Goal 1 – To develop an improved ability to understand an intellectual work in any field

a) -To determine the subject matter and theme of an individual work.

b) -To recognize the basic principle upon which a work is based.

c) -To recognize the conclusions of a given work and determine whether the conclusions are warranted.

 
Goal 2 – To recognize the methods of knowing in various disciplines

 -To identify how truth/knowledge is determined in the humanities, social/behavioral sciences, and natural sciences.

 
Goal 3 – To become a wise consumer of knowledge

a) -To improve the student’s ability to differentiate between knowledge and data.

b) -To recognize how the values of a society affects the search for knowledge.

c) -To recognize how new knowledge can change the values of society.

d) -To enhance the student’s ability to understand the importance and uses of knowledge in an emerging knowledge paradigm.

 
Goal 4 – To become a broad-based critical thinker and problem solver

a) -To improve the ability to read and write critically and at an advanced level.

b) -To improve the ability to frame and develop an argument logically dependent on the context.

c) -To develop the student’s oral communication skills.

d) -To increase the level of information literacy and research acumen to make informed choices and conduct lifelong learning.

Arthur Plotnik. 1982. The Elements of Editing:  A Modern Guide for Editors and Journalists. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.

Margaret Shertzer. 1986. The Elements of Grammar. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.

3. Begin writing the paper.  Don't be afraid to write the middle before you write the beginning and end.   Don't be afraid to revise.  In fact, the less you revise, the more likely you are to have problems with your paper.  You might find it helpful to create an outline at some point in the process that will help you understand the direction and emphasis of your paper. See also http://www.fhsu.edu/~amorin/MLS_Writing.html

4. Research, write, revise, write, revise, think, think, think, write, revise; consult with me if you wish.

5. Write the paper.  Assume that the audience for the paper is relatively intelligent but has NOT taken IDS 803.

6. Check citations and quotes for accuracy.  When citing sources, use the in-text citation technique.  Don’t plagiarize – see http://www.fhsu.edu/~amorin/MLS_Plagiarism.html. See also FHSU’s academic honesty policy at http://web.fhsu.edu/universitycatalog/gen/academichonesty.asp. Make sure to use quote marks when you are quoting.  Follow the ‘string of four’ rule (which is: use quote marks when you use four or more of the same words in the same order as found in a source you used).  Include a citation in the following instances:  whenever you quote (include the citation immediately after the quote), whenever you use information or an idea that you obtained while doing research for the paper, and whenever you paraphrase or summarize an argument, findings, or information that you found while doing research for the paper.  If you use graphs or tables, place them between the body of the paper and the “References” section (one graph or table per page).  If you use tables and graphs in your research paper, go by the 1/4 rule: for every graph or table, there must be four pages of text (not including the title page and "References" section).  If you use a table or graph, make sure to explicitly refer to it in your paper:  it doesn’t make sense to use graphs or tables unless you refer to them in the body of the paper. Make sure that all of your sources are cited in the paper; make sure that all of the sources cited in the paper appear in your "References" section at the back of the paper.  If you list a resoure from the Internet in the "References" section, then you must include the date that you accessed that source.  Failure to follow the instructions in this step could result in a “U” in the class.

7. Print the paper.  Read the paper, looking for spelling and other mistakes (technical and analytical).  Revise. Aim for technical perfection - I expect the paper to be free of spelling, punctuation, and other ‘technical’ errors. 

8. Re-print, re-read, re-vise. Aim for technical perfection - I expect the paper to be free of spelling, punctuation, and other ‘technical’ errors. 

9. Print final version. Aim for technical perfection.  The paper should have a title page, the body of the paper, and a “References” section that lists all of the sources cited in the paper.  Sources in the “References” section should be alphabetized, following the ‘author, date, title’ format. Beginning with the first page of the paper, pages should be numbered.  The title page should not be numbered.  The “References" section should not begin at the bottom of the last page of the body of the text.  Rather, the "References" section should start at the top of a new page.  Make two copies of the research paper: one for you and one for me.  

Guidelines for Written Work

Your paper should be free of spelling and punctuation errors.  If there are five or more spelling or punctuation errors, then the paper may not receive an "A."  Generally speaking, the more numerous the spelling and punctuation errors, the lower the grade.  Other characteristics that are important: clarity of writing, organization, originality, analysis, and sentence and paragraph structure.  Word choice can also affect the grade on the paper.

Here are the directions for obtaining "Off campus access to library resources" http://www.fhsu.edu/forsyth_lib/offcampus.shtml 

The online search services available in FHSU library's website will give you access to FirstSearch - a very good way to locate articles.  Go to http://www.fhsu.edu/forsyth_lib/alphadata.shtml  then click on FirstSearch Database.  Please note that the initial FirstSearch webpage also gives you access to Worldcat, where you can find books.  Also, check out http://www.fhsu.edu/forsyth_lib/resources.shtml and  http://wfxsearch.webfeat.org/wfsearch/menu?cid=10468 

Here is the library's page with links to search engines http://www.fhsu.edu/forsyth_lib/searchengine.shtml 

Here is the website for digital libraries http://www.fhsu.edu/forsyth_lib/digital.shtml

To access many, many, many other libraries, go to “LIBWEB Library Servers via WWW” at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Libweb/  You can use the interlibrary loan service of your local library to borrow books from other libraries. 

 For those who live in Kansas, see also “Blue Skyways” at http://skyways.lib.ks.us/about/sitemap.html

Robert K. Yin. 2008. Case Study Research, 4^th Edition. Sage Publications.  If the fourth edition is not yet available, use the 3^rd edition.

Danny L. Jorgensen. 1989. Participant Observation: A Methodology for Human Studies. Sage Publications. ISBN: 9780803928770

Robert Bodgan. 1972. Participant Observation in Organizational Settings. Syracuse University Press. ISBN: 0815608519

Ernest T. Stringer. 2007. Action Research, 3^rd Edition. Sage Publications. ISBN: 978141295224

Shulamit Reinharz. 1998. On Becoming a Social Scientist: From Survey Research and Participant Observation to Experiential Analysis. Transaction Publishers. ISBN: 087855968x

Lynne Hume and Jane Mulock, eds. 2004. Anthropologists in the Field: Cases in Participant Observation. Columbia University Press. ISBN: 23113004x

William Foote Whyte. 1984. Learning From the Field: A Guide From Experience. Sage Publications. ISBN: 0803933185

Sources for survey research

Andy Field. 2005. Discovering Statistics Using SPSS, Second Edition. SAGE Publications, Ltd. ISBN: 0761944524

Peter Nardi. 2006. Doing Survey Research, 2nd Edition. Sage Publications. ISBN: 0761944524

Louis M. Rea and Richard Parker. 2005. Designing and Conducting Research: A Comprehensive Guide, Third Edition. Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 078797546x

TENTATIVE Class Schedule for Fall 2008

Aug 25 = The beginning

 Introductions

Overview of course

Defining terms (recalling IDS 802)

                Information

                                A statement

                                An observation

                                A truth claim

Knowledge

                An understanding of something that is true

Wisdom

                An understanding of how/when to correctly use knowledge and information

                Information Literacy

                                How to find, evaluate, and use information and knowledge

Aug 27 = Setting the larger context

                Globalization and the information/knowledge society

                                Text and other media through which information is conveyed (radio, TV, Internet, etc.)

                The purposes for which information and knowledge are used

                Application/learning through the research paper

Aug 29 = Post, turn in, and report on the first preparatory exercise

Sept 1 = Labor Day; no classes

Sept 3 = Post, turn in, and report on the second preparatory exercise

Sept 5 = Post, turn in, and report on the third preparatory exercise

Sept 8 = Post, turn in, and report on the fourth preparatory exercise

Sept 10 = Post, turn in, and report on the fifth preparatory exercise

Sept 12 = Post, turn in, and report on the sixth preparatory exercise

Sept 15 = Returning to a consideration of the TINA paper

                You must take an either “yes” or “no” position on the question

                Comments about the basic structure of the paper

                                Introduction and description of how the paper will unfold

                                Literature review – remember to consider all sides of the issue

                                State and defend your position

                                Conclusion - remember to provide closure

                                References section

Sept 17 = A presentation on copyright and plagiarism

                If you are not familiar with the Internet, read chapters 1 & 2 in Schlein’s book

                From chapters 3 & 4 in Schlein’s book, come prepared to discuss

a)      results of your efforts to do a “Boolean” search

b)      results of your efforts to use three different search engines

c)      results of your efforts to use subject directories

d)     results of your efforts to use a focused crawler

e)     results of your efforts to use a meta-search tool

f)      results from your efforts to search the invisible web

Sept 22 = I will be in Oregon (part of an external review team for SOU’s MIS program)

Sept 24 = Beginning the paper

                Come prepared to discuss chapter one in Creswell’s book and chapter one in Crawford’s book

Sept 26 = More on writing the paper

                Come prepared to discuss chapter two in Creswell’s book and chapter two in Crawford’s book

Sept 29 = More on writing the paper

Come prepared to discuss chapter three in Creswell’s book and chapter three in Crawford’s book

 Oct 1 = Continuing with your research

                From chapters 5 & 6 in Schlein’s book, come prepared to discuss

a)     results of your efforts to use specialized tools

b)     results of your efforts to use expert finders

c)      results of your efforts to use ready reference tools

d)     results of your efforts to use specific reference tools

e)      results of your efforts to use usenet newsgroups

f)       results of your efforts to find online communities

g)      results of your efforts to use chat rooms

h)     results of your efforts to use blogs

                        i)       results of your efforts to use government resources

Oct 3 = Continuing with your research

                From chapters 1-4 in Mann, come prepared to discuss

a)      results of your efforts to use encyclopedias

b)      results of your efforts to use subject headings in the library catalog

c)      results of your efforts to use generalized browsing and focused browsing

d)      results of your efforts to use the sources and techniques mentioned in chapter four

Oct 6 = Turn in first draft of literature review

                From chapters 5-8 in Mann, come prepared to discuss

a)      results of your efforts to use sources and techniques discussed in chapter five

b)      results of your efforts to use sources and techniques discussed in chapter six

c)      results of your efforts to use sources and techniques discussed in chapter seven

d)       results of your efforts to use sources and techniques discussed in chapter eight

                Come prepared to discus chapter four in Creswell’s book and chapter four in Crawford’s book

Oct 10 = More on your research paper

                Come prepared to discuss chapter five in Creswell’s book and chapter five in Crawford’s book

Oct 13 = More on your research paper

                Come prepared to discuss chapter six in Creswell’s book and chapter six in Crawford’s book

Oct 15 = I will be out of town (AGLSP conference in Vancouver, Canada)

Oct 17 = I will be out of town (AGLSP conference in Vancouver, Canada)

Oct 20 = Discussion of where you are so far on your research paper

Oct 22 = More on your research paper

Come prepared to discuss chapter seven in Creswell’s book and chapter seven in Crawford’s book

Oct 24 = More on your research paper

                Come prepared to discuss chapter eight in Creswell’s book and chapter eight in Crawford’s book

Oct 27 = More on your research paper

                Come prepared to discuss chapter nine in Creswell’s book and chapter nine in Crawford’s book

Oct 29 = More on your research paper

                Come prepared to discuss chapter ten in Creswell’s book and chapter ten in Crawford’s book

Oct 31 = More on your research paper

                Come prepared to discuss chapter eleven in Creswell’s book

Nov 3 = Continuing your search

                From chapters 7 & 8 in Schlein, come prepared to discuss

a)      results of your efforts to use public records

b)     results of your efforts to use online news sources

Nov 5 = Continuing your search

                From chapters 10 & 11 in Schlein’s book, come prepared to discuss

a)      results of your efforts to use resources and techniques from chapter ten

b)      results of your efforts to use resources and techniques from chapter eleven

c)      results of your efforts to use resources and techniques from chapter twelve

d)     results of your efforts to use resources and techniques from chapter thirteen

Nov 7 = More on your search

                From chapters 9-12 in Mann’s book, come prepared to discuss

a)      results of your efforts to use resources and techniques from chapter nine

b)      results of your efforts to use resources and techniques from chapter ten

c)       results of your efforts to use resources and techniques from chapter eleven

d)      results of your efforts to use resources and techniques from chapter twelve

                From chapter 13-15 in Mann’s book,  

Nov 12 = From chapters 12-14 in Schlein’s book, come prepared to discuss

a)      results of your efforts to use resources and techniques from chapter twelve

b)      results of your efforts to use resources and techniques from chapter thirteen

c)      results of your efforts to use resources and techniques from chapter fourteen

Nov 17 = Statistics, part two

Nov 19 = Statistics, part three

Nov 21 = Turn in first draft of paper at the first of the class; post first draft of paper on Blackboard

                Discuss papers in class

Nov 24-28 = Fall Break

Dec 1 = Post critiques of research papers no later than midnight tonight

                Statistics, part four

Dec 3 = Post responses to critiques due no later than midnight tonight

                Statistics, part five

Dec 5 = Statistics, part six

Dec 8 = A presentation on semiotics

Dec 10 = A presentation on how to “read” organizations

Dec 12 = What have we left out?

                Final draft of research paper due at the beginning of today’s class

Dec 15 = Final exam; 10:30am in Rarick Hall 328