Creating Information Infrastructures: Spring 2015

Instructor:

Katy Lawley

School:

iSchool at Maryland

Semester:

Spring 2015

Description:

Creating Information Infrastructures introduces students to the foundations of acquiring and managing collections, information structures, indexing and discovery systems in Library and Information Studies. The course introduces theoretical concepts, trends, systems, and technologies central to this area of the field and equips students with the skills and conceptual
background to create and manage information systems and services. The course is centered on the exploration of library and archival information systems, with students working to create,
index, and produce their own objects and descriptive metadata for physical and digital contexts. In order to introduce students to the broad world of information institutions, how they
manage resources and provide access for their users the course is broken into four thematic areas:

• Terms of reference: What are information institutions, and in what social context do they exist?
• Get it: What kinds of resources do information institutions manage, and how do they come to have them?
• Find it: How do institutions manage these resources, what conceptual and functional skills are required for this work, and what benefits and limitations exist for each approach (e.g., automated vs. manual)?
• Serve it: How do information institutions provide access to these resources in physical and Web-based settings?

Required Textbook:

No required textbook.

Link to Syllabus:

http://ischool.umd.edu/sites/default/files/syllabi/lawleylbsc671syllabus.spring2015.pdf

Information and Human Rights: Fall 2013

Instructor:

Paul T. Jaeger

School:

iSchool at Maryland

Semester:

Fall 2013

Description:

The concept of human rights is the belief that all individuals deserve certain equal rights as members of society. This course examines information as a human right, including topics on the relationship of information to human rights; social, cultural, economic, legal, and political forces shaping information rights; the impacts of information rights on information professions, standards, and cultural institutions; and disadvantaged populations. While this course will focus on the United States, cases and examples will be drawn from international events.

Required Textbook:

No required textbook.

Link to Syllabus:

http://ischool.umd.edu/sites/default/files/syllabi/INST613fall2013final2.pdf

History of Recorded Information: Spring 2009

Instructor:

Philip B. Eppard

School:

University at Albany

Semester:

Spring 2009

Description:

An introduction to the history of how human beings have created, maintained, and preserved information for personal, official, and cultural purposes. Topics will include the development of writing, recordkeeping, and libraries; the emergence of printing and the history of the book; the evolution of recordkeeping by organizations, government, and individuals; and the impact of different technologies on the development of print and digital culture.

Required Textbook:

Finkelstein, D. McCleery, A. 2006. The Book History Reader, 2nd ed.
Levy, D. M. 2001. Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age.

Link to Syllabus:

http://www.albany.edu/content_images/IST402502Syl_2009.doc

Information, Technology and Society: Philosophical Dimensions of Library Studies: Summer 2004

Instructor:

Brian Richardson

School:

University of Hawaii

Semester:

Summer 2004

Description:

From the very beginning, human language has been sustained by various technologies of communication. The introduction of writing in an oral culture is frequently marked as a decisive cultural shift. The same is said of the introduction of the printed book and of the computer. But what is it that makes these changes in communication technology important? What is communication supposed to do for us, or to us?

The principle goal of this course is to introduce students to philosophical issues associated with technologies of information. We will examine several related themes. The first important theme concerns the relationship between information, technology and human beings. What do we do when we read? What impact does information have on us? Does information make us free, or does it control us? These questions have a significant social dimension. What impact does writing, the printed book, or the internet have on society? What is significant, if anything, about the shift from oral to written to electronic media? Do different technologies change society? Do
hey change us?

The second important theme concerns what we mean by “information” and how it relates to other concepts such as knowledge, wisdom, facts and experience. While information is a relatively new concept, some of the current debates are echoes of debates that are centuries old.

Finally, technologies of information raise various ethical and political concerns. Who should control information? Should anybody be able to own it? What sorts of information ought to be available? To whom? What is the good of information, anyway?

Required Textbook:

Herder, J., Rousseau, J. J. 1986. On the Origin of Language.
Bradbury, R. 1967. Fahrenheit 451.
Woolf, V. 1989. A Room of One’s Own.
Roszak, T. 1986. The Cult of Information.

Link to Syllabus:

http://www.hawaii.edu/lis/content/syllabi/694_richardson.pdf

Information Needs, Searching, and Presentation: Fall 2011

Instructor:

William Jones

School:

University of Washington

Semester:

Fall 2011

Description:

We already all know something about Search. After the course, you should know more. Specifically you should know more about:

• Search in all its many variations – in and outside the search “box”.
• The different search strategies and techniques.
• Choosing the right sources to search.
• Perspectives on search including those of the end user, search service providers, content providers and IT implementers of search.
• How search works. How is an index built? How are queries processed?
• Needs assessment and search evaluation.

Required Textbook:

Morville, P., Callender, J., St. Laurent, S. 2010. Search Patterns.

Link to Syllabus:

http://courses.washington.edu/info320/au11/

Computer-Mediated Communications: Spring 2012

Instructor:

Mary E. Brown

School:

Southern Connecticut

Semester:

Spring 2012

Description:

A reading-intensive course on computer-mediated communication (CMC) and its applications in the dissemination of information and delivery of information services. In the context of existing theoretical frameworks and CMC research findings, the course reviews the advantages and disadvantages of CMC technologies as well as the long-term implications of CMC for the information professions.

Required Textbook:

Thurlow, C., Lengel, L., Tomic, A. 2009. Computer mediated communication: Social interaction and the internet.

Link to Syllabus:

http://ares.southernct.edu//ils/uploads/textWidget/wysiwyg/documents/ILS_538-S70-Syllabus-Spring_2012-Brown_Mary.pdf

Information-Seeking Behavior: Spring 2012

Instructor:

Eino Sierpe

School:

Southern Connecticut

Semester:

Spring 2012

Description:

How people acquire, store and use information they receive from their environment. Topics include behavioral, cognitive, and affective aspects of information-seeking. Applications to information systems and user instruction.

Required Textbook:

Marchionini, G. 1995. Information seeking in electronic environments.

Link to Syllabus:

http://www.southernct.edu/ils/uploads/textWidget/wysiwyg/documents/ILS_537-S70-Syllabus-Spring_2012-Sierpe_Eino.doc

Information Modeling: Spring 2014

Instructor:

Karen Wickett

School:

University of Texas at Austin

Semester:

Spring 2014

Description:

An introduction to the foundations of the information modeling methods used in current digital library applications as well as in information management in general. The specific methods considered are relational database design, conceptual modeling, markup systems, and ontologies. The basic concepts underlying these methods are, respectively, relations, entities, grammars, and logic. Implementations include relational database design, ER/EER/UML diagrams, XML markup languages, and RDF/OWL semantic web languages. First order logic is emphasized throughout as the foundational framework for information modeling in general, and for contemporary web-based information management and delivery systems (including semantic web technologies) in particular.

Required Textbook:

Teller, P. 1989. A Modern Formal Logic Primer. (online)
Elmasri, R., Navathe, S. B. 2010. Fundamentals of Database Systems, 6th ed.

Link to Syllabus:

http://courses.ischool.utexas.edu/wickett/2014/spring/385T/home.html

Perspectives on Information: Fall 2014

Instructor:

Melanie Feinberg

School:

University of Texas at Austin

Semester:

Fall 2014

Description:

Perspectives on Information. A multi-disciplinary and historical examination of information as a primary and foundational concept. Contrasts key literature from information studies with perspectives from other fields.

Required Textbook:

No required textbook.

Link to Syllabus:

https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/images/webform/INF%20380E%20Feinberg%20syllabus%20fall%202014.pdf

Information in Social and Cultural Context: Fall 2014

Instructor:

Kenneth R. Fleischmann

School:

University of Texas at Austin

Semester:

Fall 2014

Description:

Examines the role of information in human activities, particularly in relation to particular social and cultural contexts. Examines how individuals, groups, organizations, institutions, and society at large create, find, use, understand, share, transform, and curate information.

Required Textbook:

No required textbook.

Link to Syllabus:

https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/images/webform/InformationInSocialContextFall2014.pdf