FIS 1311: Information Technology Applications

Instructor: Norm Friesen (norm_friesen@sfu.ca); Fall 2005

Course Outline

This course is an introduction to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the context of library, corporate, government and other institutions. It is intended for students without formal background in information technology or information systems, and aims to provide a conceptual foundation for professional practice in information technologies, services and management.  

As it is currently designed, this course has two main themes or threads:

1. The use of ICTs in large organizations, especially corporate organizations with an emphasis on database and enterprise systems .
2. Using ICTs (especially PCs and the WWW), and understanding their changing application to public organizations (public libraries, archives, etc.)

Classes held face-to-face at FIS are marked:
Chapters in the Laudon, Laudon & Brabston text are indicated using [square brackets].

Date	Subject	Activity/Assignment
12 September	Introduction & Overview Organizations & Systems [ch. 3] Information Systems, Data-Information-Knowledge, Digital Information [ch. 2]	Begin online discussion; introduce yourself & your experience with ICTs; get to know others online. Due by Sept. 18.
19 September	Communicating & Working Online - Groupware	Activity: Set up Blog (www.blogger.com) and comment on others' blogs. Due by Sept. 25.
26 September	Communicating & Working Online (Review) Data Storage Devices; Files & Databases [ch. 7]	Project Profile Assignment Due (Oct. 3) See list of blogs.
3 October	Files & Databases (Review) System Architecture: Historical Perspective & Classifications Of IT Applications (presentation) Telecom Technology & Protocols [ch 8]	Activity: diagram a basic relational database structure. Due by Oct. 9.
10 October	Thanksgiving (no class)
17 October	Software [ch 6.4, 6.5] Systems Development Process: analysis, design and implementation [ch 12.3 & 12.4 & 12.5]	Choose article for review assignment; discussion of software development and computing paradigms.
24 October	Standards & XML Documents versus data	RSS Activity. Due October 30.
31 October	Describing Information Systems: Use cases (UML)	UML Activity. Due November 6.
7 November	Use cases; Standards & XML (Review) Describing Information Systems: Entity Relationship Diagrams Agree on groups for Database Application Project	Post review assignment to your blog by Nov. 14.
14 November	MS ACCESS lab: Queries and Reports	Begin work on Database Application Project.
21 November	Website Architecture Usability Testing	Online Discussion to take place between Nov. 21 and Nov. 28
28 November	SQL: Structured Query Language Computer Hardware and Networks [ch. 6.1, 6.2 & 6.3] In-class discussion of new ICT applications in libraries, archives and museums	Read and comment on at least two other reviews (review assignment). Due by Dec. 4.
5 December	Metadata New ICT applications in libraries, archives and museums	Database Application Project due December 5.
12 December	Ethical And Social Issues [ch. 5] Intellectual Property	Discussion of Ethical, social and intellectual property issues between Dec. 6 and 12.

Course Description

This class takes place over 13 weeks, divided between face-to-face and online classes:

• Face-to-face (twice in September, and once a month subsequently)
• One lab to learn the use of MS Access (this lab will naturally be face-to-face, with instructional assistants present; the instructor, however, will not be present)
• Required resources: Read or view/listen to these resources before the class, discussion or activity for that week takes place. (Note that you don't need to follow and read material that is linked from the required resources unless specifically noted. However, especially in the case of required Wikipedia articles, reading linked material can be a useful way to learn more about terms and concepts that may be unfamiliar.)
• Online discussions, readings and activities:
  • Online guide for each week, including links to required text and multimedia material that is required (in a few cases, optional materials also linked)
  • Web-based discussion forums; two discussion groups will be active in parallel
  • A Blog (blogger.com), used to present written work (for interview and review assignments), and commenting on others' work.
  • An RSS aggregator (blogline.com) to follow activity on others' blogs and to test out your XML composition

Required Text: - Laudon, K.C., Laudon, J.P., & Brabston, M.E. (2005). Essentials Of Management Information Systems. (2nd Canadian Ed). Toronto: Pearson/Prentice Hall.   ISBN: 0-13-145144-8.
This text is referred to in the online materials in this course as "Laudon & Laudon"
This edition is very similar to the 5th edition that was used in prior years.

An important part of the course involves a practical project in the specification, design and implementation in MS ACCESS of a simple information system based on a scenario, to be undertaken small groups. Students are expected to learn to use MS Access, at least to the limited extent required for this project, without extensive in-class training.   Students are also expected to learn how to use a discussion forum, a blog and RSS feeds. There are a number of paper and electronic self-teaching aids available for all of these technologies, and tutorials will be scheduled for those who wish to take advantage of them.  

All due dates are for midnight of the day specified.

Class attendance is important: many of the key ideas will be brought out in discussions, particularly for the project work. Students are also responsible for any announcements that may be made in class.

Objectives

At the conclusion of this course the student should recognize the principal features of information systems as networks of rule-based processing functions and repositories serving the needs of their host organization, appreciate the essential characteristics of current and emerging information technology, and understand the general capabilities of information technology and the methods by which it can be productively applied to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of information services and management within an organization.

In particular, at the conclusion of the course the successful student should be able to:

• understand and use the basic vocabulary and concepts of information technology (IT) and information systems (IS)
• analyze and describe simple information systems using standard terminology
• create simple data and workflow models using Unified Modeling Language and Entity Relationship diagramming techniques
• understand some of the social and political ramifications of IT, including intellectual property issuesrecognize some of the limitations of IT and some of the potential sources of error or failure
• capable of creating and using basic XML representations of data
• develop simple queries using SQL
• assess basic technical and organizational issues related to the application of IT in occupational and everyday settings
• collect, interpret and assimilate new knowledge about IS/IT topics from many sources

Contacting the instructor:

• Email: norm_friesen@sfu.ca (Allow 24 hours, maximum, for a response. 48 on weekends; in practice, most responses will be much faster.)
• Face to face: Norm will be drop-in lab hours on Tuesdays, 10:00-4:00 on the following dates:
  Sept. 13, Sept. 27, Oct. 4; Nov. 7; Dec. 5. Other meeting times on Mondays and Wednesdays before or after these Tuesday dates can be arranged individually.
• Phone: 604 535-6243, during business hours, Pacific time (12:00 noon - 8:00 pm Toronto time)
  
• Teaching Assistants: This course has two TA's; Colin Furness & Scott Paquette. They can be contacted via email: colin.furness@utoronto.ca, scott.paquette@utoronto.ca. Further contact information will be provided soon.

Course Work

The grade is based on discussion, activities, and three assignments.

Work Item	Description	Due	Value
Discussion	Suggested discussion topics are provided for the weeks when discussion is to take place.	through-out	20%
Activities	Small, "single activity" assignments. Assigned activities include: setting up a blog, creating a simple, relational database structure, and writing a valid RSS-XML document.	through-out	20%
Project Profile Assignment	Select a project from the list provided (or suggest an appropriate project to the instructor). Check out the information available on the project website, and any other information you can find on the Web (or even by contacting a project employee), and write up an overview that is approximately 2 pages in length (1000 words). See the writing guidelines for this course.	Oct. 3	15 %
Review of an article from D-LIB or ARIADNE	Select an article suited to your interests (and those of the course), and post a review of it on your Blog that is approximately 2 pages in length (1000 words). Post at least two responses to others' reviews. See the writing guidelines for this course.	Oct. 17 (choose article) Nov. 14 (submit)	20%
Database Application Project	Create a document and a sample, relational database (including queries and query results), and documentation to satisfy one of the scenarios provided. This document will include: UML use-cases, corresponding narrative descriptions, a Entity Relationship Diagram, query forumulations and results, as well as XML representations.	Dec. 5	25%

Assignments must be submitted by midnight on the due date, as determined by the date and time on the email.   Late assignments will be penalized 5% of their value on the first day, and 2% for each additional day, after the due date.

Organization of online materials:

Discussion or Activity: Discussion or activity for the week. The precise time-frame or due-date for the discussion is provided in the course outline, above.

 

Food for thought: Provides questions and materials to guide your thinking about the week's subject-matter.