PREREQUISITES:
MAS students: Completion of the MAS Core courses, plus permission of the instructor.
MLIS and Dual students: Some electives can be taken in conjunction with the MLIS Core courses; consult with the MLIS Program Chair for recommendations.
GOAL: The goal of this course is for students to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for a librarian in a scientific setting.
OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of this course students will be able to:
- Describe the scientific method.
- Differentiate between scientific communities (e.g. physical sciences, natural sciences, engineering and technology) with respect to information needs, user behaviours and communication practices.
- Differentiate between types of science libraries, and the services and issues relevant to each.
- Characterize the scientific literature and utilize tools for collection analysis.
- Select and search the most appropriate resources to respond to reference questions.
- Identify and provide a critical analysis of the key issues facing science libraries today.
CONTENT:
- A brief history of science, science libraries and librarianship.
- A practical overview of the major resources in the physical sciences, natural sciences, engineering and technology, including standards and patents
- A practical approach for reference questions in these subjects areas.
- Services and issues specific to different libraries (e.g. government libraries, public libraries, academic libraries, private consultants).
- Current trends in science and technology librarianship namely open access, scholarly communication, copyright, eScience and data management.
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