Internet Research Classes - Summary

[Jonathon Lee]

A while ago, I asked for examples of classes on Internet research taught
by library faculty and emanating from the Library division. 

I received many gracious responses. I have compiled a list of 13, constituting those 
that generally meet the criteria I requested. I have divided the list into three 
parts: courses taught in the classroom, classes taught over the Internet (or via some 
form of distance learning), and classes that fall into both categories.

Thank you all again for contributing.


Jonathon Lee
Librarian
Los Angeles Harbor College
jonathon at earthlink.net


TAUGHT IN THE CLASSROOM


A 1-unit summer class at Loyola Marymount University.

Contact:  Tony Amodeo                      
aamodeo at lmumail.lmu.edu

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The Univ. of Texas at Austin's GSLIS program
teaches credit Internet courses.  They sometimes use 
Librarians or librarians working on their doctorate to 
teach it.

Contact: Mary Lynn Rice Lively 
512-471 3821.

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Here at the University at Albany I teach "Conducting Internet Research 
with Netscape," as well as "Internet from the VAX Prompt." Many of 
the handouts, plus more informational handouts relating to the former 
class, may be found at http://www.albany.edu/library/nethelp.html
The latter class covers such topics as FTP, listservs and Usenet,
and Telnetting to library catalogs.

One thing I make sure to do in the Internet Research class is teach
keyword searching and Boolean logic before we turn on the computers
in class. Then I can evaluate each research site that has a search
engine in relation to its search capabilities. I find this to be a
highly successful teaching strategy. I distribute Venn diagram examples
in class. Since one can only hit the highlights in a 90-minute class,
I think it's important to teach computer database search techniques
so that the students can generalize on their knowledge to sites
not covered in class.

Site evaluation is also covered throughout the class.  

Contact: Laura B. Cohen
Network Services Librarian
University Libraries UL-140
University at Albany
Albany, New York  12222          
LCOHEN at CNSVAX.ALBANY.EDU


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School of Information and Library Science at University 
of South Florida has been teaching an undergrad course in 
"Internet Resources" for quite some time. I've been
teaching a grad version for the School for the past 
couple of semesters.  We have a homepage up at
http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/lis5937/fall96.html

Look for links at bottom of page to Bruce Klopfenstein's 
Internet Syllabi Clearinghous.

Contact: Ilene Frank, Reference Dept.
Tampa Campus Library, LIB 122
University of South Florida, Tampa FL 33620
ifrank at lib.usf.edu

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We developed just such a class at Christopher Newport University, a small 
state-supported school in Virginia -- approx 5,000 students.

Contact: Cathy Doyle at cathyd at cnu.edu
 
______________________________________________________


John F. Kennedy University is offering a new course this fall called 
Library Research in the Electronic Age.  It is still offered through the 
Liberal Arts Department, but it is being taught by an adjunct faculty 
member who is a librarian at another college.  This class is going to be 
3 units.  I haven't seen a course outline yet, but the description is:  
Students will learn to access and use a variety of reference tools 
including remote access tools such as Internet.  Tied to currently 
assigned papers, exercises will enable students to collect, evaluate and 
prioritize information; to develop depth and breadth in fields of study; 
and to enhance the writing of the many essays and research papers required 
of Liberal Arts students.

All undergraduate students are required to take a library skills test.  If
they don't pass, they're required to take this class.  

Contact: Tina Sixt
Public Services and Instruction Librarian
Fisher Library 
tsixt at jfku.edu

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University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point -- don't let the "CIS" handle get 
in the way---this class is being designed and taught entirely by 
real working librarians.
http://www.uwsp.edu/acaddept/library/depts/instruct/cis102/cis102hp.htm

Contact: Arne J. Arneson
Library Director
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
900 Reserve Street
Stevens Point, WI 54481
aarneson at uwsp.edu


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If you're interested, you may wish to look at information on the course 
I've taught for two semesters, Library Science 199: Exploring Internet 
Resources. We have a minor program in Library Science (for school 
library media certification), and through the auspices of that program 
I've been able to offer the class as a special topic.

Information on the class is located at:

http://wvnvm.wvnet.edu/~u536a/ls199.html

Contact: John J. Burke, MSLS
Librarian | Internet Trainer | Instructor | Author | Owner, FSCNET-L 
Fairmont State College, Fairmont, WV  26554-2489
E-mail:u536a at wvnvm.wvnet.edu | Fax:(304) 367-4589
Homepage:http://wvnvm.wvnet.edu/~u536a | Library page:http://129.71.46.56

_________________________________________________________________________


We do 10 sessions an academic quarter on the use of basic and advanced
search engines, subject catalogs/guides and other Internet finding tools. 
These sessions are based on the following document: "General 
Internet Finding Tools..."
At: http://lib-www.ucr.edu/pubs/navigato.html . This document will be 
updated in the next few weeks. As we discuss the finding tools included 
we cover their "best" uses/how they are used/when they are used.

Contact: Steve Mitchell
Sciences Reference Librarian
INFOMINE Co-coordinator
UC Riverside

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Berry College (Mt. Berry, GA) offers 2 credit hour course entitled
"Computer and Information Literacy" for freshmen.  I team teach this
with another faculty member--he covers the computer literacy part,
while I do the information literacy portion, which covers
accessing information in a global, networked environment, i.e.,
successfully locating, accessing, analyzing, evaluating, and citing
information resources available on the Internet.  

Contact: Martha Reynolds
Head of Public & Instructional Services
Memorial Library
Berry College
Mt. Berry, GA 30149
mareynolds at berry.edu
reynolds at netcom.com

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TAUGHT OVER THE INTERNET


Last year the Utah Academic Library Consortium applied for
a grant to prototype a one credit class about the Internet and
delivered through the Internet.  One librarian from each of the
colleges in Utah was appointed to a committee to write the
class and then deliver it on their campus.  The finished
project was first taught in January '96.  It is completely
taught through the Internet, but ours is the only college that
meets in person and we only meet as a class once.
The entire class is found at http://www-navigator.utah.edu
The method of instruction and the collaborative effort was
heavily evaluated.  Here is the report:
http://www-medlib.med.utah.edu/navigator/intro/report.html

Contact: Janet Hovorka
hovorkja at slcc.edu

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TAUGHT IN THE CLASSROOM AND THROUGH DISTANCE LEARNING


I have developed a 3-credit intro to research on the Internet course
The course has been designed for both classroom and distance learners.
Video and online instruction was used to teach the distance learners. 
In addition, our local pbs station broadcasted the course to all local 
viewers. The course emphasizes information-seeking strategies and 
the information problem solving process.
The students learn how to access and critically evaluate resources
ranging from online catalogs and indexes, fulltext books and periodicals,
gopher, veronica, www virtual libraries, online reference resources.
The course was well received.  I had 45 students enrolled in the distance
learning course.

Contact: Joni Flowers
jflowers at nevada.edu
Community College of Southern Nevada

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We are teaching a 1 credit Information Literacy class that includes
evaluation of print, online, and Internet resources. 


Contact: Patricia Carroll-Mathes
Reference Librarian               
Macdonald DeWitt Library           
Ulster County Community College
Stone Ridge, New York 12484
CARROLP at SUNYULSTER.EDU