COURSE SYLLABUS
Interdepartmental 117j
Get FIT! Becoming Fluent with Information & Technology
Class sessions: Tuesday & Thursday, 9AM – 12Noon
Location: Williston 431

Instructors: This course will be taught by a team of LITS staff. Julie Habjan Boisselle (jboissel) and Janet Ewing (jewing) will be the primary instructors; Jim Burke, Bryan Goodwin, and Jennifer Gunter King will join us at various points throughout the course as guest instructors. We hope you will enjoy the opportunity to meet a range of professionals working in information and technology fields.
Technology mentor: Heather Do ‘07

Course description:
This course fosters the development of technology and research skills to enhance intellectual exploration and expression in a technology-rich learning environment. Students will gain an understanding of how scholarly communication and "knowledge" has come to be produced, organized and shared in our digital age. Students will learn how to effectively use library and information technology resources. Coursework will offer an opportunity for students to apply newly acquired skills to pursue inquiries and create digital media to share findings. The course will combine discussion, labs, and group project work.

Course resources:
WebCT will be a virtual ‘homebase’ for this course. You can access WebCT through your web browser, by going to (or just ‘luna’ if you are on campus). You will need to enter your MHC username and password to enter the website. The WebCT site contains the course syllabus, the readings that you will be expected to read before class, guidelines for class assignments, a blog for class announcements and communication, as well as some additional links related to the class.
Each student will be issued a laptop for individual use throughout the duration of the course. Internet browsers (Netscape and Internet Explorer), Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Microsoft Office software are all included in the laptops. A contract related to the laptops will be distributed at the first class. Alternatively, you are welcome to use your own laptop, if you have one and it has comparable software. (we cannot give away the software, sorry)If you encounter problems with your laptop, please contact Scott Maddaline, Research & Instructional Support, email: , and explain the problem.

Students are expected to bring the laptops to each class for hands-on assignments and labs.

Please discuss with us any learning style needs or concerns that you may have so that we can help make the course a productive learning experience for you. Students who require disability-related classroom or other accommodations are encouraged to see us as soon as possible. Students may also contact John Body, Associate Dean for Learning Skills, at x2504, 1 Safford Hall, email: jbody. For other disability issues, students should contact Elisabeth Hogan, Associate Dean of Students at x2550, 300 Mary Lyon Hall, e-mail: ehogan.

Optional Recommended Readings: (on reserve at the Circulation Desk)

The Invisible Web by Chris Sherman and Gary Price
ZA 4450 S54 2001 REF

WEB Search Engines by Randolph Hock
ZA 4226 H63 2001

The Mirage of Continuity: Reconfiguring Academic Information Resources for the 21st Century by Brian L. Hawkins & Patricia Battin
Z 675.U5 M546 1998

Copyright Law on Campus by Marc Lindsey
KF 3030.1 .L56 2003

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd Edition, by Edward Tufte
QA276.3 .T832001

Office hours:
Instructors will hold office hours Wednesday and Friday afternoons from 2:00-4:00 in the Information Commons.

The Technology Mentor, Heather Do, will also hold drop-in hours for assistance with WebCTand technologies used for the final project.Heather’s hours will be announced in class.

Expectations:
This course is being offered solely with Pass/Fail grading. In order to receive a successful “Pass” mark, students will accumulate points for various components of the course. The following will be expected of students:

-Attend class regularly. Given the intensive and hands-on nature of this course, class time is an essential component of student learning.

-Participate in class and complete assignments in a timely manner. Students should prepare for class participation by reviewing class readings. Four assignments will be required: a research log, final project proposal, sources consulted list, and the final project. Given the intensive nature of this course, deadlines will not be extended. Please contact an instructor ahead of time if you anticipate a conflict. Contact an instructor immediately if unforeseen circumstances arise (major illness, family crisis, etc) and you cannot make a deadline.

-Out-of-class workshops. Numerous workshops will be offered to complement the learning opportunities within the classroom and to help you prepare for the final project assignment: Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Powerpoint, Excel, Refworks, and an Introduction to Archives. Students are required to attend at least one workshop outside of class but are encouraged to attend more if interested.

-Bearing these expectations in mind, a ‘Pass’ mark will be earned by a combination of points earned through class attendance/participation, short assignments and a graded final project. Students may accumulate the following points:

  • 5 points for each class session attended

(total possible=30)

  • 5 points for attending one out-of-class workshop

(you are encouraged to attend as many as you like but can only earn 5 points in this area, total possible=5)

  • 5 points for each of the short assignments

(research log, final project proposal, final projects sources list, total possible=15)

-In order to earn a ‘Pass’ mark, students must earn 40 out of 50 points possible for class attendance, participation and short assignment work; AND…

In addition to the above, all students _must_ submit a final project that receives a passing grade in order to earn a ‘Pass’ mark for the class.

Tuesday, January 4th

Unit 1. Scholarly Communication and Dissemination Process

  • Welcome and introductions.
    Distribution of laptops.
    Introduction to WebCT.
  • “Information Cycle” and Scholarly Communications: In-class exercise and discussion.
  • Research Log Assignment distributed, due Wednesday, January 5th, 7pm.

Readings: (Note all readings will be available online at the class site on WebCT.)
Giles, Micheal W. “From Gutenberg to Gigabytes: Scholarly Communication in the

Age of Cyberspace,” Journal of Politics, Aug. 1996, pp 613-626

Bichel, Rebecca and Debora Cheney. The Information Cycle. PennsylvaniaStateUniversity Libraries. [an online tutorial]

Miller, Cass T. and Julianna C. Harris. “Scholarly Journal Publication: Conflicting Agendas for Scholars, Publishers, and Institutions,” Journal of Scholarly Publishing, January 2004, pp. 73-91. [especially pp 74-77 on the ‘Publication

Process’]

Thursday, January 6th
Unit 2. Research Process: Searching and Retrieving Information

  • Sharing and discussion of research logs.
  • Exploring Research Tools: In-class exercise and discussion.
  • Final project assignment distributed and discussed. (guest: Jennifer Gunter King, Director of Archives and Special Collections)

Readings:
Landis, David, and Katy Marquardt. "Gaga Over GOOGLE," Kiplinger's Personal Finance, November 2004, pg. 62.

Sullivan, Danny. How Search Engines WorkHow Search Engines Rank Web Pages. Search Engine Watch.

Tuesday, January 11th

Unit 3. Evaluating Information

  • Fake Web Site: In-class exercise and discussion (guest: Bryan Goodwin, Reference Librarian)
  • Web Site Comparison: In-class exercise and discussion
  • Final project course proposals due Wednesday, January 12th at 9am.

Readings:

Critically Analyzing Information Sources. CornellUniversity Library.

Thursday, January 13th
Unit 4. Producing & Disseminating Information: Tools for Representing Findings

  • Using Excel to Present and Analyze Information: In-class lab (guest: Jim Burke, Instructional Technologist)
  • Making Diagrams with Word or PowerPoint: In-class lab
  • Creating Maps to Present Data using GIS: In-class lab
  • Final project preparations: sources consulted. A list of the sources that you plan to use for your final project should be submitted by Friday, January 14th at 5pm.

Readings:

Thompson, Clive. “Powerpoint Makes You Dumb,” New York Times, Dec. 14, 2003.

United Nations Development Program, “Today’s Technological Transformations – Creating the Network Age,” in Human Development Report 2001: Making New Technologies Work for Human Development, 2001, pp. 27 – 63.

Tuesday, January 18th
Unit 5. Ethical and Legal Issues Surrounding the use of Information & Technology

  • Information as “property.” What is copyright, why does it exist and how does it affect students? In-class discussion
  • Should access to information be free? Equity of Access and the ‘digital divide.’: In-class discussion

Readings:

Templeton, Brad.10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained.

Munro, Neil. “Off-Limits,”National Journal, May 8, 2004 ,pp. 1411-1416.

Annan, Kofi. “We Are Embarked on an Endeavor That Transcends Technology,”UN Chronicle, December 2003-February 2004, pg. 4.
Britz, Johannes J. “To Know or Not to Know: amoral reflection on information poverty,”Journal of Information Science, June2004,pp. 192-204.

Thursday, January 20th
Unit 6. Wrap-Up. Project Presentations