Credits: 3

Prerequisite(s): INF 6010 and INF 6120

Rationale for inclusion in curriculum

Multiculturalism is now a growing, important component in the evolution of a country's population. This fact impacts directly in such areas as work, education and day-to-day life. As regional populations become more diverse, more material is being developed to prepare people for handling multicultural diversity, resulting in the development of more resource centers. This course will include a component providing an understanding of what these changes mean, identifying how they will impact upon library services, recognizing the need to provide access to collections, determining if these collections accurately reflect the history and current concerns of specific populations, and recognizing the need to develop research methodology for this field.

Learning outcomes

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

1. Define, historically, the role of culture and its impact on national literature.
2. Define the evolution from cultural-ism to multiculturalism and its impact on national literature.
3. Interpret the current terminology, and distinguish specific concepts from one another, i.e., enculturation, acculturation, cultural diversity, ethocentrism, and multiculturalism.
4. Define the role of the culture collections in the context of various types of libraries, including the implications for specialized services for specialized audiences.
5. Apply reference service and research techniques to a specific cultural collection for a broad spectrum of users.
6. Conduct content analysis of specific cultural collections regardless of formats and determine how accuracy and bias.
7. Develop effective search strategies and conduct bibliographic searches relating to specific cultures or situations.
8. Interpret cataloging and classification systems as they apply to either an individual culture or to a group of related cultures.
9. Design a basic Multi-Cultural Collection.
10. Develop bibliographies for both print and non-print material to meet the needs of a specific culture or audience.
11. Describe the appropriate applications of technology, including networks, to develop collections and to make them available for appropriate populations.
12. Describe current concerns regarding the publication and dissemination of materials for specialized populations.
13. Describe the effectiveness of current selection tools in identifying the materials available for an individual culture or a specialized audience.

Content

Job Analysis; Learning Hierarchies; Sequencing Strategies and Principles; Test Item Construction; Classification of Learning Tasks; Design Rules for Learning Tasks; Writing and Editing Principles; Page Layout and Display of Information; Determination of Reading Level; Module Design; Course Specifications; Media and Instructional Strategy Selection.

Course methodology

1. Lectures
2. Guest speakers
3. Class discussions
4. Audiovisual presentations
5. Visits to special collections
6. Assignments: identification of appropriate materials, identification of specialized collections, and demonstrating an understanding of multiculturalism

Bases for evaluation of student performance

1. Class Participation
2. Discussion of readings
3. Assignments: A paper discussing an aspect of multiculturalism
4. Bibliographic essay or annotated pathfinder on a specific culture identifying resources and resource centers

Text

To be determined

Approved: 1/12

Updated: 7/20