INLS 501: Information Resources and Services
From Pomerantz
Contents |
Course description
This course will address sources, services, and systems for providing reference and information service in libraries and information centers. We will examine, create, and evaluate reference sources in a variety of formats. You will gain experience with using, providing, and evaluating reference services in a variety of media.
The course is divided roughly into the following areas: overview of the reference function and the role of libraries; the history and future of reference service; major categories of information tools; structure, access, and evaluation of information tools; reference collection development; question negotiation; search strategy; and evaluation of reference services. The lab segment of the course will be devoted to developing online searching skills.
INLS 501 is an introduction to reference sources and services, broadly construed. If you are interested in reference work in specific environments, SILS offers a variety of courses: INLS 703, 704, & 705, among others.
Course objectives
By the end of the course, students will:
- Be able to identify appropriate information sources and search tools for various types of information needs, and
- Use these sources and tools effectively,
- Evaluate information sources and search tools for quality,
- Evaluate information sources and search tools for relevance to their own information needs,
- Understand the steps of the reference transaction, including question negotiation and search strategy development,
- Be able to create documents for indirect reference.
Textbook & reading
There is one required text for this course:
Bopp, Richard E. and Linda C. Smith. (2001). Reference and Information Services: An Introduction, 3rd ed. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
Available in the bookstore and on reserve in the SILS library.
Additional reading
Reference is a central function of libraries, and as a result a lot gets written about it. Bopp & Smith is the textbook that we use in this course, but another good text is the two-volume work by Katz:
Katz, William A. (2002). Introduction to Reference Work, Volume I: Basic Information Sources. 8th Ed. New York: McGraw‑Hill.
Katz, William A. (2002). Introduction to Reference Work, Volume II: Reference Services and Reference Processes. 8th Ed. New York: McGraw‑Hill.
And there are several journals dedicated to reference, including:
- Reference & User Services Quarterly (RUSA's journal, formerly titled RQ (Reference Quarterly))
- Reference Services Review
- The Reference Librarian
Assignments
Internet Public Library
Social Q&A
Question Answering and Source Evaluation
Digital Annotation
Instruction Observation
Future of Information Services Case Study
Grading rubric & other policies
See my course grading rubric.
Note: The Lab section of 501 is Pass/Fail.
See my course policies.

