The student is required to have a set of basic computer skills before taking this course. For details on this requirement, please visit: http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/%7Epack501/firstthings.html.

The knowledge and skills conveyed in this course will assist students in applying information technology in various information services, and will pave the way for further related LIS courses.

Course Objectives

The objectives of the course are to have students:

• use common information processing and management tools.
• demonstrate a comprehension of the networked information environment.
• describe commonly used Internet protocols.
• design and construct Web-based information resources.
• identify issues related to the use of the Internet in libraries and other information organizations,
• apply information technology in solving practical problems in information services.
• form a solid IT basic knowledge for further studies in LIS.

Organization of the Course

Classes are organized in units/weeks and I'll be trying to keep my online version of this class roughly in sync with this class. A unit may contain all or part of these components: Readings, lectures/highlights (PowerPoint presentations, including tutorials), class discussions, quizzes, labs (hands-on exercises) and assignments. Quizzes are related to the readings and lab exercises normally are related to the same day's lecture, except in a couple of classes, for example, computer networks and Internet application architecture, when students are unable/not allowed (for security reasons) to do lecture-related hands-on exercises.

We will be using eCompanion a good bit in this class.

Final Grade for the course is based on 100 points. The distribution of the 100 points among assignments, quizzes, discussion (class participation), and labs is described below. Assignments and labs should be placed into corresponding "dropboxes." (where applicable)

Graduate level spelling, grammar, and writing style is expected on all written assignments. Effort is as important as outcomes. I would prefer to see you stretch yourself rather than do work that is familiar and easy.

1. Assignments

There are five assignments for the course. Each assignment is distributed twice on the course website: it first appears in a unit ahead of due time so that the students can start working on it. Then in the due unit, the assignment description is made available again, to remind the students that it is due this week. Assignments will be distributed electronically on the course website ahead of time. The first 4 assignments should be submitted into the assignment dropboxes, while the last one, the final project, should be loaded onto the students' eden website. Please do not send as an email attachment.

Late assignment submissions will be accepted with a penalty of at least one level lower of the grade the assignment would otherwise deserve, unless due to a verifiable medical or family emergency. Expect and plan for contingencies and technical problems.

Assignment 1: Word-processing: Resume, 5pts of the final grade.

Assignment 2: Report of home computer configuration, 10pts of the final grade

Assignment 3: Spreadsheet applications, 10pts of the final grade.

Assignment 4: Database application (MS Access), 10pts of the final grade.

Assignment 5: Team project: design of a solution to an information management problem. 30pts of the final grade.

2. Quiz on readings

12 unit quizzes, 10pts of the final grade. You have the possibility of 105pts, I will divide by 10 and give you a grade no higher than 10. I do this as the quizzes are important to reinforce the reading, BUT the labs, discussions and assignments are more important to me. Quizzes should be completed before class.

3. Lab exercises

There are 10 lab sessions, one for a unit, incorporated into the course. Each lab session accounts for 1pt of the final grade. Students should put their lab work into the related drop boxes to be checked. Credit will be granted to everyone as default. However, two students' labs will be randomly checked for every unit. If a student does not have the lab when being checked, the student will loss 3 percent of the final grade.

4. Class participation (including both class discussions and group activities)
15pts of the final grade. I assign a 1, 2, or 3 for a grade for discussions. 1 - You didn't participate enough OR the comments you made were not substantive; 2 - Some good points, you were especially helpful to coursemates, good overall participation; 3 - Excellent, substantive comments. You want no 1s, few 2s, and lots of 3s.

Students will be expected to participate in each threaded discussion. Students can rack up credit here easily. Your grade on your participation in the threaded discussion depends on your comments on what you have read; your sustained responses to other students' comments; your questions and suggestions of further reading and resources; your engagement with the ideas raised for consideration by yourself and others.

Methods of Assessment

Grading is based on a student's performance on all assignments, lab exercises, as well as class participation. The Graduate School-New Brunswick allows the following grades to be given for course work (the definitions are those of the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies):

• A: Superior work of the highest standard, mastery of the topic
• B+: Very good work, substantially better than the minimum standard, very good knowledge of the topic
• B: Good work, better than the minimum standard, good knowledge of the topic
• C+: Minimum standard work, adequate knowledge of the topic
• C: Work barely meeting the minimum standard, barely adequate knowledge of the topic
• F: Wholly inadequate work
• IN: Incomplete

Bibliography

Required Course Text (Available at RU Bookstore at Ferren Mall and online via B&N, etc.)

June Parsons and Dan Oja: New Perspectives on Computer Concepts - Comprehensive, (8th Edition). Course Technology, 2006.

Elizabeth Castro: HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS: Visual QuickStart Guide, (5th Edition). Peachpit Press; 2002.

Joe Habraken: Microsoft Office 2003 All inOne, Que Publishing; 2004.

Recommended Course Text

A computer/Internet dictionary (either printed or online)