9.30 - 12.10
Saturday {PC Only}
CCI 251
These are my official office hours, but I will be pleased to see you at other times. Often, I work at home on Thursdays. If I am not in my office, please leave a note in my mail box in 451 or send an email and I will get back to you.
Email is the best way for students who are not often on campus to have questions answered. I normally check my email two times each work day and once a day on most weekends and holidays. Usually, I can respond to your queries within a few hours.
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a
documented disability or if you have emergency information to share,
please contact the Office of Disability Services:
2227 Dunford Hall
Knoxville, TN 37996-4020
Phone: 865-974-6087 (v/tty)
Fax: 865-974-9552
E-mail:
The purpose of this course is to introduce adult services,
especially in public libraries, including advisory services,
that help users to have better reading, viewing, and listening
experiences. We will also look at marketing, merchandising, and partnerships as an integral part of creating and implementing adult services. Since IS 558 focuses on library services for different
audiences, this course examines various adult audiences only in a
general way. Programs and events and digital
services
will receive some attention.
Advisory methods and techniques will be applied using examples from
popular non-fiction and fiction. While the course introduces the basic
principles of advisory work, subjects or genre,
because of the immense body of literature available, will be covered in
a brief, introductory manner. The fiction genres included are
adventure, western, mystery/crime, science fiction, heroic
fantasy, romance, historical fiction, Christian fiction, and horror.
Non-fiction subjects include how-to-do-it, self-improvement, and
consumer health.
We may NOT be able to do everything listed below. In this particular term, Saturday holidays will reduce the number of course hours availble.The semester will provide about 40 hours of classroom time in a highly concentrated manner. The limited time frame means that both class and personal time management are important. Since we will be in the class for nearly three hours, good humor and patience will be especially important. Dress for comfort.
| Date | Topic | Assignment |
| 12 January | Introduction to the course Introduction to adult services |
Read Casey chapters 1 -4 |
| 19 January |
What is an adult? Adult roles and tasks? |
Read Block chapter 7 |
| 26 January |
Audience: segments and segmentation Adults vary notably in their tasks, skills, experiences, and interests Some audiences are far more likely to use the library than others |
|
| 2 February |
What services? Various service opportunities are described and briefly discussed |
Read Casey chapter 5 and Block chapters, 2 and 8. |
| 9 February |
Audio-visual services
Services involving different
formats may require different skills and approaches Traditional and non-traditional
formats |
Read Casey chapter 6 |
| 16 February |
Reading, viewing, & listening experiences Importance of the experience rather than the content or the name of the experience Relationship between experience and format and category |
|
| 23 Februry | Advisory services: non-fiction Popular non-fiction categories |
|
| 1 March | Advisory services: fiction
Regardless of literary
reception and quality, fiction [including genre fiction] remains a
cornerstone of adult services |
|
| 8 March | Partners & partnerships
Successful adult services require
partners The community-based library should
partner with a variety of organizations to maximize service impact. Partnership requires political
skills. |
Read Casey chapter 7 and Block chapter 3. |
| 29 March |
Programs and events Programs bring adults to the library, enhance visibility, and provide an opportunity to showcase collections and services |
|
| 5 April | Merchandising Applying the retail model to the public library Appropriate use of space and the environment to encourage more and longer visits |
Read Casey chapter 8. |
| 12 April | Marketing adult services: introduction
Reaching out to the community |
Read Block chapters 4 - 5. |
| 19 April |
Marketing adult services: details and particulars |
|
| Uncertain |
The Future of adult
services, including digital alternatives |
Read Block chapter 6 |
Ordinarily, this is a discussion-oriented course where all will participate in teaching and learning. Each student is expected to make a substantial contribution. The Centra version is likely to be more lecture oriented.
Course lecture notes, on the teacher's website, should provide you with basic content. The readings from two popular current books aimed at public librarians [Marylaine Block's The Thriving Library and Library 2.0 by Michael Casey and Laura Savastinuk complement and provide different perspectives. These will be our textbooks.
Those primarily interested in reader's advisory work should purchase and read Reader's Advisory Service in the Public Library [most recent ed.] and Genreflecting [most recent ed.]. An alternate text for the genres would be Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction by Saricks (ALA, 2001). Although I have not yet incorporated it into the course materials, The Readers' Advisor's Companion by Shearer and Burgin is useful, especially parts Parts II and III.
If possible, become familiar with the NoveList Reader's Advisory Database which may be available at your friendly neighborhood public library. A similar database, What Do I Read Next, is available in the Tennessee Electronic Library [TEL] via Hodges Library databases or many Tennessee public libraries.
Class attendance is not required. The PowerPoint slides will be available on BB and the class sessions may be replayed via Centra. However, the teacher appreciates those who attend class and participate.
The teacher will send a note via the BB email course list if he is unable to meet with the class. If this happens, a reasonable effort will be made to schedule a make-up meeting at a reasonably convenient time. Attendance at such a meeting is voluntary.
When you successfully complete this course, depending upon the assignments that you select, you should be able to:
Please consult the separate assignment instructions for detailed information about the course assignments. All assignments are due on Sunday midnight.
Formal written work must be in .rtf or doc. formats. Your name should be on the first page. If you are anxious about the digital Dropbox, you may send written work to the teach as an attached file. Be CERTAIN that the course number is on the subject line.
It is assumed that you will be prepared and ready to participate when a particular topic or assignment is to be discussed in class. I may call on students rather than asking for volunteers.
In addition to assignment specifics, all written work will be evaluated using these criteria:
In addition to assignment specifics, book talks are evaluated using these criteria as appropriate:
The following convention is used in evaluating student work:
Clearly superior with high quality and additional effort visible = A
More than competent plus additional effort visible = B+
Competent, professional response = B
Unsatisfactory graduate response = C+
Decidedly unsatisfactory graduate response = C
A competent, professional response earns a grade of B. In order to
earn a grade higher than B, additional effort and high quality must be
visible. Normally that extra effort would be seen in helpful evaluative
comments, thoughtful use of relevant sources and comparison between similar sources.
This is an introductory survey course which is intended to present basic information about adult services work. The course is not comprehensive. Rather, you should leave the course with the feeling that your foot is in the door, and that you know enough to continue your education on your own. Obviously, one short course cannot give you the background or competencies necessary for a professional lifetime spent working with books.
**Please see the teacher if you have special needs, objectives or problems.
