Seminar in Library Management - Information Vendor Landscape
INFO 282

Co-Taught by:

Scott Brown
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Christy Confetti Higgins
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Office location: Virtual, contact via email or IM anytime 
Office Hours: By appointment 

This course runs from February 2 - April 6.

This course examines digital content providers and vendors: types of vendors, access and pricing models, use cases, implementation, communications, and negotiation. We will look at the spectrum of information available and how to evaluate and negotiate subscriptions and contracts.

Expectations

Students are expected to participate fully in all class activities. It is expected that students will be open-minded and participate fully in discussions in class and debate in a mature and respectful manner. Use of derogatory, condescending, or offensive language including profanity is prohibited. Disagreement is healthy and perfectly acceptable. Expressing disagreement should always include an explanation of your reasoning and, whenever possible, evidence to support your position. In accordance with San José State University's Policies, the Student Code of Conduct, and applicable state and federal laws, discrimination based on gender, gender identity, gender expression, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or disability is prohibited in any form.

Course Workload

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group; contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes) Supported

INFO 282 supports the following core competencies:

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Outline and plan the purchase, acquisition, deployment, and integration of digital content solutions into the organization, including identifying user needs, comparing solutions, developing a launch plan, creating a communications strategy, and evaluating impact.
2. Understand key negotiation factors in working with digital content providers and vendors, including the main points to consider when negotiating a contract (access models, pricing models, etc.).
3. Differentiate the various types of information vendors and content providers, subscription models, and the various types of content available, in the current market: eBooks, journals, databases, online courses, news, reports, competitive intelligence, market research, technical, and business information.

Textbooks

No Textbooks For This Course.

Each student is required to complete the following:

• Vendor Intelligence Project (45 points): Students will evaluate a real digital content provider using a variety of different tools, including (but not limited to) vendor websites, articles, white papers, comparisons, and social networking sites. The goal is for the student to gather as much information about a vendor and its products to evaluate whether that vendor is suitable for their identified audience. Students will create a digital content plan for their audience using this vendor and will include an audience analysis, details about the vendor and how it meets the need, the licensing needs, deployment plan, and communications strategy.
  • a. Helps to fulfill course learning outcomes (CLOs) #1 and #3
  • b. Helps to satisfy Core Competency F
• Audience Analysis (15 points): Students will learn about how to learn about an audience in order to determine requirements for a digital content service and to ensure you are delivering a service that meets user needs.
  • a. Helps to fulfill course learning outcomes (CLOs) #1 and #2
  • b. Helps to satisfy Core Competencies F and I
• Communications strategy (15 points): Students will think through a communications strategy for launching their digital content to their audience. Create the strategy and write one communications headline for the launch.
• Discussions (4 discussions x 5 points = 20 plus 5 for participation = 25): Students will respond to a discussion question and comment on other students' posts.

Grading

• There are possible 100 points

  • Assignment: Audience Analysis – 15 possible points
  • Assignment: Communications Strategy – 15 possible points
  • Final Project: Vendor Intelligence Project – 45 possible points
  • Discussions: 4 discussions – 5 possible points for 3 of them; 10 points for the target audience discussion = 25 points

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work or undergraduate (for BS-ISDA);
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA, Informatics, BS-ISDA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation. You must repeat the class if you wish to stay in the program. If - on the second attempt - you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Graduate Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). Undergraduates must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

Per University Policy S16-9 (PDF), relevant university policy concerning all courses, such as student responsibilities, academic integrity, accommodations, dropping and adding, consent for recording of class, etc. and available student services (e.g. learning assistance, counseling, and other resources) are listed on the Syllabus Information web page. Make sure to visit this page to review and be aware of these university policies and resources.

Outline of course content
Course content is aimed toward a practical understanding of information vendors and working with vendors effectively. We will look for opportunities to have information professionals and vendors speak during the course. A schedule with dates for submission of the required assignments will also be posted in Canvas. The schedule is subject to change with fair notice to students.

Additional readings will be identified specific to digital content trends, models, and case studies on digital library environments. Experts in the space of digital libraries and digital content will be identified and shared with the students so they can follow those experts and keep current in this area.