2003-2005 - Graduate School - The University of Alabama

Library and Information Studies Course Descriptions293LS 654 History of the Book: Print Culture and Society. Three hours.Examines the book as a cultural artifact and explores the impact of print culture on communicationand knowledge/information production in Europe and the United States. Topicsinclude orality and literacy, reading, authorship, copyright, markets and dis tri bu tion, andthe future of books in a digital age.LS 655 History of the Book: Book as Artifact. Three hours.Examines the book as a physical artifact, as the material embodiment of text. Topicsinclude the transitions between hand production and mechanical pro duc tion, methodsof bookmaking, printers and publishers, the alphabetic code, paratext, letterforms andtypography, paper, page formats and layouts, il lus tra tions, bindings, and other semioticsystems and bibliographic signifi ers, as well as the purpose of the book with specialemphasis on the relationships between meaning and physical form and the complexconventions of the book.LS 659 Special Topics in the History of the Book. Three hours.Studies in specialized topics.Information StudiesLS 560 Information Technologies. Three hours.A required course. Topics in information technology, ap pli ca tions of au to ma tion to libraryprocedures, planning for and implementing an automated library system, and the libraryof the future. Malinconico.LS 561 Fundamentals of the Information Sciences. Three hours.Includes selected topics centered on the study of information needs, uses, and access.Covers methods for identifying the information needs of diverse populations, how peopleseek and use information, and methods for evaluating the effectiveness of traditional andcom put er ized systems in helping people deal with their information-related problems.Explores the changing roles of traditional information sciences meth ods and tools (e.g.indexing, user studies, cognitive studies) in these matters. MacCall.LS 562 Computer-Based Information Systems. Three hours.Prerequisite: LS 500, LS 507.Emphasizes database design and searching at the advanced level, selective dis sem i-na tion of information, and the evaluation of information systems. Dalton.LS 563 Indexing and Abstracting. Three hours.Traditional and computerized ap proach es to indexing, abstracting, and thesaurus constructionand maintenance are examined. Deals with classifi cation systems, indexingand abstracting typologies, measures of relevance and system effectiveness, vocabularycontrol vs. free-text searching, and applications of cognitive-science research. Eval u a tionof abstracting and in dex ing services and organizations, as well as current and emergingstandards, is conducted.LS 564 Unix-Based Information Systems. Three hours.Design and operation of information systems in a Unix environment. Special emphasison distributed/networked databases.LS 565 Economics of Information. Three hours.Explores applications of economic principles to information and knowledge systems. Examinesinformation as an economic good; methods for valuing information; char ac ter is ticsand trends of the information economy; pricing of information products and services; andtechniques for performing and evaluating cost-benefi t analyses of in for ma tion systems.Relationships between information economics, federal and state in for ma tion policies,and social equity are explored.LS 567 Computerized Community Information Systems. Three hours.Introduction to computerized community information systems, covering needs as sess ment,policy, economics, and structure and operation of CIS’s. Includes an examination ofsocial equity aspects, exploration of available online services, and conceptual designof a system. Letter grade. MacCall.