This course deals with how information technologies have affected, and are affecting, the information professions and society in general. In short, it deals with the interactions among those technologies, those professions, and society. Though it is not a course about the information professions per se, you will learn a good deal about how these professions are dealing with various problems arising from, or exacerbated, by changes in technology, and about how they are utilizing opportunities provided by technology.
The course provides a mix of skills and knowledge. You will learn a variety of computer skills important in the information professions, you will gain experience in working in groups via the Internet, and you will study various aspects of the role of information in society: how society and individuals handle information, and how information helps to shape society and individuals.
The professions of librarianship, archives and records management, and information science have changed drastically over the last four decades. The world's total quantity of information has increased tenfold; computers and means of communications have become vastly more powerful and speedy; and, especially in the last two decades, the Internet and the Worldwide Web have come to play a huge role in the storage, processing, and disseminating of information. Most libraries, archives, and other information agencies now have Webpages and access information via the Web. Librarians and other information professionals now find lots of frustration as users encounter electronic problems. We information professionals need to teach users how to use proxy servers, telnet, and other etools. We often must read the fine print to users and help them understand it (and get over their frustration).
This course is Web-based in order to help you, as a future information professional, to learn about the frustrations these users face and to experience the joy of overcoming the kinds of difficulties they will have to overcome. If this course were taught as a traditional classroom course, you would not gain the applied experience of working with the kinds of real-world problems you will face after you graduate.
Information Technologies and the Information Professions (LIS 386.13) is intended to allow students to accomplish a number of goals. The course description notes that, in pursuing the general theme of learning about the impact of information on society and the impact of society on information, students will become acquainted with:
To further the goal of providing students with experience in Internet-based interaction and learning, we have made all of the course materials available on the World-Wide Web, and have provided tools for students to interact with each other and to learn using the Internet. Students will have the opportunity to use some of the most powerful and commonly used Internet and Web tools, such as email, coding and display of Web pages, UNIX commands, cryptography, and other applications.
This course was new to the School of Information's master's curriculum in the Fall Semester 2000, serving as the second of two introductory courses in the new curriculum for the degree of Master of Science in Information Studies. We will continue to welcome your comments and guidance on how we can improve the course in future offerings.
As with every course, your active engagement with the material, your participation in shared learning, and your contribution to the class as a whole are essential. There are additional emotional and cognitive burdens associated with taking a course online, such as increased anxiety, feelings of alienation, logistical complications, and technical difficulties. From the outset, you will need to recognize, and to make allowances for, the fact that you will be experiencing these burdens. The burdens, however, are accompanied by (and, we hope, more than offset by) significant advantages: e.g., working at one's own pace, choosing the times one devotes to the course, access to course materials 24 hours a day 7 days a week, and so on.
Please be assured that the LIS 386.13 Instructional Team—the instructor, the TA, and the staff of the School of Information Technology Laboratory—are committed to your individual and group success. We will do everything in our power to help you make the most of your experience in the course this semester.
On behalf of the LIS 386.13 Team, I welcome you to the course.
Ronald E. Wyllys
Last revised 2004 Feb 2