Course Information

School of Information,
UC-Berkeley
INFO 203. Social and Organizational Issues of Information

Spring 2013

4 units; CCN 42584

Tu & Th: 11-12:30
170 Barrows Hall

Prof. Jenna Burrell
office hours: Tuesdays, 4-6pm or by appointment, Room 312 (starting 1/29)

GSIs:
Stuart Geiger
office hours: 1-3pm, Tuesdays, 1st floor alcove, South Hall (starting 1/29)

Jen Schradie
office hours: 12:30-2:30pm, Thursdays, 1st floor alcove, South Hall (starting 1/31)

Elisa Oreglia
office hours: by appointment

Required Texts

  1. Sellen, Abigail and Richard Harper. (2001). The Myth of the Paperless Office.  The MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.  Available Campus Bookstore
  2. Course Reader: Available at Copy Central on Bancroft

Course Description:

This course is designed to be an introduction to the topics and issues associated with the study of information and information technology, from a social scientific perspective. As a result, this course will introduce students to a broad range of applied and practical problems, theoretical issues, as well as methods for answering different types of questions.

The following three questions will guide the material throughout the course: 1) Why do social scientists study information and information technology, 2) What are some of the key topics and issues that they study, and 3) How do they study these issues? As we work our way through many different topics and problems in information, we will focus on various levels of analysis from the micro (i.e., interpersonal relationships and information in small groups) to the macro (i.e., organizational and institutional problems of information). By the end of the course, all students will be familiar with social scientific approaches to information and information technology, as well as many of the key issues and the methods used to gain insight into these issues through empirical research. This knowledge is essential to having a well-rounded understanding of information issues in professional environments.

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