Course Schedule: Spring 2009

This course focuses on understanding the Web as an information system, and how to use it for information management for personal and shared information. The Web is an open and constantly evolving system which can make it hard to understand how the different parts of the landscape fit together. This course provides students with an overview of the Web as a whole, and how the individual parts it together. We briefly look at topics such as Web design and Web programming, but this course is not exclusively designed to teach HTML or JavaScript. Instead, we look at the bigger picture and how and when to use these and other technologies. The Web already is and will remain a central part in many information-related activities for a long time to come, and this course provides students with the understanding and skills to better navigate and use the landscape of Web information (for example, Wikipedia), Web technologies (for example, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript), Web tools (for example, delicious and Yahoo pipes), and common Web patterns (for example, mashups).

As information and information systems projects have become increasingly strategic, information workers at all levels and in all environments must demonstrate higher levels of professionalism, not only to perform their duties competently, but to remain competitive in the job market. This course, in conjunction with the School of Information final project, gives students insight into the source and best practice of professionalism, and gives students the chance to refine the essential skills in a simulated but realistic working environment.

Note: This course is being offered on a S/U (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) basis.

Three hours of lecture per week. User interface design and human-computer interaction. Examination of alternative design. Tools and methods for design and development. Human- computer interaction. Methods for measuring and evaluating interface quality.

This course covers the design, prototyping, and evaluation of user interfaces to computers which is often called Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). It is loosely based on course CS1 described in the ACM SIGCHI Curricula for Human-Computer Interaction (Association for Computing Machinery, 1992).

HCI covers many topics including:

1. Human capabilities (e.g., visual and auditory perception, memory, mental models, and interface metaphors);
2. Interface technology (e.g., input and output devices, interaction styles, and common interface paradigms); and,
3. Interface design methods (e.g., user-centered design, prototyping, and design principles and rules), and interface evaluation (e.g., software logging, user observation, benchmarks and experiments).

This material is covered through lectures, reading, discussions, homework assignments, and a course project. This course differs from CS 160 primarily in two ways:

1. There is an emphasis on interfaces for information technology applications; and,
2. There is less emphasis on programming and system development, although some simple prototyping (for example, in visual basic or using JAVA GUI development tools) may be required. (CS 160 has a big programming project.)

Three hours of lecture per week. The measurement and analysis of the role information plays in the economy and of the resources devoted to production, distribution, and consumption of information. Economic analysis of the information industry. Macroeconomics of information. Enrollment is limited.

Three hours of lecture per week. Theories and methods for searching and retrieval of text and bibliographic information. Analysis of relevance and utility. Statistical and linguistic methods for automatic indexing and classification. Boolean and probabilistic approaches to indexing, query formulation, and output ranking. Filtering methods. Measures of retrieval effectiveness and retrieval experimentation methodology.

This course is intended to prepare you to understand the underlying theories and algorithms of advanced information retrieval systems and to introduce the methodology for the design and evaluation of information retrieval systems. The course will introduce you to the major types of information retrieval systems, the different theoretical foundations underlying these systems, and the methods and measures that can be used to evaluate them. The course will focus on the both the theoretical aspects of information retrieval design and evaluation, and will also consider the practical aspects of how these theories have been implemented in actual systems. These topics will be examined through readings, discussion, hands-on experience using various information retrieval systems, and through participation in evaluation of different retrieval algorithms on various test collections. The prerequisite for the course is INFOSYS 202, though this may be waived with the consent of instructor. A good familiarity with computers and programming is highly desirable.

The goal of this course is to provide students with an introduction to many different types of quantitative research methods and statistical techniques. This course will be divided into two sections: 1) methods for quantitative research and, 2) quantitative statistical techniques for analyzing data. We begin with a focus on defining research problems, theory testing, causal inference, and designing research instruments. Then, we will explore a range of statistical techniques and methods that are available for empirical research. Topics in research methods include: Primary and Secondary Data Analysis, Sampling, Survey Design, and Experimental Designs. Topics in quantitative techniques include: Descriptive and Inferential statistics, General Linear Models, and Non-Linear Models. The course will conclude with an introduction to special topics in quantitative research methods.

This course focuses on employing XML and web services to reuse or "remix" digital content and services. Students will learn practical tools and techniques to recombine personal information through hands-on explorations and projects.

Topics include:

• weblogs, wikis, and their underlying technologies
• content syndication via RSS
• building applications on top of Flickr, the image sharing site, and delicious, and other social bookmarking sites
• incorporating content from libraries via new digital library technologies
• sending content to the campus' new learning management system, bSpace
• exploiting the XML of OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office to create and manipulate "smart documents"
• incorporating geospatial services into the mix of services

Students are expected to have some basic knowledge of XML. No experience with web services is expected.

Information is the cornerstone of healthcare. Insurance companies design plans and products based on health information; hospitals and clinicians employ it for their operations, care and administration; third parties such as imaging centers, laboratories, pharmacies, etc. rely on it for their business and profitability; consumers increasingly demand it, and entrepreneurs and established firms increasingly look to health information for innovation and profit. This course is intended to provide an overview of health information services from the multiple viewpoints of hospitals, clinicians, consumers, and entrepreneurs, among others. By doing so, the student will gain an understanding of the complex role of information services in health care innovation, operations, administration, and clinical care. Emphasis will be placed on managing information as a key organizational asset in today's healthcare system and the role of information in the service of health care. The course will also cover business, political, technical and other drivers of the current state of the art (or lack thereof!). Course readings will include material from peer-reviewed journals and trade press that highlight topics such as imaging, hospital safety, insurance plans, security in health care, quality of care, consumer information services, and clinical systems including electronic health records and telemedicine. Guest lecturers will highlight special topics of interest. The course will assume no prior clinical experience nor technical expertise.

It takes critical thinking, outstanding leadership and a little magic to be a successful Project Manager. Come and learn not only the essential building blocks of project management, but the tricks to managing a variety complex projects. We will use case studies to discuss plans, skills and project management techniques.

The class will meet two hours per week. Some of the topics we will cover are:

• What are the most painful pitfalls and how to avoid them
• The truth about project plans and “The rule of Thirds”
• What is your personal project management style and its weak points
• How to build a high performing team
• Dealing with difficult people
• Risk and quality management.

This course is appropriate for both 1st and 2nd-year I School students and for students from other departments with an interest in understanding project leadership. This course satisfies the requirement for a project management course.