Information Access
IT 100
Syllabus - Summer & Fall 2001

Last Modified 08/24/01

Please note - this syllabus is subject to change!

Downloadable version of the general syllabus that is in the guide

Welcome to Information Access! This one credit course is designed to prepare your information technology skills for your academic career at Juniata. It will acquaint you with the campus network and computer applications you will need to use for courses at Juniata. In addition, you will learn about research methods (and formal citation) using the L.A. Beeghly Library's resources. You will also complete three outside assignments that will allow you to practice your writing skills and demonstrate library and computer skills you learn in this course.

The IA Web Site: http://ia.juniata.edu

Email Contact: ia@juniata.edu 
    Use this address to submit work over the summer and if you have any questions about the course.

Instructor Information

Feel free to contact your IA assistant or the IA supervisor with questions! You can also send questions to ia@juniata.edu. 

Required Text and Materials

• Juniata College Information Access Guide, 2001-2002 printing. It was written for this course and all of the modules refer to it. You must bring it to class every week. 
• A floppy disk or some other storage media. You are required to keep electronic copies of all of your work in the course. A 3.5" 1.44 MB floppy disk is highly recommended to transfer your work done at home during the summer to the campus this fall. Once here, how you choose to do so is up to you, but you must be able to access your work at any point in the semester.

The Modules

• There are 11 required modules and four electives from which you must choose two to complete the requirements.
• Each module represents a topic or part of a topic in Information Access. (Topics are listed below.)
• Students will work at their own pace to complete most of the modules. Students are not permitted to be passive! The IA assistant is available for one-on-one help during the class time. Do not hesitate to ask your assistant questions.
• Student material for the modules is found on the web at the URL http://ia.juniata.edu. The pages outline the module and refer to sections in the IA guide. 
• You should work the practice exercises on the web page until you feel comfortable with the material.
• After you work through the module on your own, you must demonstrate competency in the module to receive credit. For some modules, the competency requirement will be an online exam. For other modules, the competency requirement will be a lab activity in which you create a document using the application studied during the module. Your IA assistant will grant you access to the exams and distribute and credit competencies.
• You must complete at least one competency per week during the first nine weeks of the course. The schedule for the elective modules is slightly more flexible.
• Because of the varying levels of computing and information access skills that students may possess when entering Juniata, a student may demonstrate more than one competency at any IA session. 
• Students must attend an IA session during summer orientation and complete a lab activity during that session.  Students who miss this session must contact ia@juniata.edu to make arrangements to make it up. 
• The deadline for the required modules is Thursday, November 1, 2001 at 9 p.m. You must complete the 11 required modules by this date. NO credit will be given for any of these modules after this date.
• The deadline for the elective modules is Wednesday, December 5, 2001 at 9 p.m. NO credit will be given for elective modules after this date.

Library Modules

• There are two modules that focus primarily on the use of library resources. All students will complete these modules and their corresponding online exams during the same week regardless of personal progress. The Basic Library Skills module will occur during week 2 and the Intermediate Library Skills module will occur during week 3 (unless Mountain Day forces rescheduling).
• You will report to P107 at your regular time for these modules. Basic Library Skills will include a brief lecture from your assistant and will conclude with a tour of the library. A librarian will present a lecture for Intermediate Library Skills.
• The first two outside assignments will be distributed during these sessions.

Content Overview

All students MUST complete these requirements to pass the course. Failure to complete all of the 11 required modules and two of the elective modules results in automatic failure of the course. (More details in the Grading section.)
 

All students are also required to complete an exit survey to complete the course. 

* You will complete the module during this week if you are right-on-schedule. If you fall behind, talk to your assistant for help.

Evening IA Lab Hours

• We will be offering evening hours for students to catch up or get ahead on modules.
• Evening hours will take place in P107 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday. An IA staff member will be on hand to provide additional one-on-one help and credit competencies.
• The first evening session will take place Tuesday, August 28.
• There will be no evening sessions on Mountain Day, during Fall Break (October 15 and October 16), and the day before and during Thanksgiving Break (November 20 - November 25). The last evening session will take place December 5.
• IA evening hours are NOT classes. They are for you to use voluntarily. That means you cannot skip class and go to the evening sessions as a substitution. Classes missed will be regarded as unexcused absences.
• There will be lectures presented at some evening sessions. Lectures topics will be based on normal student progress through the course, and may vary from night to night. Lectures will be Mondays and Tuesdays from 7-8 p.m. in P107. There will be another assistant in the room during all lectures for students who want to attend evening hours but get help that's not related to the lectures. Contact Doug Hogan or Dave Spokus for more details. 

Attendance (All classes are in P107)

• You must attend class each week until you complete ALL the required and elective modules. You cannot take a week off even if you're a module ahead of schedule. 
• All students must attend the first three classes, regardless of how many modules they have completed during the summer or during evening sessions.
• Attendance is required for this course, and absences will affect your grade. The second unexcused absence results in a deduction of a full letter grade, and the third unexcused absence results in automatic failure of the course. 
• If you know you will be missing class for a legitimate reason, please contact your assistant prior to the class you will miss (either by email, phone, or in person). Attendance is taken at the beginning of each class, and you will be marked for an unexcused absence if you are not present when attendance is taken and you have not previously contacted your assistant with a legitimate reason.
• You must make up all excused absences within two weeks or they will become unexcused absences. You can make up excused absences by attending another session taught by your assistant (ask for details) or by attending an evening session. If you attend evening sessions, you must tell your assistant to avoid getting marked for an unexcused absence.
• AGAIN, YOU MUST TELL YOUR ASSISTANT BEFORE CLASS IF YOU WILL BE ABSENT FOR A GOOD REASON. It will otherwise be unexcused under all circumstances. Unexcused absences will not be negotiated.

Outside Assignments

• Three outside assignments will be assigned in addition to the competency requirements.
• Assignment 1 is due before you come to class the next week. You must submit assignments 2 and 3 to your assistant via email by 10 p.m. of the day they are due. If you receive Assignment 3 on February 21, it is due by 10 p.m. February 28. Late assignments will be penalized as noted in the Grading section.
• You will be allowed to rewrite the assignments and your score will be determined by both the first and second drafts.
• Please name your files as follows: "<<your student ID number>> IA#<assignment number>"
  • For example, if your ID is "123456" and you are doing Assignment 1, your filename would be: "123456 IA#1"
  • For the revised (or second) draft, name your file "123456 IA#1 R" 
  • This system will aid in filing procedures.
• Be sure to read and follow all directions on the assignment sheets carefully.
• When you turn in the revision of an assignment, you must staple a hardcopy on top of the original submission with the original grading sheet. 
• If you earn a 90 or better on the first draft of your assignments, you do not need to submit a rewrite. You do have the option of submitting a rewrite to get a higher grade (See "Evaluation" on the next page.) If you earn less than a 90 and do not submit a rewrite, your rewrite score will be a zero (0).
• All assignments and/or revisions must be submitted by the deadlines in the table below. No late revisions will be accepted. No work will be accepted after these dates.
• Mechanics and grammar guidelines for the assignments are presented at http://ia.juniata.edu/writing.htm.  
• The three projects are as follows: (Deadlines will NOT be adjusted.)

Policy on Collaboration and Plagiarism

• While working with others is a valuable learning experience and is encouraged in many contexts, the Information Access course is designed to develop individual computer and library skills. Thus, all IA work is to be done by the individual.
• Assignments, library research or competencies done by groups of students will not be accepted and may lead to charges of academic dishonesty.
• You may not reuse an assignment from another course as an IA assignment.
• Cite all sources you use, including handouts from EO and other courses. Failure to cite resources will be regarded as plagiarism.
• All instances of cheating will be handled by the IA Supervisor and will result in a score of "0" for the assignment for the first violation. Subsequent instances will result in failure of the course and other action taken by the college as outlined in Juniata's Academic Dishonesty Policy.

Grading

• Your grade will be determined by the quality of your assignments, the degree to which you demonstrate competency in the modules, adherence to deadlines, and class attendance.
• Calculation of the grade will be automated and displayed on the IA status page. You are responsible for resolving any errors displayed on this page by reporting them to your assistant and/or ia@juniata.edu. 
• The grade will be calculated according to these weights:

All course work must be completed by 5 p.m. Friday, December 7, 2001 and any errors on status pages must be resolved by this time. Whatever is on your status page at 5 p.m. on December 7 is final and will not be changed for any reason. 

Course Withdrawal Policy

As the course is required of all new Juniata students during the first semester, students are not permitted to withdraw from the course at any time without permission from the IA Supervisor, their advisors, and the Office of Academic Support. Such permission is granted only in rare cases (e.g. medical leave of absence), and in these cases, the student must register for the course in the next semester. Students who fail the course must repeat it in their next semester.