LSU/SLIS LIS 7008 (Spring 2015, Section 01): Syllabus

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Note: the average life of a link on the Web is about 100 days. If any link to a reading is broken, please email me ASAP. Thanks.

Session 1 (Jan 20): Computers

Readings

• Required
  • Vermaat et al. (2014). Chapter 3 (Computers and Mobile Devices), Chapter 6 (Inside Computers and Mobile Devices: Exploring the Components, Chapter 8 (Digital Storage: Preserving on Media and in the Cloud). (Skim Chapter 1. Digital Literacy)
    [Or: Shelly et al. (2012), Chapter 4 (The Components of the System Unit), Chapter 7 (Storage)]
• Recommended
  • How much information?

Notes

• Lecture slides will be posted on Moodle.
  
• Important reminder: I will use your LSU email address to contact you. I cannot use your non-LSU email addresses because they cannot be listed on Moodle. If you do not read emails from your LSU email account very often, it is your responsibility to forward emails from your LSU account to your non-LSU account.

Homework

• Homework 1 (due before the 2nd class starts)

Project Activity

• Read the Project page, and start to look for a project client. Introduce yourself to the class so that you can find team members whose skills complement yours.

Useful Resources

• FileZilla FTP Client, also available from your myLSU account (look under "Tigerware").
• A Quick Tutorial on Using FileZilla to Transfer Files to our class Web Server

  More FileZilla Tutorials:

• FileZilla tutorial on Youtube (you can skip the first part of the video, which is about the installation of FileZilla.)
• FileZilla conceptual tutorial (neat!)
• FileZilla conceptual tutorial (brief!)
• FileZilla graphic turorial (the middle part of the demonstration is customized to the FTP server of tutor.velnet.org.uk, which does not apply to our SLIS server classes.slis.lsu.edu, but it allows you to see how drag-and-drop is used to move files from a local machine to a remote machine.)

Session 2 (Jan 27): Networking, FTP, Simple HTML

Readings

• Required
  • Vermaat et al. (2014). Chapter 2 (The Internet), Chapter 10 (Communications and Networks).
    [Or: Shelly et al. (2012), Chapter 2 (The Internet and the World Wide Web), Chapter 9 (Communications and Networks)]
  • Huddleston: Chapter 1 (The Tools of Web Design and Planning Your site), Chapter 2 (Getting Started with HTML), Chapter 14 (Publishing Your Site and Getting Noticed) [Note: skim Chapter 1 and Chapter 14, but read Chapter 2.]
• Recommended
  • HTML Introduction

Notes

• Lecture slides will be posted on Moodle.

Homework

• Homework 2 (due before the next class starts)

Project Activity

• Start to form teams based on common interests and complementary skills.
• Start to find a client for your team. See more on the Project webpage.
• Distribute the faculty-client agreement, students-client agreement, and the project evaluation form on Moodle.

Useful Resources

• Network tools: DNS lookup, reverse DNS lookup, traceroute, etc.
• Webmaster tools: Domain IP Lookup, Domain Availability, IP to Hostname Lookup, HTML/CSS Sandbox, etc.
• HTML Colors [Another resource at Webmonkey]

Session 3 (Feb 3): Structured Documents (HTML, XHML, CSS, XML)

Readings

• Required
  • Huddleston: Chapter 3 (Creating Images), Chapter 4 (Formatting Your Pages), Chapter 5 (Advanced CSS), Chapter 6 (Laying Out Pages), Chapter 7 (Adding Tables and Lists) [Note: at least scan through these chapters before class; you will refer to them afterwards for your homework.]
  • Dave Raggett, Getting Started with HTML (read for detail, and then skim "Advanced HTML" and "Adding a Touch of Style" at the top of the page.)
  • Erik Ray, Learning XML (Chapter 1, will be posted on Moodle).
• Recommended
• What do you think? [Publicis] [The Zimmerman Agency] [Text 100 Public Relations]
• What do you think? [RISD] [MIT Media Lab] [Stanford's Media X] [FIT]

Notes

• Lecture slides will be posted on Moodle.

Homework

• Homework 3 (due before next class session)

Project Activity

• Find a client for your team. Only one client is needed for one project team. If your team does not have any client yet, find one by talking to people (such as your colleagues, the instructor, CCELL), visiting non-profit organizations in your community, or soliciting client information from the SLIS mailing list. If your team has more than two clients, pick the one that best meets the goal of your project, and recommend the other client(s) to the class.

Useful Resources

• Absolute vs. Relative Paths
• Introduction to XML (go through XML tutorial, from XML Introduction through XML in Real Life by browsing the taxonomy on the left side of the page.)
• What is a structured document?
• Why use structured documents?
• HTML Basic, Advanced, and Examples
• HTML Cheat Sheet
• Beginner's Guide to HTML
• Text alignment: [The Wonderful <DIV> Tag Makes Markup Easier]
• Typefaces designed for the screen
• So, You Want A Table, Huh?
• Fun with tables! [Image Maps]
• CSS
  • Introduction to CSS
  • CSS Property Index
    
  • Changing how links look with CSS
• CSS: Exercise (Borrowed from Jimmy Lin)
  • CSS Demo
  • Starting Point
  • Final Product
• XML Examples

  • XML Poem Example (working with XSD, CSS)

  • XML Poem Example (working with DTD, XSLT) (Borrowed from Dr. Doug Oard)

  • MathML demo

  • More XML examples

• XML and XSLT
  • Introduction to XML
  • A Technical Introduction to XML
  • XML in 10 points
  • XSLT Introduction
  • What is XSLT?

Session 4 (Feb 10): Quiz; Relational Databases

Readings

• Required:
  • Vermaat et al. (2014). Chapter 11 (Information and Data Management).
    [Or: Shelly et al., Chapter 10 (Database Management)]
  • Brooks, Frederick P., "The Mythical Man Month", Chapter 2 (online book available from LSU Library Catalog or from here; may be posted on Moodle)
• Recommended:
  • Databases from scratch (all three parts)
  • Understanding the deep web in 10 minutes (2013 version) (The 2001 version is available at JEP. Brightplanet.com, which may update the report.)

Notes

• Lecture slides will be posted on Moodle.
• Sample Database (RideFinder): [mydb.mdb in Access 2000] [mydb2007.accdb in Access 2007] [mydb2010.accdb in Access 2010]

Homework

• Homework 5 (due before next class session)

Project Activity

• Find a client if your team has not got one. Discuss copyright and information ethics issues that can emerge when working with your client.

Useful Resources

• Tutorials for MS-Office, OpenOffice, PHP/MySQL/Perl: inpics.net

• Databases from scratch (three parts)
• MS-Access 2010 Tutorial
  • Microsoft Office Access 2010 power tutorials
  • Microsoft Access 2010
• MS-Access 2007 Tutorial
  • Access 2007 Youtube
  • Access 2007 Tutorial (.Doc) [mirror]
  • Access 2007 In Pictures (I used this one before)
  • Introduction to Access 2007

• MS-Access 2000/2003 Tutorial
  • Access 2003 Youtube (section on queries, starts about 10 minutes)
  • Access 2000 Tutorial by Florida Gulf Coast University
  • Access 2000 Tutorial by Bay School Public Schools
  • Access 2000 Tutorial by jfuller EDUCATIONAL
  • Access 2000 Tutorial by Penn State University

• SQL Tutorial
  MS-Access Query and Filter Criteria
  • Issue SQL queries here!
  • Try your hand at SQL queries...
  • SQL tutorial
  • SQLCourse - Interactive Online SQL Training for Beginners

Session 6 (Feb 24): Multimedia; Midterm Review

Readings

• Required
  • Vermaat et al. (2014). Chapter 7 (Input and Output).
    [Or: Shelly et al., Chapter 6 (Output Device)]
  • Introduction to Streaming Media, Chapter 2 (Media Production) (also available here in PDF)
  • Huddleston, Chapter 9 (Adding Interactivity and Multimedia)
  • Huddleston's 2005 version has Chapter 13 (Adding Multimedia on Your Page). It will be posted on Moodle.
• Recommended
  • Josh Beggs and Dylan Thede, Designing Web Audio, Chapter 5, Introduction to Streaming Media, 2001.

Notes

• Lecture slides will be posted on Moodle.
• We will have a quiz today.

Homework

• Homework 4 (due before next class session.)

Project Activity

• Find a client if your team has not got one. Post and prepare the Collaboration Planning Guide.

Useful Resources

• SMIL demo
• HTML Sound Tutorial: Bringing Sound to Your Web Page
• Sound Files and Sound Effects
• Adding Sounds
• Embedding QuickTime
• Video basics
• How do analog to digital convertors work?
• Web Page Design: GIF vs. JPEG
• When and how to use internet image formats

Session 5 (Feb 17): Mardi Gars; no class

Session 7 (March 3): Mid-term Exam; Brief Project Discussion

Notes

• We will have an open-book mid-term exam today. It takes two hours.

Project Activity

• Each project team will discuss their project plan after the exam. You must have a client and a project manager now, and you must have started to work on your project now.
• Collaboration Planning Guide, Student-Client Agreement, and Faculty-Client Agreement are due! Project managers please submit your team's these documents by email, fax, or hard copy.
• Solicit information needs from your client, have your client make the initial requirements for the Website, collect information content.

Session 8 (March 10): Programming (Javascript); Web Database Integration (PHP)

Readings

• Vermaat et al. (2014). Chapter 4 (Programs and Apps), Chapter 12 (Information Systems and Program Development).
  [Or: Shelly et al. (2012), Chapter 3 (Application Software), Chapter 13 (Programming)]
• Huddleston: Chapter 11 (Adding Forms to Your Site), Chapter 9 (Adding Interactivity and Multimedia)
• Huddleston, Chapter 12 (Creating Dynamic Pages), Chapter 13 (Adding Information from a Database)
• PHP Manual, Section I, Getting Started

Notes

• Lecture slides will be posted on Moodle.

Homework

• Homework 6 (due before next class session)

Project Activity

• Discuss team collaboration issues and the man-month mythical theory.
• If anybody still has not joined a team yet, please contact me ASAP. Every team will discuss their project plan right after the mid-term exam.
• If any team still has not got a client, pleast contact me ASAP.
• Distribute the project team member self-evaluation and cross-evaluation form.
• If you have already had a team and a client, do the following:
  • Solicit information needs from the client, have your client make the initial requirements for the Website, collect information content.
  • Important issue: discuss with your client where to host the Website.
  • Start to design the information architecture of your Website.

Useful Resources

• Programming
  • JavaScript If...Else Statements (can be useful for HW6)
  • The Best Computer Language Guide (including AWK, BASH, Javascript, PHP, Perl, C, C++, Java, Python, etc.)

• Javascript
  • Javascript Talk
  • Steal Javascript
  • JavaScript demo: dinner
  • JavaScript demo: dessert
  • JavaScript demo: tasty candy
  • JavaScript demo: Search tool selector: shorthand version or full version (with semicolons and complete braces)
  • JavaScript demo: Hello World
  • JavaScript demo: Summation calculator
  • Javascript IF...ELSE Statements (Some students reported that this tutorial helped with HW6.)
  • JavaScript form values
  • JavaScript events
  • The JavaScript Building Blocks: Data Types, Literals, and Variables
  • Javascript tutorial
  • WebMonkey: JavaScript tutorial
  • Another JavaScript tutorial
  • JavaScript Kit
  • The Classic Image Rollover
  • A Wizard for Popup Windows

Session 9 (Mar 17): Human-Computer Interaction; Web Design

Readings (Required)

• Shneiderman, Ben, Designing the User Interface: Strategies for effective human-computer interaction, 3rd ed. (Addison-Wesley, 2005), Chapter 1 (an electronically reserved copy will be posted on Moodle)
• You may want to refer to Huddleston's text for your project. Read the chapters you have not read.

Notes

• Lecture slides will be posted on Moodle.
• Please read Javascript Talk (in Session 6) if you have not read it.

Project Activity

• Reflect how the man-month mythical theory works in your team.
• Design the information architecture of your Website, build a rapid prototype with the information you have already collected.
• Discuss with your client where to host the Website, and try to host a test webpage on the client's server. Do this as early as possible!

Useful Resources

• The 10 most violated homepage design guidelines
• First principles of interaction design
• Top 10 mistakes in Web design
• Ten most wanted design bugs

Session 10 (Mar 24): Web Characterization and Cloud; Social Software

Readings (Required)

• Edward T. O'Neill, Brian F. Lavoie and Rick Bennett, Trends in the Evolution of the Public Web, D-Lib Magazine, vol 9, no. 4, April 2003.
  Elise Moreau, The Evolution of the Web in 1000 Words: A Timeline of How the Web Has Progressed Over the Years, About.com Web Trends, 2013.
• Coffman, Steve, We'll Take It from Here: Further Developments We'd Like to See in Virtual Reference Software, Information Technology & Libraries 20(3), 149-153, September 2001.

Notes

• Lecture slides will be posted on Moodle.

Project Activity

• Build a rapid prototype Website, solicit feedback from your client, revise your design or collect more information.
• Reflect how copyright and information ethics issues are involved when working with a real organization.
• Important issue: discuss with your client where to host the Website.

Useful Resources

• (Surface and deep) WWW from Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, Third Edition.
• The Datacenter as a Computer: An Introduction to the Design of Warehouse-Scale Machines, Second edition.

Session 11 (Mar 31): Information Retrieval and Search

Readings

• Required:
  • Ricardo Baeza-Yates and Berthier Ribeiro-Neto, Modern Information Retrieval: the concepts and technology behind search, Second Edition. Pearson Education Limited. 2011. Click Contents, read Chapter 1 Introduction up through Section 1.4.
• Recommended:
  • Power Searching for Anyone (Browse to get an idea of what modern search engines can do)
  • Search features Chart
  • The Seven Ages of Information Retrieval
  • What Do People Want from Information Retrieval?

Notes

• Lecture slides will be posted on Moodle.

Project Activity

• Solicit feedback from your client and their users, revise your design, fix bugs, or collect more information.
• Start to host your prototype Website on the client's server. Make yourself familiar with the technical enviroment. Do this as early as possible!

Useful Resources