Interdisciplinary 1 -- Introduction to Library Research
Syllabus -- Summer 2008


Day & Time:  Mondays and Wednesdays 2-2:50pm               Location: Library Room 1575
Instructor:   Chimene Tucker
Office:   Davidson Library, Information Services 2nd floor, Room 2523F
Office hours:   Tuesdays 11am and by appointment
E-mail:   ctucker@library.ucsb.edu
Phone:   (805) 893-8051

General Information:

INT 1 is a one unit, Pass/No Pass course designed to introduce students to the resources and services of the UCSB Library. Assignments are designed to help students feel confident with the concepts that are discussed in class. The purpose of the class is to help students:

Evaluation of resources is an important component of this course. While completing the course assignments, you will be evaluating the resources you are learning to use and the results of your searches, and you will be able to apply these skills to your own research needs

Outcomes: After completing this course students will be able to:

A note about computing facilities:

Nearly all assignments require the use of a computer, and many ask students to print one or more pages off the Internet. There are open-use computers available on the first floor of the Davidson Library. Printing is available from these computers for 10 cents a page (and the one time $1 cost of a print card). INT 1 students have access to the Instructional Computing (IC) labs in Phelps Hall. http://www.ic.ucsb.edu/students/labs/

Student Responsibilities:

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this class. The work you submit in this class must be your original work. See the UCSB Campus Regulations concerning student conduct: http://www.sa.ucsb.edu/Regulations/index.aspx?page=conduct

Course requirements include:

  1. Weekly attendance and class participation
  2. Satisfactory completion of all assignments
  3. Passing the midterm and completing the final bibliography project



Class Schedule


Date Topic Handouts H/W Due
Class 1
Aug 4		 Course Introduction
Flow of Information Beginning Research
Tour of library service area		 Syllabus
Assignment 1
Getting to know you/Pretest
The UCSB Libraries 		--
Class 2
Aug 6		 Reference Sources
Research concepts & Developing a topic pt.1
Keywords		 Assignment 2
Topic Selection & keywords (in-class)
Tutorial module 2 		Assignment 1
Assignment 2
Class3
Aug 11		 Pegasus - Search concepts developing topic pt.2 (Keyword to Subject and Boolean)
  • Pegasus the UCSB Libraries' catalog
  • Melvyl the UC wide catalog
  • Library Call Numbers & locations
  • Writing Citations Format
Assignment 3
Citation Formats
Tutorial module 3		 Tutorial 2
Class 4
Aug 13		 Searching for articles Assignment 4
Library locations
Tutorial module 4
 Popular vs. Scholarly
UT San Antonio chart		 Assignment 3
Tutorial 3
Class 5
Aug 18		 Review
Interpreting citations
Resource comparisons 		Assignment 5 (in class)
Tutorial module 6
 Tutorial 4
Assignment 4
Assignment 5 (in class)
Class 6
Aug 20		 Locating library materials Midterm Midterm In class & take home
 Midterm In class
Tutoiral 6
Class 7
Aug 25		 Research the disciplines
Subject specific Article Indexes and Databases
 Assignment 6
Instructions for Bibliography Project
Approaching a New Database
General vs. Subject-Specific Databases
Primary vs. Secondary
Take home Midterm
Class 8
Aug 27		 Determining credibility Evaluating resources
Pulling together the research process		 Assignment 7
 Assignment 6
Class 9
Sept 1		 Holiday- Labor Day No Class

Class 10
Sept 3		 Newspapers sources & Advance Google Scholar
Course evaluation
Post Assessments 		Assignment 8
 Assignment 7
Assignment 8
Class11
Sept 8		 Independent Research Day    
Class12
Sept 8		 Final bibliography project due by Friday
September 12 no later than 5pm 		  Bibliography


Author: Chimene Tucker. Last modified: July 23, 2008