LIS 670 – Legal Issues for Information Professionals
Course Syllabus - Winter 2003
Professor: Dr. Samuel E. Trosow
e-mail:
Office: 275D
27
Winter 2003 Office Hours:
Middlesex: Wednesday 1-3
Law: Thursday 1-3 (commencing in February)
and by appointment
Course Description:
An exploration of the various areas of the law which impact on the work of the information professional. Consideration of the expertise which the information professional can contribute to the development of the law in each area and an analysis of appropriate avenues for law reform. Discussion of the impact of technological innovation in computers and communications technology in each area. Analysis of the concept of information lying behind the legal constructs affecting information flow in Canadian society.
Course Objectives:
1. To introduce students to various areas of policy-making in the legal context affecting the information field;
2. To provide students with the opportunity for sufficient grounding in the relevant areas of the law to permit the students to be confident to effectively express opinions, in the relevant forums, reflecting the information professional's expertise;
3. To allow students to gain familiarity with the legal context of various work environments for information professionals in order to allow the students to become efficient and effective in any of those contexts.
Students who complete this course will be able to:
1.demonstrate an awareness of professional values and standards (from Goal 2, Obj. 1a);
2.respond to change in a spirit of intellectual inquiry (from Goal 2, Obj. 1b);
3. analyse major problems of the discipline and profession in a spirit of creativity and critical inquiry; (from Goal 2, Obj. 1e).
4. demonstrate a critical awareness of contemporary management principles (from Goal 2, Obj. 1f);.
5. communicate and work cooperatively and effectively with others, including users, colleagues, employers and members of the community (from Goal 2, Obj. 1j);
Assignments and Grading:
Short Position Papers: 30%
#1 Due in class February 12th (15%)
#2 Due in class March 19th (15%)
For each assignment, you will be given a scenario and asked to write a position paper of approximately five pages. You will have two weeks for each assignment. The format will be discussed in class.
Midterm: 25%
In Class February 19th, open book.
Annotated Literature Review Assignment: 30%
Identification of Topic: February
12th
Draft Problem Statement/ Introduction: March 5th
Class Presentation: April 9th
Final Literature Review: Due in Class: April 16th
(further detail below)
Class Participation: 15%
Class will be conducted as a forum for discussion. A class e-mail list will be available so this discussion can continue throughout the week. Students are expected to have read the assigned material and come to class prepared to discuss/critique/synthesize these readings. In addition to the required readings, students are encouraged to bring additional literature to the attention of the class and to forward items of interest via the class e-mail list.
Tentative Course Outline:
Week 1: January 8
Week 2: January 15
Overview of the Canadian Legal System
Introduction to Legal Citation and Research
Week 3: January 22
Legal Identities
Public Library Acts
Enforceability of Agreements
Week 4: January 29
Liability Issues
Exclusion policies
Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Intro
Position
paper #1 assigned
Week 5: February 5
Intellectual Freedom Issues I
Week 6: February 12
Intellectual Freedom Issues II
Position
paper #1 due
Identify Literature review topic
Week 7: February 19: Midterm
(no class February 26th)
Week 8: March 5
Access
to Government Information
Draft
Literature Review Problem Statement Due
Week 9: March 12
Privacy
Position paper #2 assigned
Week 10: March 19
Copyright & Licensing I
Week 11: March 26
Copyright & Licensing II
Position paper #2 due
Week 12: April 2
International Issues
Week 13: April 9
Literature Review Presentations
Week 14: April 16
open
Literature Reviews due
Annotated Literature Review Assignment:
This
assignment requires that you select a topic of interest to you and search the
scholarly literature of library and information science, communications
research, law, political science (or any other related discipline) to find
recent articles, books, or other resources (including non-print materials) that
cover your subject. You may choose any problem relevant to the course that is
of most interest to you.
You
may choose either of two formats for your literature review:
1) The first format is to begin with a short essay summarizing the major issues, theories, and areas of concern within the topic, followed by a critical annotated bibliography of the articles, books or non-print materials dealing with the topic. In this case the bibliographic data is given prior to the annotation for each item cited.
2) The alternative format is the essay review. In this format, you develop the themes of the topic around the literature, citing important sources and providing critical analysis and comparison of the sources. Articles in ADVANCES IN LIBRARIANSHIP and ARIST serve as excellent models for this format. If you choose this option, a bibliography will need to be attached to your essay. Please be careful to distinguish between a research paper and a literature review. I do not want you to write a research paper. If you would like to write an essay and have questions about this, please ask.
In
either case you must be sure that complete bibliographic information (author,
title, date of publication, place of publication, publisher, number of pages,
edition, series data) is given for each item cited. Remember that a critical
bibliographic essay or annotated bibliography includes not only a description
of the work, but also an evaluation of how useful it is, a statement describing
the intended audience and whether it presents an objective evaluation of the
material. Simply describing the work
cited is insufficient.
In
either case, your review should contain in the range of 20 – 25 sources and
should begin with a coherent statement of the problem you are exploring. I will
discuss the preparation of problem statements in class.
You
will be graded on: the coherence of your problem statement, the appropriateness
of items selected with respect to the topic, organization of material, clarity
of expression (including spelling and grammar), correct bibliographic
information, and use of proper bibliographic format. Your review should conform to the APA Publication
Manual, or some other format of your choice. The important thing is to be
consistent throughout.
Please send me a note about your intended topic no later than February 12th and a draft of your Problem Statement/Introduction by March 5th. In selecting a topic, it is important to avoid being too general. For example, topics such as, “Libraries and Copyright Law” or “Censorship and Libraries” are too general and need further focus. At the same time, if your topic is too narrow, you may have difficulty finding enough material.