A Survival Guide for Librarians in the Digital Age:LIS courses

501 Perspectives on Library and Information Science
Overview of the profession and discipline of library and information science. Provision of a range of perspectives to facilitate the making of informed education and career plans and choices. Major current issues in library and information science. Development of an appreciation of the social, political, economic, cultural, historical, and intellectual contexts of information.

502 Organization of Information
Principles and techniques for the organization and representation of information as exemplified in classification and classification schemes, subject representation with controlled vocabularies, and contemporary bibliographic description.

503 Information Sources and Services
Theory and practice of using basic information sources in information providing contexts, including libraries and information centres. Appropriate and effective ways of providing personal assistance to users in pursuit of information. Practice in the techniques of negotiating questions, finding appropriate sources, and answering questions. Introduction to the principles and practice of electronic searching.

504 Research Methods and Statistics
An introduction to the range of research methods, both quantitative and qualitative, that are used to investigate questions in library and information science. Students will be helped to bring a critical understanding to the process of evaluating research in the LIS field. Topics covered include: the research process from finding a researchable question through data gathering and analysis to dissemination of results; qualities of well-designed and well-conducted research; ethical considerations in research; basic concepts and techniques in the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data.

505 Information Systems and Technology
Information technology applicable in library and information science: computer hardware and software; networks, including the Internet; databases. Techniques for planning, construction, implementation, and management of information systems for libraries and information services. Practice using and evaluating selected software. Back to Top

506 Management
This course introduces selected theories, principles and techniques of contemporary management science and organizational behaviour and their application to libraries and information centres. The functions of planning, organizing, leading, coordinating and personnel management are examined and discussed with reference to libraries and information centres.

514Academic Libraries
Academic libraries in the context of institutions of higher learning. Strategic issues and trends, including scholarly communication; publishing, funding and access models; emerging and submerging technologies. User populations, their needs and information- seeking behaviour. Impact of the Web and digital resources on collections, access, services and instruction. The academic librarian as information specialist, educator; scholar and leader.

515 Issues in Distance Learning for Public and Academic Libraries
This course theoretically, critically and practically looks at the issues surrounding the place of academic and public libraries and librarians in serving users/learners from a distance. The broader debates around the uses of technologies for teaching, learning and service within educational institutions are examined. The course includes some remote classes and ongoing critique and discussion of the experience of undergraduate and graduate distance learning. When possible, it includes serving undergraduate and graduate distance learners using one particular set of course tools, WebCT.

521Information Visualization
Information visualization is an area focusing on representing large quantities of information in a visual form to help people understand and analyze that information. Computer-based information visualization systems provide an interface between the human mind and information. With well-designed computer interfaces people can interact with information-rich systems effectively. Interaction, in this context, means any communication between people and computers. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the key theoretical and practical concepts and issues in this fast-growing discipline. Upon completion of this course, students should be able to design and evaluate visually-based information systems and pursue further research in this discipline. Back to Top

523Web Design and Architecture
Skills needed to produce a good Web site. Concepts of information architecture as they apply to Web site design. Methods of navigation and searching on Web sites. Forms of discourse and text structure suitable to the Web environment.

525Managing Internet Information Services
Management functions required for Internet technologies. Law and standards involved in participation in the Internet. Selected aspects of the structure, growth, and governance of the Internet. Practice with tools for the management of Internet information services.

530Managing Information Technology in Libraries
Tools and techniques for planning, implementing and managing technological change for libraries and information services. Library systems, subsystems and networks. Procurement of library automation software and resources; the library automation software industry; information technology trends in the library. Roles of staff, management and vendors.

675Collection Development
Theory and practice in the development of collections of information resources in a variety of formats for particular user groups in specific library and information environments.

741Information architecture
Information architecture is an emerging field concerned with the organization, structure, navigation, findability, and usability of complex information systems, typically Web sites. This course is an introduction to the fundamental concepts and design methods used by professional information architects.

739Information Systems
Types of information systems. Indexing and classification. Data models. Information retrieval systems design. Vector space model of information retrieval. WWW search engines. Back to Top