The purpose of the 3 Wiki assignments is to familiarize you with.docx

The purpose of the 3 Wiki assignments is to familiarize you
with a "new" methodology of studying history ("new" because
this is my own creation). In my lifetime of studying the past, I
have seen certain reoccurring "themes” that help us understand
the course of human events in this discipline we call history. I
have also provided here the list of historical themes. The
general objective of the Wiki is to summarize an aspect of
history studied during the grading period THROUGH the lens of
a theme found in my list of themes. Example, if you wanted to
write about Alexander the Great, you then choose to summarize
the history of him through a theme, such as Power of
Personality, where you might discuss his military leadership as
conqueror of the world. OR you could talk about him through
the theme of Pivot Points in History and talk about how he
ushered in the Hellenistic Era and changed the political and
cultural face of the world. Those are examples. You will choose
3 separate themes and write about 3 separate episodes from any
of the history study during the grading period through the
themes you choose. Look at the sample Wiki and see how they
have formatted their 3 sections of the essay. For each theme you
discuss, you need to quote your textbook OR an outside
secondary scholarly source of your choosing once and ONE
primary document found either in your ebook or from an outside
source. (See further details about your sources below). Use a
different primary document for each theme and history you
write on. You must include a properly formatted Works Cited.
These Wikis will help you learn to see history in terms of these
themes. Some of these themes are quite self-explanatory and
some are not. There are 20 historical themes and 3 Wiki
assignments you are expected to complete in the semester -
therefore there are NO REPEATS of themes in your Wiki posts.
You will use a total of 9 different themes in the semester from
the 3 Wiki Assignments.

For each Wiki Assignment, I want you to write a minimum 750-
word entry (CONTENT ONLY - Works Cited DOES NOT count
towards minimum word count) about 3 historical themes that
you can extrapolate from the subjects we have studied in that
grading period in which the Wiki is assigned. EACH ENTRY
PARAGRAPH WRITTEN ON A THEME MUST BE A
MINIMUM OF 250 WORDS. So the math here is easy = 3
different theme discussions of 250 word minimum each yields a
total minimum word count of 750 words AND 3 separate themes
X 3 Wikis Assignments = 9 historical themes used in the
semester. I expect to see original analysis, interpretation and
rhetorical content.
REGARDING YOUR SOURCES FOR THESE WIKIS.
You are required to quote your textbook twice AND ONE
OTHER outside scholarly secondary source once in each Wiki
Assignment to support your analysis. You are also required to
quote TWO of the primary documents from the Mindtap site for
the textbook AND ONE OTHER primary source document of
your choosing from an outside source to support your content as
well. THESE SOURCES MUST ALL BE PROPERLY
IDENTIFIED AND VETTED IN YOUR ESSAY. Doing the
assigned participation activity will help you perform this
properly. PLEASE cite these sources appropriately according to
my instructions. You must also give me a properly formatted
Works Cited. A sample Wiki entry has been provided here:
(This is from a World History Class in a different text so adjust
to meet requirements for this class)
SAMPLE WIKI - FOR EXAMPLE PURPOSES ONLY
(Student Name)

[from Modern World History Course- ADAPT AS NEEDED TO
FIT YOUR COURSE]
Theme #2: The Big “C”s ~ Conquest, Commerce, Colonization,
& Conversion on the Course of History
People, their cultures, and ideas have--and continue to--spread
across the world in many different ways. The discovery of new
land in the late 1400s motivated people to explore and colonize
in the new territory. Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the
“New World” led to the colonization of Europeans across the
Atlantic. Spaniards were among the first of the European
nations to colonize in the “New World” and bring along their
culture and ideas. Instead of accepting the natives’ culture and
living in peace when they arrived, the Spaniards saw a clear
opportunity to conquer the Aztec people and convert them to
Christianity. The Conquistadors almost killed off the majority
of the Aztec population simply because the natives refused To
give up their own culture and convert to Christianity and
because the Spaniards wanted gold and silver. Historians and
university professors from Pennsylvania State University,
William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel noted in their 2016
edition of their World History textbook that “tensions soon
erupted between the Spaniards and the Aztecs, provoked in part
by demands by Cortés that the Aztecs renounce their native
beliefs and accept Christianity” (Duiker & Spielvogel, 398).
The Spaniards also exploited the resources and land of the
Aztec people in order to bring profit to Spain. Conquistadors
would steal gold and silver to bring back to Spain and they also
imported and exported raw materials such as tobacco and sugar
for economic profit. The colonization of European countries to
the “New World” proved to be tragic for many native groups,
but beneficial to the economies of the European nations. While
the Spaniards gained riches by conquering the Aztecs, the
Aztecs lost many of their people and part of their culture. There
are many different cultures and ideologies which make the

world interesting. Unfortunately when people are not open
minded differences in cultures and opinions can lead to disaster
like in the case of the Spaniards and the Aztecs. Bartolome de
las Casas, a Spanish Dominican Friar who became an advocate
for the abused and conquered natives in the New World,
reported to the King of Spain with a missive in 1542 that “the
extent of the injustices suffered by these innocent peoples and
the way in which they are being destroyed and crushed
underfoot, unjustly and for no other reason than to satisfy the
greed and ambition of those whose purpose it is to commit such
wicked atrocities” (Bartolome de las Casas, A Short Account of
the Destruction of the Indies, 1542, pg. 7). His reporting of the
injustices suffered by the Aztecs at the hand of Spanish
Conquistadors ultimately influenced the creation of more
humane policies of Spanish administration in its New World
colonies. 400 words.
Theme #15. The Power of Personality ~ Celebrities who change
history
A single person has the ability to change history for
better or for worse. Martin Luther was able to change history by
exposing the corruption of the Catholic Church. Luther was an
Augustinian monk in the Catholic Church and he lectured
people about the Bible and interpreted it in his own way. Martin
Luther noticed that the Catholic Church was selling indulgences
which angered him because the church was exploiting its
followers for profits. This led Martin Luther to post his
"Ninety-Five Theses" in 1517 which would expose the
wrongdoings of the church. The "Ninety-Five Theses" was soon
printed and published across Europe. “The Pope has neither the
will nor the power to remit any penalties beyond those he has
imposed either at his own discretion or by canon law” (Martin
Luther, “Ninety-Five Theses” in Mindtap, 15-1b). The pope

does not have authority to create any new penalties or mandates,
which were not listed in the Bible, for the benefit of the Church.
By exposing the corruption within the church, Luther was able
to enlighten common people. His goal was to give followers
direct access to the Bible so they could read it and interpret it in
their own manner. Martin Luther defied the Catholic Church and
by doing so he changed the course of history. By the power of
his own convictions, he challenged Church doctrines and set the
stage for the great Reformation, in which Luther’s religious
philosophies “that humans are saved not through their good
works but through faith in the promises of God” caused a
schism in Western religion and became the “primary doctrine of
the Protestant Reformation” (Duiker & Spielvogel, 421). 285
words.
Theme #13. WAR ~ “What was it good for?”
While there are many downsides to war, death being the
obvious, history has proven that some good has come out of
war. The Civil Wars in England (1642-1651) between
parliamentary forces and royalists follows this theme. A
stronger Parliament was established as a result of these
conflicts over the form that English government should take.
Although control of England was eventually handed to a new
monarchy during the Glorious Revolution of 1688, a "Bill of
Rights" was written by the House of Commons in 1689 giving
rights to both the Parliament and the citizens it represented.
According to the editors of the Britannica Encyclopedia in their
entry posted in their Online database in July 1998, “A number
of clauses sought to eliminate royal interference in
parliamentary matters, stressing that elections must be free and
that members must have complete freedom of speech” (“Bill of
Rights – British History,” Encyclopedia Britannica.) The
original scroll of the "Bill of Rights", which is 7 to 8 feet long

and housed in the Parliamentary Archives of the UK, set the
course for Parliament to be the true authority of England over
the next century. This was beneficial to the citizens of England
because they could be politically active in their government.
The opening text of the English "Bill of Rights" states its intent
“for the choosing of such persons to represent them, as were of
right to be sent to parliament, to meet and sit at Westminster
upon the two and twentieth day of January, in this year 1689, in
order to such an establishment as that their religion, laws, and
liberties might not again be in danger of being subverted” (“The
Bill of Rights” in Mindtap, 15-4C). Even though the English
Civil War witnessed the first beheading of an unpopular
European monarch, Charles I, in 1649, the establishment of a
Constitutional Monarchy that eventually evolved out of the
chaos would lay the foundation for the American Democracy.
320 words.
1000 words
Works Cited
Primary Sources:
De las Casas, Bartolome. “A Short Account of the Destruction
of the Indies, 1542.” In A Short Account of the Destruction of
the Indies by Bartolome de las Casas. Translated by Nigel
Griffin. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1992.
Luther, Martin. “Ninety-Five Theses or Disputation on the
Power of Indulgences, 1517. ” In Martin Luther, by E. G. Rupp
and Benjamin Drewery. Cengage Mindtap. Web. 12 September
2015.
"The Bill of Rights" by English Parliament, January, 1689. In
The Statutes: Revised Edition (London: Eyre & Spotiswoode,
1871), Vol. 2, pp. 10–12. Cengage Mindtap. Web. 12 September

2015.
Secondary Sources:
Duiker, William J. and Jackson Spielvogel. World History, Vol.
II Since 1500. 8th Edition. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2016.
Cengage Mindtap. Web. 12 September 2015.
Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Bill of Rights.”
Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
Published 3 June 2016. Accessed 9 January 2017.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bill-of-Rights-British-history.
THEMES IN HISTORY
1. Geographic Determinism on the course of historical events
There are many instances in history when the course of
human events is determined by the geography and not merely by
human will or action. One good example of this is the Nile
River. The manner in which the Nile River flows and slowly
floods its banks provided a natural irrigation with rich deposits
of nutritious soils that created a well fed culture known as the
Egyptians. Without the Nile, there would have been NO Egypt.
2. The Big “C”s ~ Conquest, Commerce, Colonization, &
Conversion on the Course of History
This theme resonates throughout history and is the
manner in which peoples, their cultures and their ideas, spread
across the landscape. An obvious perfect example is the
discovery of the New World and the subsequent conquest of the
western hemispheric peoples, their often-times forced
conversion to Christianity, and the purposeful colonization of
the New World in order to advance commercial trade and build
wealth for the Spanish Empire.

3. Causes and Effects in History ~ “what came first, the chicken
or the egg?”
This historical theme is the very core of understanding
the course of human events. Historical events do not occur in a
vacuum ~ one event leads to another, which leads to another and
in this manner we see how humans act, and mostly, react, to
stimului of their times. Did the invention of the moveable type
printing press in 15th century Europe cause a great surge in
literacy OR did a desire to become more literate have the effect
of finding faster ways to spread the written word? The argument
is yours to make.
4. “Shoulda, Woulda, Couldas” ~ alternate histories with
alternate endings
This is probably one of my favorite themes in history.
What would have happened differently in the future course of
history IF one important change were made to its past? IF
ONLY HITLER HAD BEEN FATALLY WOUNDED IN WWI
instead of recovering, OR if he had died from the gassings of
the trenches in WWI. Would there have even been a WWII?
Would there have been 60+ million lives lost in WWII? Would
there have been a Holocaust? When you use this theme, you
need to first discuss the actual history and then propose a viable
alternate history based on a possible course change in the
events. It has to be a plausible alternative.
5. Role of Economics in History ~ “money makes the world go
around” or does it?
If I have said it once, I have said it a MILLION times =
money DRIVES politics ~ it is NOT the other way around. Most
actions of human beings, if not all, have an economic desire
behind them, whether for food, land, power, security, etc.,
humans labor and toil to accomplish a goal that is always rooted
in a desired end = using scarce resources, which have
alternative uses, to achieve profitable results. When the early
Islamic Empires conquered the known world, it was more

desirable NOT to force Christians and Jews to convert, because
as Dhimmi they were taxed at a much higher rate. So, less
conversion = more money in taxes, therefore religious tolerance
in early Islamic caliphates had an economic return.
6. GREED & POWER ~ Who has it? How do they get it? What
do they do with it? Why do we care?
Is there anyone ever born in the history of the world
who is NOT greedy, at least a little bit? Hunger makes us
greedy for food. Poverty makes us greedy for riches. I work to
make money so I can afford the things in life I need and enjoy.
You all are furthering your education to do that same thing. But
when the normal human level of greed multiplies like a cancer
and produces a lust for power, the very worst in human behavior
occurs. Genghis Khan is a good example = through ruthless
behavior he united all the tribes of the steppes and built the
largest land empire the world has ever known - but he lusted
after China with its rich rice paddies and advances in culture
and wealth. He fought his way up from poverty and tribal
slavery to being recognized as the punishing flail of God, but he
was forever irked that he could not conquer China after many
attempts. It would be his grandson, Kublai Khan that succeeded
where Genghis did not.
7. Gender and History ~ “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules
the world” ~ oh, really?
The role of women is the history of the world is filled
with tragedy, abuse, exploitation, and ignorance. Women went
from being equals with men in Paleolithic societies and
innovators of the Agricultural Revolution, to being bought and
sold like pack animals. But women became very adept at
learning how to manipulate situations in their favor, or at least
the men in those situations, when necessary. Whether driven by
mere survival instincts, or motivated by higher yearnings,
women of influence, power and action were an aberration in
history. Joan of Arc was a simple, possibly delusional French

country maiden who convinced armies of men that God had sent
her to lead the French in conquest against the British - and
indeed she did.
8. Race and History (Ethnicity and History) ~ “them versus us”
scenarios
We don't often think in terms of racism in history until
the onslaught of Black African slavery, which began in the 7th
and 8th centuries by Islamic merchants. But certainly history is
full of "them versus us" scenarios of one culture, or nation
maintaining their superiority of being over another. The Romans
were a great example of a culture seeing themselves superior to
all other societies, whom they regarded as barbarians. If you
were not Roman, then you were born inferior and you deserved
to be conquered and ruled by a superior people. This thinking
has driven Imperialism since Sargon the Great, the first empire
builder in the 3rd millennium BCE.
9. Religion and History ~ “My God is better than your god”
This theme kind of goes hand in hand with "them versus
us" scenarios, only this is MY GOD is better than your god =
meaning my GOD is the most powerful and your god is not.
Religion was NOT a concept of belief in the ancient world as it
is in the modern world, something you chose to accept or not -
in the ancient world it was your complete way of life and
thought and the motivation of all action. Humans created myths
and legends of gods and creation stories to help them
understand their world and their place in it, and in so doing it
helped them justify why one people can dominate another. The
history of the Hebrews-Israelites-Jews demonstrates a people
who created a religious ideal of ONE GOD who demanded their
separation from the rest of the world, and in so doing projected
a religious identity unique in world history, only to see it
adopted and changed by Christianity first, and then by Islam.
10. Role of Family in History ~ as a social, a defensive, an

economic, and/or a spiritual construct
Family units are the very core of how human beings
have organized themselves from their very beginnings. Parents,
children, grandparents evolved into generations of extended
families that grew into tribes and then into larger societies. But
what happened to the role of the parents? of children? How did
civilization impact the family unit? An interesting study is the
Spartans, who had institutionalized segregation of the sexes and
dissolution of the family unit in favor of a male-dominated
society of warriors who began their training from the time they
are born and raised from the time of 8 years old in a completely
male environment. The entire aim of Spartan society was to
produce elite Spartan warriors, for women to give birth to them
and for men to raise them.
11. The Effects of Education on History ~ “I know something
you don’t know . . .”
Education is one of the five hallmark institutions of
society, along with political institutions, economic institutions,
family institutions, and religious institutions. Indeed, education
is experienced from the time you are born and you learn
language and other cultural skills from your family. The
development of a writing system is one of the hallmarks of
civilization, which enables a society to record and preserve
their thoughts, beliefs, ideas, inventions, innovations, etc. and
pass them forward in time. Education also allows for concepts
and ideas to pass from culture to culture, via trade, or
migrations, or even conversions. When the European Crusaders
journeyed through the Byzantine Empire of their way to the
Holy Land, they picked up new ideas, new skills, new thoughts
and concepts, which eventually lead to the intellectual rebirth of
Europe called the Renaissance ~ an era in which backwater
Europe would propel itself within 100 years to the top of the
global food chain of civilizations.
12. Individualism vs. Communalism ~ “the need of the one” or

the “need of the many”?
Human beings need each other, it is that simple. Men
hunted wild game in packs and women birthed and nurtured
their families in packs. We are communal creatures - so when
and why did the concept of individuality begin? We were for
centuries defined by our gender, or our class, or our
professions, or our utility to a society - but seldom were we
defined by our unique qualities, unless we were the few and the
fearless who aspired to greatness above the masses. And here is
where the occasional person or people emerge who place more
value on the unique ability of the individual, then on the
herding instinct of the masses. Art became a way for the one to
differentiate themselves from the many, as it expressed a part of
them in a public setting. For example, the communalism of an
army was always led by the individuality of a general and his
art of military tactics. Athens is a good example of a society
that stressed the power of the individual with the creation of
Athenian Democracy that granted all citizens, males over 18, a
voice in the politics of the city-state.
13. WAR ~ “What was it good for?”
War is the most constant theme in history ~ it has been
occurring and reoccurring in every age of human existence and
while it is easy to recount the horrible after effects of war there
is also a case to be made for the positive outcomes of war. An
obvious positive outcome of war is the independence won in the
American Revolution and the eventual creation of the unique
Democratic Republican government outlined in our U.S.
Constitution.
14. Pivot Points in History ~ “when in the course of human
events . . .” ~ the course abruptly changes
There are incredible moments in history when the path
that human existence is following dramatically changes and
heads off in another direction. Sometimes these changes occur
because of major geologic events, such as the volcanic eruption

that buried the Roman City of Pompeii or they occur from
human actions, such as the discovery of vaccines that globally
improved human health. So with this theme you will look at one
pivotal event and discuss how it changed the direction human
life was taking.
15. The Power of Personality ~ Celebrities who change history
This is similar to Pivot Points in History, but instead of
a pivotal event you have a pivotal personality ~ someone who
impacts history politically, culturally, religiously,
economically, etc. Not all pivotal personalities in history were
conquerors, such as Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar. Some
influential personalities who changed history would be John
Locke and his theories of liberty and freedom that were
foundational to the rhetoric of the U.S. Declaration of
Independence; Martin Luther King and his activism for racial
equality in America that inspired the Civil Rights movement of
the 60s; Harriet Beecher Stowe and her novel Uncle Tom’s
Cabin that exposed the horrors of American southern slavery to
northerners and contributing to the start of the Civil War.
16. “One man’s VIRTUE is another man’s EVIL” ~ Extreme
human acts and responses in history
These acts are the most disturbing aspects of our
historical past, and even our present. Either through individuals
or groups, horrifically classified acts such as genocides,
tortures, or suicides have been perpetrated for reasons that to
some are revered as heroic or religious acts and to others they
are seen as evil. The attacks of 911, the Holocaust of Euorpe’s
Jews, the Armenian Genocide of WWI – these and many more
are acts in history of shock and awe that result in responses that
affect history. So you need to not just write up the the details of
the extreme event, but the responses to it that changed history.
17. "Ruling the Roost" ~ methods and styles of administration
of government over the populace

From the earliest origins of human societies,
communities of human beings had to establish some kind of
concession of rules they would follow in order to live in
harmony and cooperation. These evolved into institutions of
governments usually formed by one small aristocratic rank of
society ruling over a large majority and variety of non-
aristocratic peoples. These systems each held unique features of
governing peculiar to the unique needs and/or demands of their
particular societies. A perfect example of this can be seen in
the militaristic state of the Spartans in ancient Greek history.
An elite group of retired Spartan soldiers, who had lived long
enough and survived the wars of their youth, ruled Sparta as an
oligarchy that held life and death decisions over the fate of their
citizens from the time they were born. They ruled over a
gender-segregated Spartan world completely dedicated to the
training and maintenance of a militarized citizenry that then
ruled over a much larger slave society in their midst called the
Helots, who did ALL other labors and duties necessary for
sustaining the life and well-being of Spartans citizens who
contributed nothing else to Sparta except their military prowess.
18. "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall . . ." ~ paradoxes in history ~
"heads and tails," i.e. flip sides (ex: good and bad) of the same
event, person, or place.
This is a theme that requires a higher level of critical
thinking and reasoning. It is important to understand that there
is NO historical event, person, era, place, etc. that is
monothematic = meaning there is only one way to view it. A
good example of a historical person with many facets of
interpretation is Martin Luther. He is credited with one of the
bravest and selfless acts in history by challenging the
corruption of the Catholic Church and becoming the driving
force of the Reformation. But there is another side to Martin
Luther that few know about because history prefers to focus on
the positive side of him = I am talking about his raging Anti-
Jewish attitudes. He advocated some of the most heinous anti-

Semitic acts of his time, irrationally hating the Jews. One
cannot truly say they know about Martin Luther unless they are
willing to examine BOTH sides of his personality.
19. "For want of a nail . . ." ~ how technology has affected
history
This is a favorite theme in history for students – how
new inventions and innovations can change history. The Cotton
Gin that I mentioned above would be a good example. The
moveable type printing press used by Johann Gutenberg to mass
print the Bible propelled an explosion in printed material that
incited desires in people to become literate so they could read
all the materials being circulated.
20. History and the Environment ~ exploiting Mother Nature
and its consequences.
This in kind of the opposite of Geographic
Determinism, in that it is how humans have impacted the earth,
rather than how the earth has impacted humans. A good example
is the Dust Bowl in American modern history. For thousands of
years, the Great Plains of North America had been natural
grazing lands for migratory herds. The deep rooted prairie
grasses withstood droughts, storms, winds, and fires. But once
humans started cultivating the Great Plains in the 1800s by
plowing up all the prairie grasses and replacing them with
temporary, short rooted crops, this directly resulted in the black
blizzards of the 1930s. Droughts and winds carried all the top
soil off the plains and carried it into the atmosphere, leaving the
once rich farm lands a desert wasteland.
Only sections 1-4.1 (draft for the paper) needed
This assignment requires Library in Science subject knowledge.
Please review the attached assignment file

Department of Library and Information Studies (LIS)
Information Organization System Design Project
OBJECTIVE:The overall objective of this
assignment[footnoteRef:1] is to give you the opportunity to
design your own organization system for a specific collection of
your choosing. As no information system is “perfect”, your
system should be designed with your users in mind and based on
sound principles of information organization and user-centered
design. You may model existing systems (online public access
catalogs, knowledge management systems, etc.), but you are not
required to do so. (If you decide to model an existing system,
be sure you give proper attribution to the system and its
owners.) This is your opportunubity to “think outside of the
box”! [1: ]
The assignment objectives are as follow:· You will explore
concepts presented in the course· You will apply concepts and
practices of information organization· You will reassess
traditional organization systems and practices· You will gain a
deeper understanding of the processes of organizing information
and designing a user-centered organization systemThis
assignment will allow you to meet the following LIS571 Course
Objectives:· Course Obj. 1: Explain the nature of information in
its many forms· Course Obj. 2: Demonstrate an understanding
of the issues in and approaches to information representation
and apply this understanding in the analysis and design of
information systems.· Course Obj. 3: Explain the role of user
requirements in the design of information systems.· Course Obj.
5: Demonstrate an understanding of information organization
and representation; Design the conceptual data schema and the
knowledge organization system for an information system to be
used with a given collection.This assignment will allow you to
meet the following LIS Program Goals with regard to
information organization:· Prog. Goal 1: Graduates will
demonstrate an understanding of Library and Information

Studies, including its historical roots, as well as the creation,
representation, organization, dissemination, and use of
information. · Prog. Goal 2: Graduates will demonstrate an
understanding of the domain knowledge and a mastery of skills
required in diverse information environments.· Prog. Goal 3:
Graduates will demonstrate professional competences, including
leadership, critical thinking, communication, collaboration,
reflective practice, and ethical adherence · Prog. Goal 4:
Graduates will be able to apply an understanding of the library
information professions and the roles, responsibilities, and
professional dispositions (i.e., values, attitudes, behaviors).
SUBMISSION AND FORMAT
Project Drafts
You will submit this assignment twice during the course of the
semester.
· Draft 1 will include only Sections 1 - 4.1. I will review this
first draft and provide comments. Draft 1 will not be graded but
must be complete as instructed. Incomplete drafts will returned
and will not be reviewed.
· The complete final draft will be the Final Report and will
include all sections 1-6. This Final Report will include all
sections and any revisions to your first draft. Be sure to remove
all of my comments from the Report before submitting. This
Final Report should be presented as you would present a report
to a supervisor.
Due dates are posted on the learns Assignments page. The table
below details what to submit.
Draft Number
Sections to Submit
Due Date
Draft 1
Sections 1 – 4.1
Final Report

Sections 1 - 6. This should include all revisions suggested by
the instructor in Draft 1. All instructor comments removed.
Format
Format the document with one-inch margins on all sides and a
half-inch margin for header. Do not include a separate title
page. (These formatting instructions require basic word
processing knowledge which is your responsibility to have
already obtained as a pre-requisite to entering this program).
At top right on page 1, type two lines: your full name and date
of submission. Then center the project title (name of
collection) above the first report heading.
Create a one-line header at top right, beginning on page 2, with
your last name and page number (e.g., White p. 2).
Section headings and subheadings should be worded and
ordered exactly as shown in these assignment instructions.
Write narrative text only under the subheadings, not main
headings.
For all text, use 12-point type. Type narrative copy single-
spaced within paragraphs and double-spaced between
paragraphs. Lengths of narrative subsections will vary, but are
likely to be about 1/3 to 1 page per subsection, longer for
section 4. Spell-check the draft and final report.
Submission Instructions
Submit each draft electronically via learns. The document
should be a single file in Word (.doc or .docx). If you do not
have Word, you can submit an .rtf or open docs file.
You must name the file using the following file naming
convention:
[Last name][First name initial]-OrgProjDraft1.docx
[Last name][First name initial]-OrgProjFinal.docx
For instance, if John Smith was to turn in the first draft and
final report, the filenames would be:

SmithJ-OrgProjDraft1.docx
SmithJ-OrgProjFinal.docx
GRADING:
This assignment is worth 35% of the course grade
Grading is based on the following criteria:
· Ability to follow all directions of the assignment
· Accurate completion of all sections of the assignment by the
due dates assigned
· Implementation of instructor’s comments and suggestions in
the final report
· User-centered nature of the system (choice of elements
appropriate to your collection and users, etc.)
· Accurate application of the principles of organizing
information as learned in the course.
ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION:
You have been given the task of creating an organization system
for a new collection that does not have an existing organization
scheme in place.
Tasks to complete:
1. You will choose a collection to work with from the list of
generic collections listed below. Your collection can be an
existing collection or a fictional one you construct for the
purpose of the assignment. Imagine that the chosen collection
contains at least 1,000 items. Choose a collection for which
you can have physical or virtual access. You will need to
obtain a sample of five objects that represent the collection to
use throughout the assignment. I have provided three generic
sample collections to choose from as listed below:
· A collection of fiction or nonfiction books in a school, public
or academic library (if nonfiction, they should pertain to the
same subject matter; if fiction, to the same genre)

· A collection of webpages or websites. You may choose the
subject of the sites, but they should all pertain to the same
subject (e.g. technology in schools, fly fishing, quilting, etc.)
· A collection of non-print objects (prints, images, coins,
videos, memorabilia, etc.) Do not choose more than two
different formats to work with.
2. Give the collection a name. (Use the name as the title of the
collection on the first page of the assignment document you will
produce.)
3. Complete the narrative of the project by following the
directions outlined in the next section.
NARRATIVE OF YOUR PROJECT:
Following the assigned formatting and using ALL of the
headings and subheadings listed below, complete each section
that follows to describe the design of your organization system.
Be sure to read each section carefully, so you do not leave out
parts of the system design process. You may not use first
person voice in Sections 1-5 of the narrative. In Section 6 you
may use first person.

NAME OF COLLECTION
PART I. Collection description and its information objects:
1.1 Location of collection:
Identify and describe the environment or location in which this
collection resides. For example, tell me if it is in a library
(what type), museum, store, business, your home, etc. Be
specific. I need as much detail as is necessary in order to
properly assess the collection. Give geographic location (city
and state if known). Location can impact purpose, user groups,
demographics, and design.
1.2Purpose of the collection:
Generally identify the users that will use the collection.
Explain the purpose of the collection: recreational, research,
local history, retail, etc.
1.3 Physical and intellectual aspects of objects:
Describe the collection and its objects. Explain all of the
physical formats (books, vinyl records, DVDs, webpages, etc.)
included and the intellectual aspects (subjects) of the objects in
your collection of 1,000 objects. Remember the collection must
contain at least 1,000 items, so you should describe it as such,
even if it is a hypothetical/imaginary collection.
1.4 Extent of collection and plans for growth
Describe the size of the collection and whether or not the
collection will continue to grow. If so, explain potential
resources; for example, it will grow by acquisitions, or
donations, etc. Be specific. If it will not continue to grow,
explain why.
PART II. Users of the collection:

2.1 User group(s)
You will identify all user group(s) that may use the collection.
You may have one or more user groups, depending of the
collection and its location. It is useful to think about and refer
to your groups as “primary” and “secondary” users if you have
more than one group. If you use this way of describing your
groups, then use this same convention throughout Section 2. If
you have more than two primary user groups and find this
section unwieldy, then limit the groups to two that you feel
would be the most likely users of the collection.
2.2 Use Demographics:
Briefly describe the demographics of your user group(s). This
section should include information on gender, ethnicity, age,
occupation, primary language(s) spoken, etc. Refer to class
discussion on “Users & Systems” for some of the demographic
variables to consider.
Explain how demographics might impact your representation
system design (not interface design or features you would add
to the system, unless they directly are related to representation
design).
2.3 Types and levels of knowledge:
This description of the users should include a brief discussion
on the four types and levels of knowledge as discussed in class.
Refer also to the Allen, 1991 reading. List the 4 types of
knowledge using the headings noted below:
Domain knowledge:
System knowledge:
Task knowledge:
World knowledge:
List these types and levels of knowledge and for each of your
user groups. Explain how these types and levels of knowledge
might impact your system design (not interface design or
features you would add to the system, unless they directly are

related to representation design).
2.4 User problems and questions
Tasks to complete: (this is simply a list of tasks to complete in
order to complete 5A and 5B below. Tasks 1-4 are not part of
the narrative and should not be included in your text.)
1. Consider the kinds of situations that motivate users to seek
information from the collection: their information problems or
needs and how those are translated into requests to the system.
Think about their purposes for using the collection.
2. Brainstorm a list of two to three typical users’ information
problems and requests, or the kinds of questions they ask with
regard to your question. With your 5 sample objects in mind,
think of what your users might ask in order to retrieve one of
them. In other words, what information about the objects do
your users usually come into an information seeking situation
already knowing?
3. Identify the attributes of the information objects that these
user questions suggest. Attributes are general characteristics or
properties (e.g., name, creator, physical description) of
information objects. Attributes that are important to users, as
indicated by their questions, suggest characteristics of the
objects that should be described in your system.
4. Consider also that user requests imply expectations for
information system retrieval performance, such as levels of
recall and precision.
5. Write the narrative for this section by completing A and B as
described below.
A. Begin this section with a short paragraph generally
describing users' information needs or information need
situations, that is, what they are looking for and why they are
looking for it.
B. List three user questions or requests (from the questions you
brainstormed above), the object attributes they suggest, and the
desired precision and recall, using the format below:

User Question 1:
Suggested Attributes:
Desired Precision/Recall:
User Question 2:
User Question 3:
PART III. System design:
You will design the information system/database field structure
used to organize the collection. We are not going to actually
create the system in a database management system, but you
will model the field structure and indexing scheme, semantics,
syntax, and input rules on paper, a necessary design step when
creating an organization system.
3.1 Entity level / unit of analysis and why appropriate
Decide on the entity level / unit of analysis at which you are
representing each object (whole object, chapter level, article
level, etc.). Explain why you think this is the appropriate entity
level(s) for the collection. You may have more than one entity
level but you must justify its appropriateness in your
discussion.
**Be mindful, that if more than one entity level or unit of
analysis, your system may become more complex.
3.2 Attributes chosen and their appropriateness to the collection

Identify the attributes or general characteristics of objects in
your collection. Remember that the samples you have chosen
are representative of the larger 1,000 item collection, so the
attributes should reflect this.
Explain why you think these each of these attributes are
necessary to represent the objects in your collection.
3.3 Field names and indexing decisions
A. Use a Word table formatted like the one below to show your
attributes, how they translate into field names (depending on
your desired precision/recall), and your indexing decision for
each. See sample table below.
Example of Word table showing attributes, field names, and
indexing decisions:
General Attribute
Field Name
Searchable? (y or n)
Name
Title
Yes
Creator
Main Author
Yes
Co-Author
Yes
Physical Description
No. of Pages
No
Format
Yes

B. Following the table outlined above, include a paragraph
explaining your indexing decisions. Your discussion should
include an explanation of your rationale for indexing each field,
as well as discussion of why you chose not to index certain
fields. Hint: you might want to look at user questions and the
attributes you identified.
PART IV: Semantics, Syntax, and Input Rules
In this section you will be outlining and defining the fields
within your system. You will write clear, concise semantics for
each of the fields in your system. You will also create clear,
concise input rules for each field, to instruct the record creator
in how to create consistent entries in the field. These rules are
NOT used by users to search, so they should not include
searching instructions.
4.1 Field Names and Semantics:
List field names and semantics (definitions). Please keep the
fields in the same order as in the Table in 3.3. Definitions
should be broad and not circular but should describe the data to
include in the field. Use examples only if necessary to clarify
meanings. You may use the Dublin Core readings or the
AACR2R2 as examples of semantics within metadata schemes.
Do not copy semantics from the AACR2R2 or the Dublin Core
or any other existing metadata scheme. The point of this
assignment is for you to create your own scheme.
Be sure to include all fields, including and fields used for
Subject and Classification.
Include: List of fields and semantics, using a table format like
this:
Field Name
Semantics
Title

The identifying name given to the information object.
Author
Entity responsible for original content, such as author,
illustrator, composer.
4.2: Record content and input rules
A. Copy the seven-part format below for every field in your
system, in the same orderas parts 3.3 and 4.1. Write rules for
each field in the record. Do not copy AACR2R or RDA rules.
Field Name:Semantics:Chief Source of Information:Input Rules:
Required? :Repeatable? :
Unique? :
Example:
B. Fill in this format for each field as follows:
· Field name: spelled exactly as in Part 3.3 and 4.1 and in the
same order.
· Semantics: exactly as in Part 4.1.
· Chief source of information: primary location of the data
needed to represent the information object, usually in/on the
object itself.
· Input rules: prescription for how to enter data, including
spelling, capitalization, punctuation, multiple entries, etc. Be
sure to note if a field can be left blank.
· Required? : Is this a required field in that must be populated
with data in every record/representation in your system? For
instance, “title” is a required field in most library OPACs, so
every record must have a title specified. “Illustrator name” is
not a required field, since many objects in a library collection
do not have illustrators. Non-required fields may be left blank.
· Repeatable? : Can this field be repeated in your
record/representation? For instance will you allow more than
one author field?
· Unique? : Must the information in this field be unique
throughout your system? A unique field would be one in which

the data element cannot be repeated in this field in any other
record in your system (e.g. accession number, record number,
barcode number)
· Example: list one or two data values from your objects.
4.3: Special instructions for Subject Related and Classification
Fields:
It is possible that you will not need this section, depending on
how you are designing your system. If this is the case, simple
place “N/A” in this section.
However, if you have subject related field(s) you should
include:
· discussion of conducting subject analysis to determine subject
· decision on how many terms to use
· specific location to find the terms (your thesaurus or LCSH,
etc.)
· provisions for adding new terms if not in the controlled
vocabulary
· rules on capitalization and punctuation and order
· rules on how to enter multiple terms
If you have classification related field(s) you should include:
· type of scheme used (LC, Dewey, faceted). If faceted you also
need to provide your scheme.
· how to create the entire call number (general discussion of
whether or not to use cutter numbers, work numbers, dates, etc.)
· example of constructed classification number with call number
elementsPART V: Records for your objects
Using the field names you established in part 3.3 and the
content and input rules you created in 4.2, construct records for
your five sample objects. You can use a table to show the
records or you can simply type the field name, followed by a
colon, and then the value that would be contained in the field.

**Follow your rules precisely.** You might find at this stage
that your rules need a little “tweaking” to work the way you
intended. If this is the case, please edit them.
Your sample records should be presented in the same format as
the example below.
Item #: 1040
Title: Where the Wild Things Are
Author: Sendak, Maurice
Illustrator:
Publication Date: 1963
Be sure to include all fields and the values that would be
entered into each field for the five objects. It is possible that
one or more of the fields may not contain data. For example, if
you are working with a website that has no date created
information in the page source, then you would leave this field
blank. Be sure to follow your rules precisely.
PART VI: Project summary/narrative
Section 6 is an opportunity for you to describe your experience
with the project, including both positive and negative
experiences. This section is a critical component of the report
because it helps the instructor understand your experience this
semester and improve the assignment for future classes.
Use this section to describe both your opinion of the outcome of
the project and any problems you had in completing it. Because
this may be the first time you have attempted the systematic
organization of an information collection, you should expect to
be confused or frustrated at times. Here you can identify
problems you found especially difficult to deal with and discuss
how you might construct your system differently based on what
you now understand about the concepts and practices of
information organization.
Tasks: Review your experience with and feelings about the

project, such as:
· Your reasons for choosing to organize this specific collection
· Why or how your system is different or better than an existing
or traditional system
· Any major problems you had with representing objects in this
collection
· How you might construct your system differently based on
what you now know
· Problems you had with certain parts of the assignment
· Problems overcome and skills learned
· Whether there is a chance that you might actually implement
this system for an operational collection.
· How you will take what you learned from this assignment
forward into a professional position.
The above is just a means to get you started reflecting on the
project. It is meant to illustrate some questions you might
address, but you may have other concerns and/or ideas to
discuss. This is open-ended; discuss any or all of the points
above (or others). Because this is your personal assessment, you
should write the narrative in the first person. Suggested length
for Section 6 is 1 to 2 pages.
Transforming Lives Through Information
1

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