FRS 197: Information Power Unleashed 

This class will be team-taught by six professional USM librarians/staff. Bill Grubb will serve as the lead instructor and your general contact. Two sections were initially offered: one on Tuesdays and one on Thursdays. The Tuesday section was canceled. The course begins Aug. 31, 2009 and ends Nov. 16, 2009.

Instruction will be focused on a final annotated bibliography, which will be due on the last day of class. An annotated bibliography is simply a list of sources (books, articles, etc.) with “annotations” or a brief summary of the cited source. You will use MLA citation style.

Each class will include:

• Lecture
• You will locate all the required sources for that day or section of your final bibliography.
• Possibly an assignment due by the next class period.

Your daily grade will be derived from attendance, and having completed the reference questions for the week, plus any assignment. The daily grade may be weighted by the instructor per your class participation.

There is no required textbook for this class. The instructor may assign readings for each class.

 Grading System

- Grading scale used: A: 90-100%, B: 80-89%, C: 70-79%, D: 69-60%, F: below 60%

- Any student who fails to come to class twice, without prior permission from the instructor, will fail the course. Check the final date for class withdrawal.

- Assignments are due on time without exception.

- The lowest weekly grade (not including the final project) will be deducted from your final grade.

- No mid-term will be used. The final project will be an annotated bibliography.

- Unexcused absence = 0% out of possible 100% per day @ 10 class periods.

- Daily grading: 25% Reference question, 25% assignment, 50% attendance.

- Final project (annotated bibliography) = 300% or roughly equals 3 daily grades.

- You will secretly choose a number to identify yourself on the first day of class. Check your number on this site to see your current grade.

 What to expect each day:

- Attendance will be taken.

- Assignment of three reference questions, plus other material

- Lecture on topic for that day

- Hands-on searching for resources

- There could be some group work

- Speak up. I know that's difficult for some people, like me, but your voice is equal to everyone else's. Help us make the class more fun by loosening up and speaking up.

Note: The student is responsible for seeking clarification of any class policies from the instructor. Contact information is available on this page.

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Class #1 – Class instruction and library tour (Bill Grubb)

Class #2 - Google, reference resources, and authority (Zip Kellogg)

Class #3 – Plagiarism, copyright, LC classification and subject headings (Pat Prieto)

Class #4 – Finding books using URSUS and MaineCat (Tim Lynch)

Class #5 - Using WorldCat, Interlibrary Loan, E-books and audio-books (Pat Potter)

Class #6 – Magazines vs.journals, finding articles with interdisciplinary databases (Bill Grubb)

Class #7 – Finding articles using subject-specific databases and find journals by title (Pat Prieto)

Class #8 - "Special" collections online and at USM (Sophia Mendoza)

Class #9 – Hands-on start on annotated bibliographies (Bill Grubb, Tim Lynch and Zip Kellogg)

Class #10 - Evaluate the instructor/class and turn in bibliographies (Bill Grubb)

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Topics for your semester research, plus the final annotated bibliography, will be chosen on the first day of class from a list of possible topics supplied by the instructor. You will pick one topic, then spend the semester finding books, articles, reference sources, websites, etc. on that topic. Your final annotated bibliography will be built from those souces.

Annotated Bibliography Requirements:

A bibliography is just a list of every source of information you used in writing a paper. You will create lots of bibliographies in your college life, so it's good to find out how to do so. At USM one of two citation styles are typically used: APA (American Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Lanuage Association). You will use MLA.

An annotated bibliography is one in which each citation is followed by a one-paragraph description of the source. Here is a list of how may sources you will need to gather by the end of the semester. It will be easy because each class will focus on how to find each source.

• 3 websites
• 8 local books (if possible)
• 3 e-books or books from other states
• 10 articles (preferably scholarly)

We will discuss this in class toward the time when the bibliographies are due.