IS 207 Spring 2004

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES & COMPARATIVE RESEARCH

IN LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE

CONTACT INFORMATION

Professor Mary Niles Maack 232 GSE&IS Building . Office hours: Tuesdays 3:30 - 5:00 Wednesday 5:45 -- 6:30 p.m. UCLA home office (310) 475-7962 EMAIL: mnmaack@ucla .edu

INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS

• To become acquainted with the literature of comparative librarianship as a sub-discipline of library and information science, and to look at comparative methodology and theory drawn from other fields, especially education and anthropology.
• To become acquainted the major international organizations in librarianship, archival administration and information science and to understand the role that international co-operation and cultural exchange have played in these fields.
• To gain an understanding of the international flow of both electronic and print information, and to consider the effect that this may have both on information access WITHIN a given country AND on access to information ABOUT that country in the United States.
• To gain an enhanced understanding of issues related to information access and cross- cultural communication by focusing on the history and culture of another country.
• To become familiar with the knowledge infrastructure one other country
• (i.e. the educational system; government information policies; the mass media; book publishing; scholarly communication; libraries, archives and information centers; the information profession; the information industry and electronic information access).
• To develop an understanding of how libraries, archives and other information agencies are shaped by political, cultural, and socio-economic context of the nation in which they exist.

ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING

This course is a seminar involving mutual learning and therefore requires regular participation by students. You should come to class prepared to discuss the theme designated for the session. Students are expected to choose a country for the focus of their work and to report on their findings related to that country for sessions throughout the quarter.

A. Country Resource Bibliography (200 points) due April 21st

An annotated bibliography and critical review of the literature.

B. Country Profile (300 points) due April 28 th

Prepare a fact sheet and a background essay focusing on those socioeconomic, cultural and political factors most relevant to the development of archives, libraries and other information agencies. (7-- 8 pages)

C. Final Paper (400 points) due June 16 th

OPTION 1: You should prepare a well documented research paper that discusses some aspect of librarianship, archival administration or information science in the country you have chosen

OPTION 2: You may instead focus on the work of an international association in librarianship, archival administration, information science or documentation.

D. Class Participation (100 points)

For an "A" you will be expected to attend regularly, be prepared to discuss any assigned readings, and share information on your country relevant to the theme of the session

ASSIGNMENTS

COUNTRY SELECTION

Assignments A. & B. are designed so that they can be incorporated into your final paper. Therefore you should select a country where developments in library and information science have been well documented in the literature. It is strongly recommended that you select a country whose official language you read at an intermediate level or above.

If you wish to focus on a specific aspect of development in the field, it is best to chose a country that publishes one or more LIS journals that are available at UCLA library or via the web.

STYLISTIC REQUIREMENTS

FOR ASSIGNMENT B. AND C. BE SURE TO PROVIDE CITATIONS FOR ALL QUOTATIONS, PARAPHRASES, AND STATISTICAL INFORMATION. Both papers should have a list of references using the Turabian style manual. Use appropriate headings and subheadings in the paper, and include tables and charts as needed.

A. COUNTRY RESOURCE BIBLIOGRAPHY (200 points) due April 21 st

PART I. General Resources on Your Country

Prepare short introductory essay describing the quality and quantity of print and electronic resources available at UCLA on your country. Include discussion of the nature and amount of information on your country's history and culture in:

I.A. ORION 2 & MELVYL; Expanded Academic ASAP; PAIS.

I.B. Print and electronic reference works: Encyclopedias ( U. S. & foreign; also LIS); handbooks; yearbooks, government publications from the U. S. and from the country.

I.C.. If a newspaper from your country is available in a language that you can read, include this as one of the sites; also comment on coverage in LexisNexis Major Papers and World News

PART II. Resources on Librarianship, Archives, Information Science & Documentation.

II. A. Comment on the number and range of subject headings used in ORION on topics related to LIS and archives in your country (list headings, number of postings)

II.B. Comment on websites related to librarianship and the information infrastructure; include the national library site and that of other important libraries, and archival collections as well as any major professional associations for information professionals in that country.

II.C. Indicate how many postings on your country appear in Library Literature and LISA; next look at some aspect of the field that most interests you and compare how many citations you find in ERIC, Library Literature and LISA, noting the overlap among the three sources.

II.D. Reference works: How well do LIS Encyclopedias cover developments in your country.

PART III. Prepare an annotated bibliography of the 12 to 15 of the most useful items you found in doing the exercise above.

B. COUNTRY PROFILE (300 points) due April 28th

Prepare a fact sheet and a background essay focusing on those socioeconomic, cultural and political factors most relevant to the development of archives, libraries and other information agencies ( the essay should be 7-- 8 pages).

Instructions for Country Profile

For the country you have chosen prepare a background essay focusing on those cultural, socio-economic and political factors that are most relevant to the development of libraries, archives and other information agencies. As you do your research, think of what a librarian, archivist or information science consultant would try to find out if s/he had one month to learn as much as possible about the country's culture and customs.

In addition to looking at general background materials, you will want to gather information on educational and research institutions, as well as organizations, government agencies, professional and scholarly associations, communication networks and publishing/information industry firms that have a direct impact on the information flow within the country. You may also have found that UCLA owns some encyclopedias or general reference books from your country and you may be able to access relevant government information at YRL or through the web.

In addition to becoming familiar with the library literature of your country, you will be expected to make use of a few general books about the country, such as political, social, cultural or historical studies, travel guides, and works on education. Much of the information listed on the outline below will also be available in reference books.

As an OPTIONAL part of this assignment, you may want to interview a student, visiting scholar or faculty member from the country you have chosen. Ask your interviewees to discuss the structure of the educational system in their country, the access they and other citizens have to libraries, and how their experience doing research in the United States compares to that in their home country.

OUTLINE FOR COUNTRY PROFILE

I. GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE

A. Important natural features (include a map)

B. Human geography (population density,* urbanization, ethnicity/religion*)

II. HISTORY & POLITICS

A. Timeline of major eras, events *

B. Nature of present national government (form, degree of centralization) *

C. Levels of local & regional government; * key leaders

III. CULTURAL HERITAGE

A. Significant cultural periods/movements

B. Important symbols, customs, culture heros.

C. Nature & extent of external influence

D. National languages * , literary landmarks, oral traditions

E. Public support for the arts

IV. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS

A. Size of population * age characteristics. *

B. Ethnic & religious distribution; * social class issues.

C. Major occupational categories; GNP * and per capita income * .

D. Nature and focus of economic development (agriculture, industry, service)*-

V. THE KNOWLEDGE INFRASTRUCTURE

A. Educational infrastructure (public/private, non-formal), * compulsory schooling age *

B. Scholarly & scientific research; number of scientists;* bibliographic services.

C. Publishing, numbers of books per year, * the information industry & mass media

D. National Information infrastructure ( number of libraries (by type )* ,,

E. Internet access & use; how many people have access at work or at home *

F. National information policy & issues (copy right, literacy issues, library ,planning)

Prepare a fact sheet to hand out when you give your presentation. It should include a map, and basic information on the items with an asterisk ( *) .

C. Final Paper (400 points)

OPTION I: You should prepare a well documented research paper of 18 to 20 pages that discusses some aspect of librarianship, archival administration or information science in the country you have chosen. The country profile will provide background for your term paper. You may wish to focus on cross-cultural exchange, but comparative papers are not encouraged unless you have considerable prior knowledge of the countries you are studying.

OPTION II: Instead of a country study, you may do your research on the work of an international association in the field of librarianship, archival administration, information science or documentation. If you decide to focus on the work of an international association, you may present a shorter paper (12 to 15 pages).

In either case, good organization and clarity of presentation will be considered in the final grade.