Master of Science in Library and Information Management

MLIM6316

Organising Information

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

Faculty of Education
Division of Information & Technology Studies

- Jan 2024 -
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Course Description (6 credits)

This course introduces the theory, principles, standards and applications of information
organisation. Approaches to describing, representing, and organising information in textual and
non-textual formats are covered as well as the evolution of standards concerning classification
schemas, cataloguing and indexing rules, metadata schemas, and controlled vocabulary. The
focus is placed on how to represent and organise information using appropriate standards and
techniques for effective information retrieval and content management.

Aims
The course aims to:
․ Introduce the concepts, principles, and practices of information organisation (IO)
․ Discuss cataloguing standards and metadata schemas for IO
․ Explore the methods for IO in hybrid (digital and non-digital) environments

Pre-requisites, Co-requisites and prohibited combination

• There are no pre-requisites and co-requisites for this course.

Course Learning Outcomes (CLO)

Related Programme Related

CLO No. CLO Statement
Learning Outcomes (PLO) 1 Assessment
Acquire the principles and approaches
1 1 1
for IO in libraries and other contexts
Adopt relevant standards and metadata
2 1, 2 1, 2
schemas for IO in various contexts
Analyse IO approaches in real-world
3 1, 2 2
applications
Design metadata application profiles for
4 1, 2, 3 3
IO in real-world environments

Lecturer

Prof. Maggie Minhong WANG

Professor & Director of MScLIM
Faculty of Education
The University Hong Kong
Room 212, Runme Shaw Building
Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
Phone: 2859-2474
Email: magwang@hku.hk
https://web.edu.hku.hk/staff/academic/magwang

1 List of MScLIM Programme Learning Outcomes (PLO) are available at Moodle http://moodle.hku.hk/
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Delivery Structure
The course is delivered in 8 sessions (3 hours per session). Teaching and learning activities are
provided at the course website: Moodle http://moodle.hku.hk/.

Course Teaching and Learning Activities2

Teaching and learning Contact hours Study Load hours Alignment with
activities (estimates) CLOs
Interactive lectures 24 1, 2, 3, 4
Forum discussions 10 1, 2, 3, 4
Group project, report writing 50 2, 3, 4
Self-study, library search, 50 1, 2, 3
reading, reflective essays
Total 24 110

Schedule
January - March 2024, Wednesday 6:30-9:30PM, Runme Shaw Building (RMS) Room 301

Session Topic Remark for students

1 Introduction to Information Organisation Know about each other
Classification and Cataloguing/Metadata
2 Formulate small groups
(including cataloguing exercise)
3 Metadata for Information Organisation Receive materials for Essay 1
New Year Holiday
Post grouping information,
Metadata Schemas and Standards
4 Submit Essay 1,
with Controlled Vocabularies
Select a topic for Essay 2
Analysis of Information Organisation
5 Work on Essay 2
in Real-World Applications
Reading Week Post peer comments on Essay 1
Submit Essay 2,
6 Design of Metadata Application Profiles
Work on the group project
7 Metadata Design Project Group project consultation
8 Course Review and Project Presentation Oral presentation

2For a 6-credit course, the total no. of teacher-student face-to-face contact (CT) hours should be 24, and the total no. of CT hrs and
Study Load (SL) hours added together should be in the range of 120 to 180.
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Assessment Tasks

Title Mode Weighting Related LO

1. Class participation and online Individual 30% 1, 2, 3
activities
2. Reflective essays Individual 35% 1, 2, 3
3. Group project Group 35% 2, 3, 4

1. Class Participation and Online Activities (30 points)

• Students are required to participate in classroom activities, engage in active thinking
and discussion, and make clear presentations or responses to tasks (75%).
• Each student needs to participate in a small group presentation on information literacy,
i.e., teaching other people to use ICT to find, evaluate, and communicate information
(25%).
• Giving constructive comments to peers is encouraged.

Assessment rubrics:
• Engagement in classroom activities and online discussions
• Clear presentations or responses to tasks
• Critical thinking
• Open-mindedness

2. Reflective Essays (30 points)

Students are required to write two reflective essays, which help students to be reflective about
their learning via communicating observations, thoughts, and ideas, as well as help students to
identify their strengths and preferences in learning and areas for improvement.

(1) Understanding of information organisation related issues [15 points]

• The teacher will provide IO related articles published in academic journals, from
which you can identify an IO related issue/topic that you feel interested.
• Search additional 1-2 articles related to the issue/topic selected by you.
• Write a reflective essay including:
o Introduce the topic of selected articles.
o Summarize how the topic is discussed in the two articles.
o Give your comments or reflection on the two articles.
o Draw a concept map to present your understanding developed from the two
articles.
[Note: You will learn how to draw a concept map in one session.]
o List the references (indicating the one from the teacher and the other from your
search) in the APA format.
o Report the total number of words in your essay excluding references.
• Expected length: about 1,500 words (excluding references).
• Each student needs to read another student’s essay and give brief comments.

(2) Analysis of information organisation in a real-world application [20 points]

• Students are required to observe how information is organized in a real-world
application (e.g., online shopping platform, travel agency website, online museum,
online music).
o The topic can be related to your group project.
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• Write an essay including:

o Introduction of the selected application
o Analysis of the metadata application profile of the selected case
o Discussion on the strength and weakness of the metadata application profile
• Expected length: about 1,500 words (excluding references). You are expected to
include diagrams to present IO models or structures.

Assessment rubrics:
• Relevance
• Originality
• Concrete and critical analysis
• Referencing
• Constructive comments to peers

3. Group Project (35 points)

Title: Design of a metadata application profile
• In this project, students will work in small groups of 3-4 to design a metadata
application profile for organising information in a selected situation/context/domain.
• Students need to give an oral presentation of the project to receive the teacher’s
comments for possible improvement before submitting a written report.
• Main points to be covered in the written report:
o Introduction (e.g., selected application context, purpose of the project)
o Background (e.g., introduction of the selected application context, target users,
IO needs analysis)
o Review of existing practice (e.g., selection of two application examples, analysis
of the metadata application profile of the 2 examples, problems/challenges in
existing practice)
o Design of a metadata application profile (e.g., overall model, metadata schemas,
sample metadata records created using the proposed design)
o Conclusion (e.g., key features of your design compared to existing practice,
contribution of your design, limitations if any)
o A summary of each member’s contribution to the project
o References
• Expected length of the written report: about 4,000 words (excluding references).

Assessment rubrics:
• Please refer to the marking proforma and grading criteria on the last page of this file.
• Pay attention to
- Relevance
- Originality
- Concrete and critical analysis
- Appropriate design
- Referencing

References and Resources

Main References:
• Joudrey, D. N., Taylor, A. G., & Wisser, K. M. (2018). The Organization of
Information. California: Libraries Unlimited, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC (4th
edition). (Reserved at HKU Library)
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• Haynes, D. (2018). Metadata for information management and retrieval: understanding

metadata and its use. London: Facet. (Reserved at HKU Library)
• Zeng, M. L., & Qin, J. (2016). Metadata. London: Facet. (Reserved at HKU Library)

Other References:
• Baca, M. (2016). Introduction to metadata. Los Angeles: Getty Information Institute
(3rd edition). http://www.getty.edu/publications/intrometadata/
• National Information Standards Organization (NISO) (2017). Understanding Metadata,
ISBN: 1-880124-62-9. https://www.niso.org/publications/understanding-metadata-2017
• Malta, M. C., Baptista, A. A., & Walk, P. (2017). Developing metadata application
profiles. Hershey, Pennsylvania: IGI Global. eBook at HKU Library.
• Mitchell, E. (2015). Metadata standards and web services in libraries, archives, and
museums: An active learning resource. California: Libraries Unlimited. eBook at HKU
library.
• Willer, M. (2013). Bibliographic information organization in the semantic web. Oxford:
Chandos Publishing. eBook at HKU library.
• Smith, G. (2008). Tagging: people-powered metadata for the social. Berkeley: New
Riders.

Selected Professional Societies with their Resources:

• Library of Congress (LOC) with MARC Standards: http://www.loc.gov/marc/
• Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI): http://dublincore.org/
• National Information Standards Organization (NISO): http://www.niso.org/index.html
• The Getty http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/standards/

Academic Conduct
Academic integrity is a bedrock principle of HKU. Every student must take full ownership of,
and responsibility for, work submitted for assessment. Plagiarism (the use of others’ ideas or
writings without acknowledging their sources, including Generative AI tools) is a serious
offence. Assignments which contain evidence of plagiarism will be seriously penalised and
might result in expulsion of the student from the University. Learn more about the
consequences of Plagiarism at HKU: https://tl.hku.hk/plagiarism/consequences-of-plagiarism/.
A signed statement of originality of work must be attached to each assignment (template is
provided). In case of uncertainty, please refer to this website [Policy on Student Plagiarism in
Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Curricula] and speak to your course instructor.

Referencing Guideline
• The accepted referencing style is APA (http://www.apastyle.org/).
• The details and examples of the APA formatting and style can be found at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.
• Quick guidance is provided on Moodle in separate documents.
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MLIM Marking Proforma and Grade Descriptors