Librarianship

Core modules:

Information Organisation

This core module explores the organisational principles to facilitate the effective storage, search and retrieval of information and knowledge to meet users needs and domain requirements. Beginning with the challenges faced by those tasked with organising, the module considers the fundamental concepts, processes and issues that relate to the identification, organisation, maintenance and disposal of information and knowledge within various domains including galleries, libraries, archives, museums, businesses and online. A critical, evaluative and theoretical approach is adopted to ensure the module's learning outcomes transfer to students' future studies and careers.

15 credits

Libraries, Information and Society

This module provides an overview of the role of library and information services (LIS) in contemporary society and introduces students to public policy issues and their implications for the provision of LIS. Students are introduced to current practices and contemporary concerns in academic, national, public and special/workplace libraries and encouraged to develop an awareness of the social, economic, political and cultural environment in which LIS operate. It examines the importance of users in the design and management of LIS, explores ethical issues and aims to develop a critical awareness of the role of LIS in contemporary society.

15 credits

Information Literacy

The module aims to enable students to understand the concepts of information literacy and information behaviour from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Students will develop their own information literacy and understanding of its application to their future lives. They will learn through lectures, practical exercises and activities carried out for the assessed coursework and in formative exercises which are an integral part of the class.

15 credits

Management for Library and Information Services

The module aims to prepare students to manage people and resources effectively in their future place of work , and how to work effectively in a variety of different types of organisations and sectors. Students will develop their management knowledge and skills, working towards a goal of becoming confident and reflective practitioners. They will be introduced to key management issues and theories in the context of library and information services (LIS). Topics include: management and leadership, strategic planning, team working, marketing of library and information services, staff recruitment and appraisal, financial management, management of information systems and technology in LIS, management of library buildings and spaces, business process management, relationship management and service evaluation. In addition the module includes a professional development and employability strand, in which students focus on key employability themes such as developing and showcasing skills, CV building, professional issues and LIS sector awareness. This element also includes recruitment and selection skills development in order to help students prepare for entering the world of employment.

30 credits

Research Methods and Dissertation Preparation

This module assists students in the identification of, and preparation of a dissertation proposal. Students will: familiarise themselves with on-going research in the School; identify and prepare a dissertation proposal; carry out a preliminary literature search in the area of the dissertation research topic; and be introduced to the use of social research methods and statistics for information management.

15 credits

Dissertation

This module enables students to carry out an extended piece of work on an Information School approved topic, so that they can explore an area of specialist interest to them in greater depth. Students will be supported through tutorials with a project supervisor, will apply research methods appropriate to their topic, and implement their work-plan to produce an individual project report. Students will already have identified a suitable topic and designed a project plan in the pre-requisite unit Research Methods and Dissertation Preparation.

45 credits

Optional modules - one or two from:

Public, School, and Prison Library Services

This module will enable students to understand and critically evaluate key elements of the principles, functions, practice, value and impact of school, public, and prison library services. The course will present the roles of these services, and the extent to which they support the educational, recreational, information and social needs of all members of society. There will be an exploration of key issues affecting school, public and prison library services today, and the extent to which they work independently and together to support the educational, recreational and social needs of the users. Students will be introduced to key professional skills required to work in these sectors, including reader development, design library spaces and advocating for library services. Recent and ongoing research will underpin the entire unit.

15 credits

Academic and Workplace Library, Information and Knowledge Services

This module introduces students to the purposes, functions and practices of a range of academic research and other specialist library, information and knowledge services in educational, public, charitable, and private sectors. It considers the challenges of delivering and developing services in a demanding, fast-moving and complex environment. Lectures are combined with sector-based case studies presented by visiting speakers drawn from various backgrounds, giving extensive opportunities for interaction with specialist practitioners.

15 credits

Optional modules - one or two from:

Researching Social Media

The module will examine the key theoretical frameworks and methods used in social media studies. Students will explore the following questions: 1) What can be learnt about society by studying social media? 2) How should researchers construct ethical stances for researching sites such as Facebook and Twitter? 3) What are the traditional and digital research methods and tools that can be applied to conduct research on social media? 4) What are the strengths and weaknesses of these methods?

The primary focus of the module is on designing social media research projects rather than conducting them. Nevertheless, there will be opportunities to learn and practice relevant analysis skills. It is not a programming module but some of the topics involve the use of software and there will be the chance to write small programs for related tasks.

15 credits

Information Governance and Ethics

This module explores a) the emergence of information and data as an economic resource; b) the governance challenges and ethical issues arising from organisations' systematic capture, processing, and use of information and data for organisational goals, e.g. value, risk, accountability, ownership, privacy etc; c) governance, ethical, legal and other frameworks relevant to the capture, processing and use of information and data within organisational and networked contexts; and d) technologies and techniques used in the governing and governance of information and data. Case examples from a number of domains, e.g. business, government, health, law, and social media illustrate the topics investigated.

15 credits

Business Intelligence

We will cover the principles and practices of gathering and synthesising business intelligence from the external environment, including organisations' competitive intelligence operations, environmental scanning activities, market intelligence, and strategic intelligence using open-source information. A  secondary focus for the module is the role of BI software in organisations to collect and analyse internal information. This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the ways in which business people use information and of how information is used to support strategic decision-making. Students will learn how to carry out effective searches using both free and fee-based business information resources such as the Mintel market research database, Nexis news database and FAME financial analysis database, and will study key issues concerning the value, cost and availability of information. Students will learn how to apply standard analysis frameworks commonly used in organisational business intelligence. The module will concentrate primarily on external information resources but also covers the ways in which information internal to an organisation can be used strategically to enhance competitive advantage.

We take a flipped approach on this module: lectures are provided in video format on Blackboard, and students are expected to watch these and engage with any preparation activities before the timetabled sessions.  Timetabled sessions focus on practical exercises where students will have opportunities to develop expertise in using business-focused electronic information services, and will develop skills in analysing and presenting information effectively.

There are two individual assessments for the module. Assignment 1 (30%)  is to create an infographic from an approved data set, and assignment 2 (70%)  is to write an intelligence report on a company, providing a detailed analysis of the company and its competitive position in the industry it operates in.

15 credits

Database Design

Effective data management is key to any organisation, particularly with the increasing availability of large and heterogeneous datasets (e.g. transactional, multimedia and geo-spatial data). A database is an organised collection of data, typically describing the activities of one or more organisations and a core component of modern information systems. A Database Management System (DBMS) is software designed to assist in maintaining and utilising large collections of data and becoming a necessity for all organisations. This module provides an introduction to the area of databases and database management, relational database design and a flavour of some advanced topics in current database research that deal with different kinds of data often found within an organisational context. Lectures are structured into three main areas: An introduction to databases, The process of designing relational databases, Advanced topics (e.g. data warehouses and non-relational databases) The course includes a series of online tasks with supporting 'drop in' laboratories aimed at providing you with the skills required to implement a database in Oracle and extract information using the Structured Query Language (SQL).

15 credits

User-Centred Design and Human-Computer Interaction

Interface design and usability are central to the experience of interacting with computers. The module introduces usability principles and the design process for interactive systems exploring four major themes. Firstly, user psychology and cognitive principles underlying interface design. Secondly, user interface architectures, modes of interaction, metaphors, navigational structures. Thirdly, the user interface design process including task analysis, modelling constructs and prototyping techniques. Fourthly, the evaluation of user interfaces covering concepts of usability, goals and types of evaluation. The module focus is on the underlying principles of HCI and user-centred design approach with practical sessions to demonstrate these principles.

15 credits

Archives and Records Management

This module prepares students for roles within archives and records management, with emphasis on archives.  Students will develop knowledge and awareness of key theories and practices in archives and records management. The module introduces students to some of the principal issues surrounding the provision of archives and records management services and the challenges of meeting user needs within an organisational context. In addition to presenting the fundamental principles the second part of the module focuses on specific topics of interest, such as: community archiving, digital preservation, web archiving and oral history collecting.

15 credits