as soon as you complete it. It is the student's responsibility to make sure all course submissions reach the instructor!
The course includes several self-tests located at the end of certain lesson modules. Clicking on the Quick Check icon will open a new browser window and will provide a game that will test your knowledge of the module content. These self-tests may be completed as many times as you wish and will not be graded.
All answers to quiz questions should be written in your own words. Do not copy and paste text or glossary definitions from the course materials or other sources as answers. Copying and pasting will be considered plagiarism and no credit will be given.
Do not hesitate to email or call your instructor with any questions or problems.
Remember, all work must be submitted to your instructor by the due dates indicated at the end of each assignment. The Course Schedule provides due dates for all course materials.
Methods of Evaluation
The final grade is based upon the satisfactory completion of the following activities:
Quizzes: 70%, 70 points
Project: 20%, 20 points
Final examination: 10%, 10 points
Total: 100%, 100 points
Grading Scale
A = 90 - 100
B = 80 - 89
C = 70 - 79
D = 60 - 69
F = 59 and below
Outcomes and Competencies
Upon the successful completion of this distance education course, students will be able to:
Demonstrate an understanding of the types of information resources available via the Internet
Identify research topics and devise effective search strategies to utilize appropriate Internet resources and Internet-accessible library databases in the research process
Demonstrate competence in using keyword and Boolean search techniques as appropriate for Internet search tools
Use Internet communication tools, web search engines, meta-search engines, specialized search engines, and subject directories to locate and access relevant information resources
Evaluate the credibility, quality, and accuracy of Internet resources for specific information needs
Demonstrate an understanding of several social, legal and ethical issues, including netiquette, plagiarism and copyright issues
Document Internet resources using MLA or APA style guides
Course Content
The course consists of seven lessons with quizzes, a Course Project, and a Final Examination. Each lesson requires readings from the course web site and the completion of a related quiz.
The course project consists of an annotated list of 5 websites on a single topic of interest retrieved from the Internet. It is NOT a research paper. The list of citations must be presented in MLA or APA citation format. Annotations must contain an evaluation of the Internet resource. Resources must consist of World Wide Web pages. See the Course Project pages for sample citations and annotations.
All work including the course project and the final examination are due THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2009.
The Florida Online Acceptable Use policy describes acceptable behavior for using the college's online and email services. Please read the policy, which is available through this link:
http://vc.dbc.edu/docs/acceptable_use.pdf
