Mary E. Brown, Ph.D., Professor
Information Science

Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515

Department of Information and Library Science
Fax: 1.203.392-5780 / Phone: 1.203.392-5781
Toll Free: 1-888-500-SCSU, then press 4

NOTE: Please print a copy of this page and keep it nearby for ready reference.

WEEK 1 READING ASSIGNMENT

LECTURE: Read the lecture notes below (then take a quiz on the material).

READINGS IN TEXT: Read chapters 1 and 2 (pp 1-46) in List-Handley (then take a quiz on the material)

OTHER READINGS: Read ONE of the following:

• Tucker, Patrick. (2008, May/June). U.S. forecasts for the labor market of 2016. Futurist, 42 (3), 6
• Mosher, Catherine E., & Danoff-Burg, Sharon. (2006). Health effects of expressive letter writing. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25 (10), 1122-1139.

WEEK 1 RESOURCE GUIDE ASSIGNMENT

You will need to plan on at least four visits to a library (at least one each of the first four weeks of the session). Contact the library you will be using during this course. Meet at least one Reference Librarian, introduce yourself and tell them you are a student in an online course "Use of Information Sources." Ask for 1) a copy of the library's hours of operation and the rules and regulations for patrons and 2) an orientation tour of the library.

During this first visit, or on a second visit this week, explore the shelves to discover the type of classification system used in that library. Find the general class number for your academic major or primary academic minor (class numbers help you locate the shelves on which books are located.). Ask the reference librarian to help you find Subject Headings used for your academic major/minor (subject headings help you locate subject content through the online or card catalog). Using the class numbers you found, locate the books in the CIRCULATING COLLECTION (books you can borrow) and also in the REFERENCE SECTION (books that must be used in the library) of the library's collection. If you are not sure where the Reference Section is located, ask one of the librarians. Look over the books you find under this class number.

After visiting the library, you will begin to create (in a Word document) a Resource Guide to your major or primary minor area of academic study. The Resource Guide will 1) help you, and possibly other students, identify resources in a broad area of study and 2) list specific tools and sources in a given library (such as Buley Library) that may help locate books, magazine, journal, and newspaper articles for research in this area. Devise a title for your Resource Guide, and write an abstract explains what the Guide will do and where the specific sources will be found (e.g. the name of the library). Here is an example of what your Resource Guide might look like at the end of this week:

NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES: A Buley Library Collection Resource Guide

Prepared by MyName
With special thanks to Mrs. Librarian for her assistance in locating resources

ABSTRACT

This guide is designed to help students identify resources in the area of Native American studies. Sources listed below represent a sampling of Buley Library's collection. The cross-disciplinary nature of Native American studies means that relevant titles are often dispersed throughout the collection. You can locate books, films, music recordings and magazine, journal and newspaper articles by using some of the tools listed. Use CONSULS, Buley's online catalog, to locate books, films, sound recordings and serial publications. Use the CSU System databases, the library's print, Internet or CD-ROM indexes to locate journal articles, newspaper articles, book chapters, dissertations and published papers.

In the threaded discussion area record a narrative of this visit (your experience and feelings during this visit). Be sure to include the date of your visit, the name of the library, and the name of the librarian(s) you met. Post this entry under the thread titled "LIBRARY ORIENTATION VISIT."

WEEK 1 WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

This week you will use the Big Six process to write a short (2-3 page) paper on one of two topics:Working in 2016 or Benefits of letter writing. For ideas about these topics read Tucker's paper or Mosher's paper. When writing your paper try to focus on writing with (1) No excess words; rather, write with nouns and verbs and (2) No long, confusing sentences; no groups of short, monotonous sentences. The following schedule is offered to help you manage your time and the work:

Day 1

1. Select a topic. Define the topic by rewriting it as a question.
2. List the information you will need to find.
3. List possible information sources.
4. Select the best sources.

Day 2

1. Locate the selected sources, including through finding appropriate subject headings.
2. Find information within each source.
3. Engage information in the source.
4. Extract inforamation from the multiple sources, using a graphic organizer.

Day 3

1. Organize the information from the various sources into a logical sequence, perhaps following an outline format.
2. Write a draft linking the various pieces of information into a coherent telling.
3. Revise the draft for a better telling/reading.

Day 4

1. Evaluate the paper. [How effective was your work?]
2. Evaluate the research process. [How efficient was your research activity?]

Day 5

1. Be sure you have included a Bibliography or List of References, giving the sources you used.
2. Paste your final draft into the threaded discussion area of this week.

WEEK 1 LECTURE

Parts of a book (click on the title to go to this part of the lecture)

Organizing Information (click on the title to go to this part of the lecture)

Notetaking can be problematic for some people. There are other options. Notetaking is just one technique of a larger set called GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS.

Other techniques include: Concept Maps, Thinking Grids, and Cluster Diagrams. Other techniques can be found at Index of Graphic Organizers (click on a name to go to an explanation of the technique).

The Big6

Big Six Skills provide a systematic approach to information problem-solving that relies upon critical thinking skills. The Big Six is a problem solving model that students can use to successfully complete any homework assignment, research paper or classroom project in any subject area. Big6 can also be used to solve business and life problems.

The steps in the Big Six approach to information problem-solving are:

1. Task Definition
   1. Define problem
   2. Identify requirement of the problem
2. Information-seeking Strategies
   1. Determine range of possible sources
   2. Select best sources
3. Locate and Access Information
   1. Locate sources
   2. Find information within sources
4. Use Information
   1. Engage information in sources
   2. Extract information from sources
5. Synthesis
   1. Organize information from multiple sources
   2. Present information
6. Evaluation
   1. Judge the product (effectiveness)
   2. Judge information problem-solving (efficiency)

This week we will use the Big Six process to write a short (2-3 page) paper.

Steps One and Two (Day 1)

1. Select a topic. [Example: Designing healthy cities] Define the topic by rewriting it as a question. [Example: Would communities designed with a greater emphasis on health be much different from American communities now being built?]
2. List the information you will need to find. [Example: perception of health and disease; physical factors of health; biochemical factors of health; socioeconomic factors of health; psychological factors of health; economic factors of health; models for unhealthy communities; models for healthy communities.]
3. List possible sources. [Example: health professionals, newspaper articles, conference proceedings, books.]
4. Select the best sources. [Example: select the sources to which you have access, seem to be written for relatively easy understanding, and are in your budget means]

Steps Three and Four (Day 2)

1. Locate sources, including through finding appropriate subject headings. [Example: items found using the subject headings City planning -- Health aspects; Urban health.]
2. Find information within each source. [Example: use the table of contents, back of the book index, skimming to find promising passages.]
3. Engage information in the source. [Example: compare information to research question to determine if it can give background to the question, help answer an aspect of the question, demonstrate problems that are associated with finding an answer.]
4. Extract inforamation from multiple sources. [Example: notetaking, highlighting photocopies, constructing charts and tables.]

Step Five (Day 3)

1. Organize information (notes) from the various sources into a logical sequence, perhaps following an outline format.
2. Write a draft linking the various pieces of information into a coherent telling.
3. Revise the draft for a better telling/reading.

Step Six (Day 4)

1. Evaluate the paper. [Example: Does the finished product match the assignment requirements? Did you answer the question you asked? Did you give credit to your sources (including books and people)? ]
2. Evaluate the research process. [Example: Did you make the right choices in planning and working through this assignment? Did you list all of the information that you would need? Did you list and select the best possible sources to find this information? Did you use the best methods to locate the information?]

Submit product (Day 5)

1. Be sure you have included a Bibliography or List of References, giving the sources you used.
2. Paste your final draft into the threaded discussion area of this week.

Related Resources:

The Big Six Skills Approach to Information Problem Solving

Computer Skills for Information Problem-Solving

The Big6.com Website

The Big 6 Board Game

WEEK 1 QUIZ

Test what you learned from this week's reading.

There is a short 10 question quiz covering each of the assigned readings for this week (lecture, chapter 1, chapter 2). Take a maximum of 20 minutes for each quiz. Some questions require you to apply what is learned from the readings. Other questions ask you to recall specific material. After you have taken the quiz, go back and check your answers in the text.

WEEK 1 JOURNAL ENTRY

In the appropriate thread, write a narrative describing what you expect to gain from this course, your feelings about online versus onground courses, and why you chose to study online during this term. Be sure to mark the entry with the title "BEGINNING REFLECTIONS - FIRST WEEK OF CLASS".