Expectations

High grades begin and end with high motivation and your personal goals that overlap the course’s learning objectives. Read assigned readings, add notes to the many handouts I distribute in class, keep up with your weekly homework assignments including working on them with classmates, and collaborate with your working group members on your two group projects (Indexing Report and Dublin Core Report). You have 33.6 in-class hours total devoted to the organization of information, and one of those hours is now gone. Please use your time wisely during class so that you can hit the ground running on the first day of your new professional job, whether you build the library catalog with your original cataloging or interpret the library catalog and comparable online databases to users.
In this class, oral participation is expected. In fact, the first 30 to 40 minutes of class will be dedicated to answers to tasks, assignments, and your questions. Take notes during this initial debriefing because your metadata assignment experiences and those of your classmates reveal interesting nuances about metadata that cannot be captured in the instructor's lectures. Be prepared to be called on to discuss tasks and assignments, answer questions, express your opinions on substantive issues, and question your peers and/or the professor.
1. Responding with wrong answer or describing your less-than-standard approach to metadata creation is not a reflection on you personally as a bad, unworthy, or ill-prepared, or unprepared student. So many times the discussion of a wrong answer or less-than-standard approach leads to a valuable discussion of some cataloging or metadata creation detail. Get involved in classroom discussions. Talk about the catalog entries you formulate. Ask questions and study the answers. We learn more from both our less-than-successful attempts than our greatest glories.
2. The professor reserves the right to change readings, dates, and scheduling at any time during the semester. If substantial changes are made, a new course outline and/or reading list reflecting changes will be placed online and announced in class. If in doubt, check this Syllabus and the Canvas SI 666 site for the information you need or contact the professor via email with your questions and concerns.
3. This semester is the professor's first using Canvas. While Canvas is similar to CTools in some ways, Canvas is different and more fully featured than CTools. Expect some rough patches in the road ahead as all of us convert to Canvas for instructional endeavors, and please be patient and understanding should problems occur.
4. Obviously accidents, emergencies, lengthy and lingering illnesses, and tragedies occur during a long semester. In the event of expected and unexpected happenings, please inform me by phone or phone message; then come see me during office hours or by appointment and explain your special situation or needs. Suggest solutions to your situation or special needs at that time. We can then work on solutions together. Please do not wait until the last minute!