UFH Department of Library and Information Science Undergraduate Courses

LIBRARIANSHIP

LIB111 History of Writing and Print Technology

Purpose:   Introduce learners to salient factors pertaining to the development of recording of information.
Contents:  A survey of the development of the recording of information from ancient times to the present.
LIB122 Introduction to Library Management

Purpose:   Equip learners with basic knowledge on management of libraries or resource
Contents:  Give overview of the organization of libraries, and related resource centres; objectives and functions of major types of libraries and resource centres.
LIB211 Collection Dev

Purpose:   To equip learners with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to select information sources, reading materials, and other media and to develop and manage information collections in the electronic era.
Contents:  Principles and practices in selecting, evaluating and managing collections in all types of libraries and information centres. Survey of factors affecting collection building: institutional goals, user needs and characteristics, publishing industry, special characteristics of materials in particular subject fields, formats, etc. Consideration of such topics as collection development policies, resource sharing, and digital collection
Prerequisite: LIB111 and LIB122

LIB222 Library Management

Purpose:   Module is designed to equip learners with the knowledge of the principles of management that are critical in the management of libraries or information resource centres.
Contents:  General principles of management; decision making and planning, organization, leading, control, evaluation and promotion. UFH Department of Library and Information Science Undergraduate Courses
Prerequisite: LIB111 and LIB122

LIB311 User Studies

Purpose:  To enable learners understand the nature of “information on society”.
Contents:  The concept of user studies; information society:  information economy; information rich and information poor; Libraries and information centres: academic libraries, public libraries, media centres. Influence of media on society: electronic media, print media. Information needs: needs versus wants, unexpressed information needs, dormant information needs. Copyright: Berne Convention, South African copywright law, censorship, fair use, freedom of access to information.
Prerequisite: LIB211 and LIB222

LIB322 Financial and Human Resources Management

Purpose:   To enable learners acquire knowledge of managing financial, human and other resources in libraries and information centres.
Contents:  Management of financial and human resources: the nature of a resource, recruitement, induction, training, education and development of staff, skills development, and the concept of HRM versus personnel management. Budgeting: budget as a control mechanism, different types of budgetary systems. Motivation: Planning and designing of library/information centre buildings.
Prerequisite: LIB211 and LIB222

See Also: UFH Department of Library and Information Science Postgraduate Courses

LIB323 Introduction to Fieldwork

Purpose:   To provide learners with the opportunity to put to practical application what they have learned in class.
Contents:  During practicum students are required to focus on the physical layout and appearance of the library, museum, archives, etc; the organizational structure of the host institution; the organization of knowledge (e.g. cataloguing and classification); community services offered by the host institution; periodical section; children section; information dissemination.
Prerequisite:  LIB211 and LIB222

LIB411 Historical Librarianship

Purpose:   To understand the historical development of library and information sciences and their impact on the present world.
Contents:  The evolution of the world of libraries from antiquity up to the present; the emergence and functions of museums, archives, information resource centres, etc; Libraries and information centres in Africa and in South Africa; the advent of information science and its challenge to traditional librarianship.
Prerequisite: LIB311 and LIB322

LIB422 Management of information systems

Purpose:   To expose learners to the world of information in management.
Contents:  Theories of management: classic theories, contemporary theories, systems theory, contigent theory, theory X, theory Y. Knowledge management: explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge, indigenous knowledge., Management of information systems, the concept of MIS, management information requirements. Emerging themes in the management of libraries and information services.
Prerequisite: LIB311and LIB322

LIB423 Fieldwork

Purpose:   To afford learners final opportunity to put into practice the knowledge acquired during the entire course.
Contents:  Learners are placed in academic libraries or special libraries, archives, museums, information resource centres, etc. Focus is on the organizational structure of the library, museum, archives, information resource centre; the collection and its users; information management and retrieval; automated or computerized tasks and functions; services offered.
Prerequisite: LIB311, LIB322 and LIB 323

INFORMATION SCIENCE

INF111 Introduction to Reference work

Purpose:   Introduce learners to the concepts of reference and reference sources.
Contents:  Provides an introduction to information science and introduces basic concepts in reference work, describes secondary, tertiary and ready reference sources.
INF122 Theory of cataloguing and classification

Purpose:   To enable learners acquire knowledge on specific practices in the routines and procedures of descriptive cataloguing and classification.
Contents:  The module introduces cataloguing and different types of catalogues, subject and descriptive cataloguing. Introduction to classification, principles and concepts of classification and different types of classification schemes.
INF211 Practical Classification and Indexing

Purpose:   Learners to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for classifying and indexing intellectual works to meet the needs of the users.
Contents:  Dewey Decimal classification scheme (20th edition) is used for classification, Library of Congress list of subject headings is used for indexing.
Prerequisite:  INF111 and INF 122

INF212 Indexes and Abstracts

Purpose:   To acquire knowledge of the fundamentals of indexing and abstracting.
Contents:  Principles, practices and applications of indexing, abstracting. Construction of thesaurus; systems of indexing; the impact of indexing on retrieval; style and format of abstracts; evaluation of abstracting services; professional data bases; creation of abstracts for documents of special local and regional importance.
Prerequisite:  INF111 and INF122

INF223 Practical Cataloguing

Purpose:   Learners acquire knowledge on manual cataloguing of various information resources.
Contents:   Practical bibliographic description using Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules 2nd edition. Subject cataloguing and filing catalogue cards using American Library Association files rules.

Prerequisite: INF111 and INF122

INF224 The Reference process

Purpose:   To understand the philosophy of reference sources and the dynamics of the reference process in various environments.
Contents:  Conducting and analyzing reference interviews; selection of materials to meet the diverse information needs of users; analyze information queries and establish logical manual and computerized strategies to meet users needs; develop basic skills required for internet searching using online databases.
Prerequisite:  INF111 and INF 122

INF311 Information retrieval

Purpose:   To understand the concept of subject analysis as a process of information retrieval.
Contents:  Importance of subject as access point. Process of subject indexing: classification schemes; catalogues; subject headings; abstracts; bibliographies; thesaurus; databases.
Prerequisites: INF211, INF212, INF223 and INF224

INF312 Bibliographic control

Purpose:   To understand the importance and ways of managing information.
Contents:  The concept of information explosion; the variety of bibliographic control tools that are utilized to manage information in different environments.
Prerequisites: INF211, INF212, INF223 andINF224

INF323 Computerized cataloguing

Purpose:   To acquire knowledge and skills pertaining to information technology affecting current approaches to the organization of knowledge.
Contents:  The historical development of automated cataloguing and cataloguing codes; cataloguing networks; computerized cataloguing using the MARC format.
Prerequisite: INF211, INF212, INF 223 and INF224

INF324 Bibliographies and Reference techniques

Purpose:   To gain knowledge about the rules and regulations that govern access to information.
Contents:  Compilation of bibliographies and citation techniques. Rules of access: plagiarism, copyright, censorship, freedom of access to information, ethical issues, etc.
Prerequisite:  INF211, INF212, INF223 and INF 224

INF411 Information processing and Retrieval

Purpose:   To acquire knowledge and skills in the advanced techniques of information processing and retrieval.
Contents:  Concentrates on indexing and abstracting languages; the role of classification systems in information retrieval; controlled vocabularies; online information retrieval; role of information technologies in information retrieval; construction of thesaurus.
Prerequisites: INF311,INF312, INF323 and INF324

INF422 Information systems and Information Management

Purpose:   To acquire knowledge about the management of information systems and networks
Contents:   Systems analysis and systems life cycle; application of tools and techniques of systems analysis and design in the area of information systems. Information networks: vocabulary and fundamentals of networks; network design, installation, security, support, administration; benefits of LAN. Basic networking components of the internet; functions of network operating systems and application to information libraries and information resource centres.
Prerequisites:  INF311, INF312, INF323 and INF324