Credits: 3

Prerequisite(s): None

Rationale for inclusion in curriculum

This course introduces the fundamental principles and concepts critical to a user’s ability to access information efficiently and effectively. Libraries and information centers ensure that materials are described, classified and organized so that users can find, identify, select, obtain and navigate the documents that satisfy their information needs. These fundamental principles and concepts are examined and applied in practice and with a critical eye to social justice issues to develop students’ understanding of the basic processes involved in providing access to information.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be able to:

1. Understand and articulate the role of bibliographic control in providing access to information.
2. Analyze and evaluate information records, their methods of creation and how they are organized.
3. Comprehend and use authority controls to assign name and subject headings to information records.
4. Understand and apply controlled vocabulary entries to information records.
5. Recognize, comprehend and build classification numbers using Dewey Decimal Classification and Library of Congress Classification systems.
6. Access catalogs and information systems, perform searches and interpret records.
7. Comprehend and identify MARC, Dublin Core, XML, HTML and other standard encoding formats.
8. Identify, discuss and apply data structure standards, such as AACR2 and RDA to information records.
9. Examine descriptive and organizational practices through a critical cataloging lens to highlight issues impacting users’ access to information and their records.

Content

1. User behaviors within the context of information needs, use and retrieval.
2. Information structures.
3. Document representation and description.
4. Access to documents through names and titles.
5. Access to documents through subject.
6. Access to documents through classification.
7. Organizing information in digital and analog collections.
8. Information retrieval systems.
9. Management of knowledge systems. 

Course methodology

Lectures, readings, class discussions, exercises, exams and a group project

Basis for evaluation of student performance

Quality assignments submitted on or before due date and active participation in class. 

Text

To be determined

Updated: 04/23