Information Access
IT 100
Syllabus - Fall 2005

Last Modified 1/11/06

Please note - this syllabus is subject to change!

Downloadable version of the general syllabus that is in the guide

Welcome to the Information Access course. This one credit course is designed to prepare and/or assess 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 procedures 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/
The course materials must be accessed through Blackboard: http://blackboard.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! 

Required Text and Materials

• Juniata College Information Access Guide, 2005-2006 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, Zip disk, pen drive (memory stick) or some other storage media is recommended. You are required to keep electronic copies of all of your work in the course. 

The Modules

• There are nine required modules and four electives from which you must choose two electives to complete the requirements. Each module represents a topic in Information Access. (Topics are listed below.)
• Students work at their own pace to complete most of the modules.   There are deadlines for each modules, however. Students are expected to make progress on one or more modules during class time. 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 Information Access is accessed via Blackboard (http://blackboard.juniata.edu/). The pages outline the modules, their activities, and refer to corresponding sections in the IA guide. There are practice exercises on many of the web pages to help you become comfortable with the material.
• 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 deadlines for the required modules are given in Blackboard. Modules completed after their deadlines are given half credit. The final deadline for any credit is Friday, December 9, 2005 at 10 p.m. NO credit will be given for modules after this date.
• Any incomplete modules may result in failure of the course.

Top  •  Instructors  •  Required Materials  •  Modules  •  Library Modules  •  Content Overview  •  Attendance  •    Assignments   •  Honesty  •    Grading  •  Withdrawal

The general topics addressed in the required modules are:

1. PC Basics and Word
2. Excel Spreadsheets
3. PowerPoint presentations
4. FrontPage web page and site management
5. Netiquette and Eaglenet policies
6. Understanding Information Literacy and using the Beeghly Library

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

Library Module

• There are six modules that focus primarily on understanding Information Literacy and the use of library resources. All students must complete these modules before attending the library session during week six in the Library Instruction Lab (located in the basement of Beeghly Library). Five quizzes and one assignment will be required regardless of personal progress on the other modules.
• It is expected that all materials be reviewed and quizzes completed before coming to the library during week six. A librarian will present a short lecture followed by the required assignment that should be completed in the library.
• The outside assignment will be distributed during week six in the library.
• Be sure to follow the timeline for the course in order to be fully prepared when you come to the library.

Attendance

• Weekly attendance to your regularly scheduled class is required until you complete all the required and elective modules. You cannot skip a week even if you've had worked ahead of schedule. 
• Absences will affect your grade. The second and subsequent unexcused absences each result in a deduction of a full letter grade for the course.
• Progress on completing modules must be made each week. You must complete one or more modules at each class or it will be counted as an absence.
• You must attend the first six classes, regardless of how many modules you have completed during the summer.  These are the opening and library activities.
• 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. Unexcused absences will not be negotiated.
• Please note it may be difficult, if not impossible, to arrange make up sessions for the library modules.

Outside Assignments

• There is an additional assignment as part of Library modules. The details can be found in the module contents within Blackboard.  You typically have one week to complete the assignment.

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.
• Because of the electronic, digital nature of the assignments required in this course, it is easy to "share",  "borrow", and turn in work of others.  This will not be tolerated and will be considered a violation of academic honesty. Assignments, library research or competencies done by groups of students will not be accepted and may lead to charges of academic dishonesty.
• Be careful of the "use" of your work by others, even while being helpful.  Do not give your work to be "used as an example". If your work is submitted by others, you can be charged with academic dishonesty as well.
• 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. In all cases, the incidents are filed with the office of Academic Support Services.

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.
• Typically for a competency you must achieve an 80-90% completion for full credit.  Partial credit is given in the case of late submission.
• Calculation of the grade will be available within Blackboard. You are responsible for resolving any errors by reporting them to your assistant and/or ia@juniata.edu immediately
• The grade will be calculated according to these weights:

All course work must be completed by Friday, December 9, 2005 at 10 p.m. and any errors on status pages must be resolved by this time.

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. As this course is a graduation requirement, 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.