On the L&S Social & Behavioral Sciences breadth list. Mass Communications major elective, List C.

Course description: An introduction to information and information systems: Concepts (information, data, documents); processes (inquiry, retrieval, use); social context (demand, provision, control, influence of social values). Retrieval-based information services such as archives, databases, libraries, information centers, MIS.

Three units. Three hours of lecture per week. Lectures, readings, discussion, exercises, and assignments. No prerequisites.

Resources: Basic text: M.K. Buckland, Information and Information Systems (Praeger, 1991). Selected additional readings to provide additional depth. Hand-outs.

Expectations: Regular attendance and participation. Readings. Weekly exercises. Assignments. Essay. Written work: Well written, no binders. Late work accepted but discounted for lateness. Individual consultation. Grading: Database 33%, Essay 33% Exams 33%; then rounded up or down for unusual performance on the other expectations.

Extended course description: A examination of concepts of information, information services, information storage and retrieval, information seeking behavior, and the social uses of information and information systems.

• The principal meanings of "information": Information as a change in knowledge (including but not only the reduction of uncertainty; as a process of imparting knowledge; as documents and other "informative" things.
• Information sources: Data, documents, directories, collections, experiments, people, etc. Evaluation of information resources: scope, selection, accuracy, timeliness, relevance, cost.
• Information storage and retrieval: The representation of information, bibliographic access, indexing, types of search, retrieval evaluation. Questions of "relevance" and perspective. The nature of retrieval-based information services, such as archives, databases, libraries, management information systems, museums, and records centers.
• Information technology: The influence of information technology on information systems, and, thereby, on the dissemination of (and access to) information.
• Information in society: Dissemination of information and use of information; censorship, privacy, security, and related issues. Information policy and priorities for governments and organizations; diversity, pluralism, and the design of information services.

  Program: Three Related Strands
  The nature of information and of information services and systems: Communication and information storage and retrieval	Impact of information technology on access to information	Social and policy aspects of information systems

  
  

  Topics by Week

  1. Information: Different meanings of "information", "knowledge", "information system", etc. Information-as-knowledge, Information-as-process, Information-as-thing. Reduction of uncertainty, knowledge as (justified) belief, recorded knowledge, "knowledge bases"
  2. Presentation of information.
     • Visual presentation (Tufte).
     • Verbal: Semantics, syntax, pragmatics. Rhetoric.
  3. Information-as-thing (esp. visual and verbal representations). Diverse examples.
  4. Information technology. Examination of the capabilities, constraints, and social impact of different technologies:
     • Recording media: Paper, film, magnetic (analog, digital), etc.
     • Tools: Printing press, typewriter, computer, etc.
     • Telecommunications: Messenger, railway (mail), telephone, electronic telecommunications, etc.
  5. Representation of information-as-thing. Entity-attribute-value. Worked example: Dilemmas in library cataloging.
  6. Information retrieval. Search strategies. Problems of subject description.
  7. Demand / need for information systems.
  8. Communication. Mass communication. Interpersonal communication. Informal networks.
  9. Perspective: Alternative views of the same situation. How the arrangement and presentation of information affects the searching, finding, and interpretation.
  10. Provision / supply of information services. Public good, private gain, pricing, control, censorship.
  11. Social aspects of information systems. Information policy. Intellectual property. Social aspects of information: Privacy, freedom of information, security, persuasion, equality, competitive advantage, cultural heritage.
  12. through 15. Case studies, guest lectures. (Throughout semester).
  Not a professional, nor a pre-professional, nor a "skills" course, but, rather, an exploration of various aspects of information and information systems. Revised May 5, 1997.