COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
1. to use online searching effectively as a tool to meet the information needs of users.
2. to select, evaluate, analyze and synthesize retrieved information in support of an information query.
3. to control and package online information output.
4. to understand the role of the search intermediary and the search instructor.
5. to develop a critical approach to systems and database evaluation and comparison.
6. to analyze and evaluate search results and select the most relevant information.
7. to be able to carry out online research and reports in response to client needs.
8. to understand online searching services in a range of information environments including public,
research and special libraries, and corporate information centers, and to be able to select and develop the most appropriate service for an given information environment.
9. to be able to evaluate online services for a library or information center and to make recommendations for improvement, growth and development.
10. to understand how users interact with search systems and interfaces (human computer interaction).
11. to understand the principles of how users seek information and how that impacts the effectiveness of information systems.
12. to understand how content and meaning is communicated to users in the context of online environments.
13. to be able to analyze and synthesize search results to meet information needs and to customize results for individual use and purposes.
14. to understand how real and virtual information environments effect users online searching results and search experience, and to be able to use that knowledge to design more effective online user services.
15. to understand the principles of information science and apply them to online searching.

METHODOLOGY
A combination of lecture, class participation and laboratory exercises.  Classes will be held in the
computer laboratory.  Student assignments include laboratory exercises, two short papers,
an online research project, a midterm and final project.

COURSE MATERIALS
The following Knight-Ridder Information Inc. publications are required:
Dialog Lab Workbook: Online Searching for the Information Professional. 1995
Database Catalog - Online
Dialog Pocket Guide.  Online
The Lab has copies of Dialog Blue Sheets, software manuals, thesauri and other useful
materials to support student's work.
Manual for Lexis-Nexis
Dialog Lab Workbook:
The Lab Workbook for the Graduate Education Program from The Dialog Corporation
 Dialog Database Catalog from The Dialog Corporation
 http://training.dialog.com/sem_info/courses/pdf_sem/basic_skills_review.pdf
 Successful Searching on Dialog: Table of Contents
 Dialog Web Tutorial | Main Menu
 

ASSIGNMENTS are listed in the schedule with links to detailed descriptions.
1. 5 Search assignments -  10% (hand in, pass/fail) See schedule of classes for due dates.
2. Dialog exercises -  5% (hand in, pass/fail)
Students should use assignments 1 & 2 to practice search strategies and
techniques and to learn the major search systems used by information professionals.
learned in class.  Remember, practice makes perfect.

3. Project I:
       A.                                          20%  (due week 7)
       B.                                          25%
4. Midterm - take-home exam - 15% (due week 8)

5. Project II -                               25% (due week 15)
 

SEARCH PROJECT I - a two-part project to study online searching. (see READINGS)

Part IA, DUE WEEK 7
Evaluation of Online Sources and Services at NYPL SIBL and HSSL: A Consultant's Report.
Elements of the Report to include:
                  Diagram of physical arrangement/ list & description of hardware & software.
                  Use policies
                  List and description of content (databases and other sources).
                  Discussion of sources and how they meet needs of users.
                  Do online collections reflect and support the library's physical collections.
                  Are online services and sources integrated into the library's other user services.
                  What is the relationship between online services & sources and reference services.
                   Describe online S & S staff.
                  What role do librarians play in relation to online users?
                  How do the librarians use online searching in their work with users.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Part IB, due week 9.
Using Online Databases in Real and Virtual Environments: A Comparison of Search
Environments, Experience and Outcomes.

READINGS:
Suggested reading related to Project I
 SOSIG: The New Technology of Electronic Text: Hypertext and CMC in Virtual Environments
 by Author: Surkan, K
 Cyber Behavior Research Center - Behavior and the Web
from: CIO Magazine's Online Resources - in-depth resources for information technology executives and CIOs
Cyber Behavior Research Center - Index

 Internetworking (3.3): Article-Designing for Information Foragers

 The Psychology of Cyberspace - Home Page/Table of Contents

 Welcome to www.cybersociology.com
 Cybersociology Magazine: Issue 2 - Virtual Communities

 Feeding the dot.com era.

 Text of report of Living in cyberspace: Myths and realities meeting

 Information Seeking and User-Intermediary Interactions: Informing the Design of Digital Reference Services
 

SCIENCE PORTALS
 BioMedNet
  SciCentral.com - Scientific Databases
 PSYCLINE: Your Guide to Psychology and Social Science Journals on the Web
 Forest Conservation Portal -- Rainforest, Forest and Biodiversity Conservation News & Information
Social Sciences -
 SOSIG: Welcome  SOSIG: Expert's Choice
 SOSIG: Expert's Choice - Professor John Macionis / Sociology
 Brint.com The Premier Business and Technology Portal and Global Community Network for e-Business, Information, Technology and Knowledge Managers, Professionals and Entrepreneurs Defining, Designing and Implementing Business Enterprises for the New Economy.
ALL FIELDS
 Academic Info - Educational Resources - Academic Resources - Subject Directories
 OLIS - Oxford University Libraries Online Catalogue
Class participation and attendance is expected and required.
Attendance at all sessions is expected, as is informal participation.
Please notify me in advance if you will need to be absent.
 
 

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES - Fall Semester, Sunday, 1:30-3:00 pm, 6th fl. lab.

1. 9/6

2. Introduction to 
Databases for the Web 

 Free Databases by Subject
 Database -  Entrez-PubMed
Do the online "Tutorial"
 NCBI HomePage

Introduction to
FirstSearch

Conducting User Surveys: An Ongoing Information Imperative

Library Literature
WilsonWeb: Full Record Penny Cagan. "Value-Added Research: Taking the Next Step." EContent 23 no3 45-8 Je/Jl 2000

2. Online: Information Visualization: Don't Tell Me, Show Me!

 Grading the Library Portals

HCI- Human Computer Interaction - Readings

Online Search Project I:
Assigned - Due week.)
 

Review search techniques including proximity indicators, limits, truncation, nesting, synonyms.

2. Online: Dialog's New Tools for Web-Age Knowledge Workers.

3. Playing Twenty Questions to Test Low-Cost, Free, or Subscription Databases for End-User Online Service

4. Web Information Communities by Tula Giannini

Use findarticles.com and ABI/Inform (on Web through NYPL), to search for articles about online searching. Start by clicking on "help" and then "search tips".  FindArticles.com - A LookSmart Service
(Due week 5) 

Workbook, Chapters 1-2,
Exercise set 1 
(due week 5)

Review results of Dialog Exercise set 1, do examples in class.

Discuss midterm, do some sample searches based on student's exams.

Project IA due.
Take survey based on Project I.
Presentation and discussion of Project I. 

Digital Library Issues, Articles.
Databases - free: evaluate and compare to fee
Midterm - take-home exam (Due week 9) 
 

Workbook, Chapters, 8-12, Exercise sets, 7-9, 
due week 10.
Project IB due.
Discuss Project II 
(Due week 16).

howard rheingold's | the virtual community
Read article and examine databases.
Science and Technology Sources on the Internet - 
There Is Such a Thing as a Free Lunch
Information Science and Technology Librarians-
ISTL: Winter 2001
ResearchIndex: The NECI Scientific Literature Digital Library

New Trends in Virtual Environment User Interface Research: Case Studies at the Human Interface Technology Laboratory (ResearchIndex)

Read the four books listed:
The Virtual Community, Spinning the Web, A Question of Balance, and the Digital Dilemma.  Write an article on some aspect of "Meeting the Information Needs of Virtual Communities." focusing on a particular aspect of your choice.  Combine your perspectives with those from your reading.  Use andantes to document passages and pages you cite.
Please Read -
Important articles from Computers in Libraries about the virtual library and the future of the real library
Distance Education and Virtual Reference: Where Are We Headed?

Our Experiment in Online, Real-Time Reference

ONLINE, March 2001 | The Web as Database: New Extraction Technologies and Content Management

Article due - class discussion of information needs of virtual communities and libraries.

Database Services, Publishers and Producers
Databases, media corporations, disciplines
Library Catalogs
Science, law databases

 Meta-search tools

Government Databases
 Welcome to AskERIC
 Entrez-PubMed
 NCBI HomePage
 Search the NTIS Web Site
 FDLP Desktop      Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP)
 GLOBUS and NTDBSTAT-USA * International Trade Library
 AGRICOLA Home Page
 NCJRS - National Criminal Justice Reference Service
 Environmental Health Information Service
Government Databases Webliography
 United States Patent and Trademark Office Home Page - Databases: Patent Grant and Patent Application Full-Text and Full-Page Images

Databases - Associations and Institutions
 ASCE Civil Engineering Database  ASCE Publications Home Page
Guide to Foreign and International Legal Databases - Table of Contents
 NIH Computational Molecular biology: Databases includes human genome
 Virus databases online
 WWW Virtual Library
 

Web for reference 

WEB RESOURCES
1. Online Searching Techniques, Strategies and Tutorials
 Finding It Online: Web Search Strategies http://home.sprintmail.com/~debflanagan/main.html

 Finding Information on the Internet: A TUTORIAL http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html

 Search Engine Tutorials http://searchenginewatch.internet.com/resources/tutorials.html

 Internet Tutorials   http://www.albany.edu/library/internet/

 Cyberlibrarians' Rest Stop http://www.thelearningsite.net/cyberlibrarian/reststop.html

 Beyond Surfing: Tools and Techniques for Searching the Web  http://www.magi.com/~mmelick/it96jan.htm

Sink or Swim: Internet Search Tools & Techniques (Version 4.0) http://www.lboro.ac.uk/info/training/finding/sink.htm#intro

 Advanced Searching Techniques http://www.algonquinc.on.ca/communitystudies/libtech/jacobsj/lib1948a/index.htm
 Internet Assignment from above

 Internet Searching Techniques http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/hqlibrary/pathfinders/nethelp.htm

 LEARN THE NET: An Internet Guide and Tutorial  http://www.learnthenet.com/english/index.html

 Search Engine Showdown: The Users' Guide to Web Searching http://www.notess.com/search/

 Information searching strategies http://www.terena.nl/libr/gnrt/overview/strategy.html

2.  Technology Magazines, Fulltext
 Web Techniques: Content and Publishing http://www.webtechniques.com/archives/2000/07/

 Internet / Magazines / Internet - WebReference.com http://www.webreference.com/internet/magazines/internet.html
An extensive list of free Web magazines.
 Internet / Magazines / Collections - WebReference.com
 Internet / Magazines / Web Development - WebReference.com

Intelligent Enterprise Magazine http://www.intelligententerprise.com/dbpdsearch.shtml
 Online Inc.  EContent Magazine  EMedialive.com
Burwell World Directory - Quick Search
"The Burwell Directory Online is designed to link those who need information with those professionals who specialize in the art and science of information retrieval.  Nearly 1000 entries representing 38 countries are currently identified in the database. The inclusion of foreign language and country expertise is a reflection of the international nature of today's business environment and our ever-increasing worldwide communications capability."
3. Database Design
 Introduction to Databases for the Web | Table of Contents http://www.extropia.com/tutorials/sql/toc.html

 ebase - The Interactive Database for Nonprofit Organizations http://www.ebase.org/
free download -  a database to use for learning database structure.

4. Articles, fulltext
FROM:  ITI NewsBreaks!
 Dialog Announces Info Pro Portal
 IT Viewpoint: Database Protection in the Next Century
 Legal Arena Continues to Buzz: West Partners With Northern Light; Supreme Court Opens Web Site
 Gale Full-Text Content Free on LookSmart? Well, Some of It ...
 Bartleby.com Relaunches Site with Modern and Classic Reference Works
 Jurisline.com Suit Could Shift the Underpinnings of the Online Legal Marketplace and Beyond

 FROM: Information Today Magazines/Journals
 The Gestalt of Online Searching
 Feature: Developing a Virtual Collection from the Online Smorgasbord
 Digital Librarianship: Be Savvy! Sometimes the Free Resources Are Better
 Feature: Strikeout or Homerun: Managing Public Access to the Internet
 Feature: Consider the Four Legged-Stool as Your Plan for Information Technology
 Electronic Books: To 'E' or not to 'E'; that is the question
 LINK-UP: March/April 2000

5. Required Reading  (see schedule)

Articles are assigned for each class and appear as links in the
schedule.  New selections are added during the course.
see also READINGS for Project I.

HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

 Suggested Readings in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI),
User Interface (UI) Development, & Human Factors (HF) :
Human-Computer Interaction : Front Page and Full Table of Contents
Cognitive Modeling and Human Computer Interaction