IDS 150 Research in the Information Age
Spring 2007

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Instructor

This course will acquaint students with the many aspects and uses of information in contemporary society, from the World Wide Web to discipline-specific databases. While introducing the students to basic information technology needed to excel in their academic career, this course will emphasize critical thinking and research skills.

Course Requirements

Participation in class discussions 25%
Completion of weekly assignments 25%
Final project (Web page) 30%
Oral presentation 20%

Weekly assignments will include readings, online discussions, creation of small documents using various software applications covered in the course, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and NVU, and other projects that will be posted in the Blackboard section for this course.

The final project will be the creation of a web document presentation that incorporates the concepts and skills mastered throughout the semester. Students will research the role and use of information in a discipline or skill that interests them, gather and synthesize their research into an electronic document. At the end of the semester they will give an oral presentation on their topic, which will include their evaluation of the issues and skills involved needed to create their final project.

Grading Policies

As the syllabus describes, class participation and weekly assignments each count for 25% of the course grade. We will be grading these components as follows: Each written assignment will be graded on a scale of 0 to 5 by the instructor making the assignment. In-class participation will earn you 0 to 3 points each class, with at least 1 point earned for mere attendance for the full class period. Out-of-class participation assignments (usually contributions to the discussion boards on the course web site) will earn you 0 to 2 points.

Class Schedule
Last update: January 9, 2007

Class meets in the Library Instruction Classroom, Hatfield Library, 2nd Floor

January 15
Week 1: Introduction and Course Overview

• How subject matter and nature of project affect search choices
  
• Where to start
  
• Differences among information resources—by discipline, completeness of data, selectivity, other factors
  
• How one source can lead to another

January 29
Week 3: Finding Graphics and Organizing Information
Guest instructor, Cheryl Cramer, WITS

February 5
Week 4: Finding Information on the Internet
Guest Instructor, Bill Kelm, Systems Librarian

• Discuss final project assignment
• Good web page design
• Attending to different audiences
• Differences between printed and on-line documents
• Basic HTML and web page creation with NVU

February 26
Week 7: The Ethical Use of Information
Guest Instructors, Marti Morandi, Mitch Jones, WITS

March 5
Week 8: Finding Information in Journals and Full-text Databases

March 12
Week 9: Searching Discipline-specific Databases

March 19
Week 10: Evaluating Information (Critical Literacy)

March 26-30 SPRING BREAK

April 2
Week 11: Social Software for Presenting and Sharing Information
Guest Instructors, Mike Spalti & Bill Kelm, Systems Librarians

April 16
Week 13: Information Cycles

• Connections between information resources and social structure
  
• Information cycles within disciplines
  
• How information fits into the life of groups: Electronic discussion groups, websites, and other group communication tools

April 23
Week 14: Web Design Follow-up