Catholic University of America

School of Library and Information Science

LSC 708

Science and Technology Information

Spring 2008

Instructor: Judy Bateman, Ph.D.

Time: Web based course with limited class meetings, the course will have two required class meetings for all sections at Catholic University. The room for class meetings has not yet been assigned (Jan. 4, 2008).

The three meetings are as follows:

February 2 (10:30 am to 12:00 noon)
May 3 final meeting (10:30 am to 12:00 noon)

E-mail: bateman@cua.edu

Home Page: http://faculty.cua.edu/bateman/

WebCT Login instructions

Class Lecture Notes, Class assignments and instructions, and course readings assignments will be available through the course WebCT site

Section Headings

|Course Description| |Course Goals| |Course Objectives| |Course Information| |Academic Honesty| |ADA Accommodation| |Course topics and due dates||Course assignments| |Readings information| |Lectures and notes| |Book review assignment| |Interview with a scientist| |Reference Tool Annotation Sets| |Topic Report| |Grading| |Exams| |Textbook| |Bibliography||Books| |Disclaimer|

Course Description:

Introduction to reference/information resources and services in science and technology, including the physical and biological sciences, engineering, agriculture, and medicine. Includes the study of information needs and behaviors, communication patterns, trends and problems within these disciplines, with attention to bibliographic control and dissemination of information. Traditional and computer resources and searching will be studied.

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Course Goals:

The course is designed to:

Introduce the student to scientific research, communication and publication and the implications of scientific research for society
Develop bibliographic research skills using science and technology reference sources.
Prepare students for work in science and technology libraries or other organizations that have a need for bibliographic research in science and technology.
Help students develop an understanding of how scientists communicate and seek information
Explore the issues of electronic publication, open access, serials licensing, e-science and changes in scientists information seeking and reading and the implications of these issues for scientists and for libraries

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Course Objectives

At the end of the course students should be able to evaluate and apply an understanding of

Characteristics of the formal and informal channels of scientific communication and their effect on scientific research and information use.
Major reference tools, electronic and print format to science and technology literature and research.
Characteristics and changes in the information seeking patterns and behaviors of scientists.
Comparison of literature, research and relationships between disciplines in the sciences and basic and applied disciplines.
Formulation of search strategies online, on the Internet and using paper based tools.
Changes in the way scientific literature is managed by libraries and used by scientists

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Course Information

This class will be conducted primarily on the World Wide Web. Class information, lectures, discussions, assignments, worksheets, and interactions will be conducted through the course WebCT site. You will recieve your login and password from the instructor. The URL for CUA WebCT site is:

http:/webct.cua.edu/

WebCT login instructions

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Academic Honesty Policy.

Please read the policy on “Academic Graduate and Undergraduate Student Academic Dishonesty. http://policies.cua.edu/academicundergrad//integrityfull.cfm#i

The definitiions that follow are from this policy:

"A. Plagiarism is the act of presenting the work of another as if it were one's own. It includes quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, or utilizing the published work of others without proper acknowledgment, or, where appropriate, quotation marks. Most frequently, it involves the unacknowledged use of published books or articles in periodicals, magazines, newspapers and electronic media. However, any unacknowledged use of another's ideas constitutes plagiarism, including the use of papers written by other students, interviews, radio or TV broadcasts, and any published or unpublished materials (including web-based materials, letters, pamphlets, leaflets, notes or other electronic or print documents).

B. Improper use of one's own work is the unauthorized act of submitting work for a course that includes work done for previous courses and/or projects as though the work in question were newly done for the present course/project.

C. Fabrication is the act of artificially contriving or making up material, data or other information and submitting this as fact.

D. Cheating is the act of deceiving, which includes such acts as receiving or communicating or receiving information from another during an examination, looking at another's examination, (during the exam), using notes when prohibited during examinations, using electronic equipment to receive or communicate information during examinations, using any unauthorized electronic equipment during examinations, obtaining information about the questions or answers for an examination prior to the administering of the examination, or whatever else is deemed contrary to the rules of fairness, including special rules designated by the professor in the course."

Any incidence of plagiarism will result in a grade of F (0 points) on the project or exam in question, and will be reported to the Dean of the School of Library and Information Science for possible further action (including failure in the course). See the policy or discuss the problem with your instructor if you have questions about plagiarism.

For more on what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it, see the guide on the Purdue Online Writing Lab web site.

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ADA Accommodation

Any student with a disability that will require accommodation under the terms of federal regulations should present a written accommodation request to the instructor by the second class meeting. The law includes accommodation for learning disabilities, Attention Deficient Disorder and anxiety disorders. It is also recommended that the student contact the Office of Disability Support Services. They are located in suite 207 in the Pryzbyla Center . Their email is: cua-disabilityservices@cua.edu. Their phone number is 202-319-5211 and their fax number is 202-319-5126. and their web site is

http://disabilityservices.cua.edu/

Links to guides and addional information for students may be found at:

http://disabilitysupport.cua.edu/audiences/

A Guide for services and accommodations for students with disabilities can be found at:

http://counsel.cua.edu/ADA/publications/disbro/contents.cfm

Some basic guidelines and links to other information may be found at:

http://counsel.cua.edu/ADA/clicks/

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Course Calendar

Jan. 14 to Jan. 30

Topics

Data, Information, Knowledge
Review of reference interview
Scientific research
What are the basic fields of science?
General science sources
Scientific evidence

Readings

Hazen and Trefil, Chapters 1 and 2
Angell, Chapters 1 and 5 (1997)
Dewdney & Michell (1997)
Broad and Wade. (1983). "Limits of replication

January 28 to February 11
- Topics

Evaluating statistics
Ethics in science

Scientific communication

Publication process
Peer review
Informal communication

How do scientists use information?
How do different disciplines use information?
Mathematics and computer science
Astronomy and Physics

Readings
- Hazen and Trefil, Chapters 3, 4, 10, 11 and 12
- Joy (2000)

Maier, Chapter 4 (1995)
Welborn (1991)
Weller (2005)

February 5 first annotation set due
February 13 to February 29 (spring break is from February 29 to March 10)

Topics

Theory, research and paradigms
How are theory and research related?
How does theory change
What is a paradigm and how does it change?
Biology
Chemistry

Readings

Hazen and Trefil, Chapters 5, 6, 7, 15 and 16

Ellis and Haugen (1997)
Kuhn (1970)

March 11 topic for second annotation set due
March 18 interview with a scientist due
March 10 to March 24

Topics

Information retrieval and information seeking

Evaluation of information retrieval
Medicine, Nursing and Nutrition
Agriculture

Readings

Hazen and Trefil 8 and 9

Price (1963)

March 24 to April 7

Topics

Citation analysis and bibliometrics

Electronic publishing and the Internet and open access
Peer review and publication
Engineering and geosciences
Patents and trademarks

Readings

Hazen and Trefil Chapters 13, 14

Cronin (2001)
Nisonger (2000)

March 25 second annotation set due
April 8 topic for third annoation set due
April 22 third annotation set due
April 7 to April 21

Topics

Standards, trademarks and codes

Serials issues
Research reports
Technical reports
Thesis and dissertations
Issues and trends
Meeting announcements
Reprints and conference proceedings
Trade literature and house organs

Readings

Hazen and Trefil Chapters 17, 18 and epilogue
Esler and Nelson (1998)
Kling and McKim (2000)

April 21 to April 30
- Topics
  - Changes in scientific publication
  - Effects of changes in publication on libraries
May 3 final class meeting

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Course Assignments

You will be responsible for the following:

Every week

Reading the lectures and course readings as scheduled
Look at the sources in your text and on the web sites listed in the lectures for the disciplines that we are discussing.
Contributing to the current discussion topic
Contributing to any ongoing discussions in the science news section

During the course
Discussion topic assignments
- Posting 2 items to the science news discussion topic
- Posting 3 URLs to the Internet sources discussion topic
Annotation Sets
- Three sets of source annotations that will be due as specified on the course calendar
Papers and presentations
- Interview with a scientist (written paper and presentation at second class meeting
- Final paper (written paper and final presentation)
Science and the public book review
- You will review one book (see description below) and lead a discussion the science and the public discussion topic

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Readings information

Many readings will be available in PDF format on the course web site. Some readings are available on the Internet and others will be full text on the CUA databases (let me know if you have any problems with access).

Some readings are from books and many libraries will have these books, sometimes they will have several copies. I have a separate list of books at the end of this syllabus.

The textbook is the current bibliography of science sources and is not required, you may use the book to suggest sources for annotation sets and to get an overview of each area of science. Unfortunately it is becoming quite dated and has not been updated since 1998. It is a good reference for the standard print sources, but is seriously limited by its publication date. Several other newer bibliographies are available for specfic scietific disciplines, some of these are older than others. When you do your annotation sets look to see if there is more current bibliography for the discipline. Most university libraries should have a copy of the text and other bibliographiesin their reference section.

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Lectures and notes

I will post lectures close to the beginning of each two week period listed on the pathfinder. Each two week period will cover:

A topic of interest such as electronic publishing, scientific evidence, science journals, scientific communication etc.
The characteristics and sources for one or more disciplines.

Some lectures require considerable revision each time I teach this course since science is rapidly changing and since electronic publishing and the use of the Internet has had some profound and ongoing effects on how scientist communication and publish. Sometimes things will change during the course or even during the week. I will try to keep up with this, but if you see something has changed please let me and the other students know. The area that has been the most dynamic is electronic publishing. This area has many stake holders and considerable commercial value to some (science publishers) and also influences how scientists seek information and how libraries manage that information so be particularly aware of ongoing change in this area.

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Course Projects

Science and the public book review

Each student is responsible to find and read one book that describes a situation where science has a clear influence on public health, policy or day to day life. examples of this type of book include:

Angell, Marcia. 1997. Science on trial: The clash of evidence and the law in the breast Implant case. New York: Norton.

Barker, Rodney. 1998. And the waters turned to blood. (Psteria and public health)

Broad, William. 1983. Betrayers of the truth. New York. Simon and Schuster.

Goliszek, Andrew. 2003. In the name of Science: A history of secret programs, medical research and human experimentation. New York: St. Martins.

Lafollette, Marcel, 1996. Stealing into print: Fraud, plagerism and misconduct in scientific publishing. University of Calfiornia Press.

Shermer, Michael. 1997. Why people believe in weird things. New York: Henry Holt.

You do not have to select a book on the above list. You will be responsible for posting a summary and critique of the book, how it relates to course topics and what you learned from the book. This will be posted on the Science and the public book review site. You should lead the discussion for your book and other students are expected to contribute to the discussion. At the first class meeting you will select a date to post your book review and lead the discussion.

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Interview with a scientist

Assignment

Interview a science and technology user and create a profile of the user's information needs, information use and information seeking patterns. This user can be a faculty member, a researcher or a science and technology professional. You can interveiw this person in person, on the phone or using email.

Project Questions

What are the user's current (last six months) information needs?
How does this user usually seek information?
- What resources are used and how are they used? What has been their use of these resources over the last 2 to 3 years? Has their use of these resources changed during the last 5 years?
- Does he or she
  - Use librarians, and libraries?
  - Use online database searching? Done by an intermediary?
  - Use the Internet? How?
  - Use any specialized reference tools?
- Communicate with other scientists? By email? On newsgroups? At conferences? Does he or she share research or preprints with others?
Ask the user to remember a "critical incident" where they needed information and to describe how they sought that information and how successful they were.
Using the information you have gathered discuss and analyze your user's information seeking behavior and information needs. Address how or if the Internet has influenced your user's communication and information behaviors. Do you think your user typical of his or her discipline or profession? Why or why not?
Based on your information from this user create an annotated bibliography of reference resources that you think would be most useful to this individual. This bibliography should contain at least 10 items. Describe why you chose these resources for your user. You do not have to recommend these sources to your user unless you think it would be helpful to them. If you think your user does not have a need for reference resources select resources that you think would be the most useful for a scientist in the same discipline or research area.
Turn in your discussion and your bibliographies on the due date.
Add a summary of your interview to the "interview with a scientist discussion topic". Be sure to discuss what you found out about your users information behavior and what you learned from the interview that you could recommend to science librarians.

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Reference Tool Annotation Sets

Online class discussion will include we will discuss a groups of reference resources and tools, either for a discipline or a particular type of resource. I will provide some general discussion in the lecture notes and you will be asked to do some annotation sets. Specific information on what the annotations sets should cover is on the webCT site. Each annotation set will be graded on a pass/fail basis.

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Topic Report

Several projects, programs and initiatives are underway that will change access to and the definition of information sources as well as the services traditionally provided by librarians. Select and investigate an initiative or a project that will have a major impact on scientific information and information professionals. You should explore and summarize the information and literature on this topic and write a short paper (5 - 7 pages) about your findings. You will also present this report in a short presentation on the last day of class.

You should not only describe the project but suggest the impact this project might have on scientific and technical information and its dissemination.

Example areas of investigation:

High performance computing and communication
Genbank
Bioinformatics
Medical informatics
Digital Libraries Research initiative

UC Berkeley Environment Library
U of Michigan, Multimedia earth and space science data
UC Santa Barbara, Alexandria Project (maps, images etc.)
Carnegie Mellon, Informedia project (interactive digital video)

Digital Library Technology Projects
Public access to Government Information (GILS)
Open access to periodicals
E science and changes in how scientists conduct and communicate research

Include in the report:

Introduction: describe the initiative or project and its importance.
Body: Summarize what you have found in the literature or on the Internet. Integrate references to the literature in the general discussion (do not simply review the articles one by one). Discuss the impact and potential impact of the project on the dissemination of Science information and on libraries.
References: The report should be supported by at least five recent (last five years) articles in the scholarly and professional literature. These articles should not be on the required reading list. Include complete and accurate references. Internet resources may be used, but at least two of the resources should be from edited, peer reviewed or professional journals. (Note that some peer reviewed journals are available on the World Wide Web).
Format: The body of the report should be 5 to 7 pages long. Please spell check your report. Use one inch margins and double spacing. Number the pages. Include your name, the course date, and project title on a cover page. Include a separate reference page.

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Grading

Interview with a scientist 30%
Topic report 25%.
Annotation sets 20%
Participation in discussion 15%

Participation includes completion of assignments and exercises, attendance, meeting deadlines and class discussion. Students who will not be able to access WebCT for a period of more than a day or two should let the instructor know. Students who are unable to attend the in person meetings should notify instructor - in advance if possible. Students are responsible for all course content covered and for announcements made at class meetings and on webCT.

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Exams

There will be no final exam

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Textbook

This bibliography of reference sources for science and technology is not required since it is very dated. You can use it as a place to start or to overveiw print sources. The citation for the book is

Information Sources in Science and Technology. Englewood, Colo. : Libraries Unlimited, Inc. 1998. by Charlie Duel Hurt.

It is available at the Catholic University Bookstore. . You may find this book in most university libraries reference collections and you may elect to use it at the library rather than purchasing it.

Many science disciplines have more current bibliographies of reference sources for that discipline.

The following book is required and can be found at most bookstores as well as the CUA bookstore:

Hazen, Robert M and James Trefil, Science Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy. Doubleday, 1990.
ISBN: 038526108X

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Bibliography

Note: Reading can and will change, I will give you adequate notice if a reading assignment has changed. While some of the readings may seem old the ones that I have left in the course are seminal readings.

Broad, W. and Wade, M. 1983. Betrayers of the truth. New York. Simon and Schuster. Chapter 4. "Limits of replication".

Chiang, Katherine. 2004. Biology databases for the new life sciences. Science and Technology Libraries, 25: no.1/2, 139-170. Available in full text from the Haworth database.

Cronin, Blaise. 2001. Hyperauthorship: A postmodern perversion or evidence of a structural shift in scholarly communication practices? Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 52, no. 7:558-569.

Cruickshank, John. 2002. The role of scienctific literature in scholarly communication. Science and Technology Libraries, 22: no. 3/4, 71-100. Available in full text from the Haworth database.

Dewdney, Patricia and Gillian Michell. 1997. Asking "why" questions in the reference
interview: A theoretical justification. Library Quarterly, 67, no. 1: 50-71.

Ellis, David and Merete Haugan. 1997. Modelling the information seeking patterns of
engineers and research scientists in a industrial environment. Journal of Documentation, 53, no. 4: 384-403.

Esler, Sandra L. and Michael L. Nelson. 1998. Evolution of scientific and technical
information distribution. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 49, no. 1: 82-91.

Hurd, Julie. 2004. Scientific communication new roles and new players. Science and Technology Libraries, 25: no.1/2, 5-22. Available in full text from the Haworth database.

Kling, Rob and Geoffrey McKim. 2000. Not just a matter of time: Field differences and the shaping of electronic media in supporting scientific communication. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 51, no. 141306-1320.

Kuhn, Thomas S. 1970. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [chapters 1, 2 and 5]

Joy, Bill. 2000. Why the future doesn't need us. Wired 8 (April). http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html

Maier, Mark. 1995. The Data Game: Controversies in Social Science Statistics. 2nd ed. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. [chapter 4]

Nisonger, Thomas E. 2000. Use of the Journal Citation Reports for serials management in research libraries: An investigation of the effect of self-citation on the journal rankings in library and information science and genetics. College and Research Libraries, (May), 263-278.

Price, Derek J. De Solla. 1963. Little Science, Big Science. New York: Columbia University
Press. [Chapters 1 and 3]

Welborn, Victoria. 1991. The cold fusion story: As case study illustrating the communication and information seeking behavior of Scientists. Science and Technology Libraries, 11 (spring 1991), 51-60.

Weller, A. C. 2005. Electronic scientific information, open access, and editorial peer review: Changes on the horizon?. Science & Technology Libraries, v. 26 no. 1: 89-108. Available in full text from Haworth Press Journals database on CUA libraries databases.

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Books from bibliography

Angell, Marcia. 1997. Science on Trial: The Clash of Evidence and the Law in the Breast Implant Case. New York: Norton. [chapters 1 and 5]

The best American Science and Nature Writing. 2000- .Boston:Houghton-Mifflin. Annual. [This is not required reading. It is very readable and if you would like you could use one of these essays as on of your your science news summary]

Gould, Constance and Karla Pearce. 1991. Information Needs in the Sciences: An Assessment. Mountain View, CA: Research Libraries Group. [this is not required reading as it is getting dated, but it does have some interesting information about how different science disciplines use libraries and information. ]

Kuhn, Thomas S. 1970. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [chapters 1, 2 and 5]

Maier, Mark. 1995. The Data Game: Controversies in Social Science Statistics. 2nd ed. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. [chapter 4]

Price, Derek J. De Solla. 1963. Little Science, Big Science. New York: Columbia University Press. [chapters 1 sand 3]

Wagner, A. Ben. 2001. Finding physical properties of chemicals: A practical guide for scientists, engineers and librarians. Science and Technology Libraries, 21: no. 3/4, 27-45. Available in full text from the Haworth database.

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Disclaimer

This syllabus should not be construed as a contract between the student and the instructor. It may be changed at any time as needed in order to meet the instructional goals and needs of the class, including changes in the grading policy that is described above.

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