LIS 7008: Information Technologies (Spring 2017, Section 01)

LSU/SLIS LIS 7008 (Spring 2017, Section 01): Syllabus

Session 1 (Jan 11): Computers
Session 2 (Jan 18): Networking, FTP, Simple HTML
Session 3 (Jan 25): Structured Documents (HTML, XHMTL, CSS, XML)
Session 4 (Feb 1): Quiz, Multimedia
Session 5 (Feb 8): Relational Databases
Session 6 (Feb 15): Programming (Javascript)
Session 7 (Feb 22): Web Database Integration (PHP); Midterm Review;
Session 8 (Mar 1): Midterm Exam; Brief Project Discussion
Session 9 (Mar 8): Information Architecture, Web Design
Session 10 (Mar 15): Web Characterization and Cloud
Session 11 (Mar 22): Information Retrieval and Search
Session 12 (Mar 29): Policy (Privacy and Security)
Session 13 (Apr 5): Information Systems
Session 14 (Apr 12): No class; Spring Break
Session 15 (Apr 19): System Life Cycle; Final Review
Session 16 (Apr 26): Project Submission
Session 17 (May 3): Final Exam

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 11): Computers

Readings

Required
- Vermaat et al. (2016). Chapter 3 (Computers and Mobile Devices), Chapter 6 (Computing Components: Processors, Memory, the Cloud, and More), Chapter 8 (Digital Storage: Preserving Content Locally and on the Cloud). (Skim Chapter 1. Introducing Today's Technologies: Computers, Devices, and the Web).
  [Or: Vermaat et al. (2014/2015). 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)]
Recommended
- How much information? 2003
- The World's tTechnological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information, by Martin Hilbert1,Priscila Lopez (2011). Science 332(6025):60-65. DOI: 10.1126/science.1200970 (Note: the webpage requires access from an LSU computer. A PDF of the paper will be posted on Moodle.)

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 18): Networking, FTP, Simple HTML

Readings

Required
- Vermaat et al. (2016). Chapter 2 (Connecting and Communicating Online: The Internet, Websites, and Media), Chapter 10 (Communicating Digital Content: Wired and Wireless Networks and Devices).
  [Or: Vermaat et al. (2014/2015). Chapter 2 (The Internet), Chapter 10 (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.
HTML Colors [Another resource at Webmonkey]

Session 3 (Jan 25): 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
CSS Layout - float and clear (float image positioning)
Web layouts: pixels vs percentages
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? [Image Maps]
CSS
CSS: Exercise (Borrowed from Jimmy Lin)
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

Session 4 (Feb 1): Quiz, Multimedia

Readings

Required
- Vermaat et al. (2016). Chapter 7 (Inptu and Output: Extending Capabilities of Computers and Mobile Devices).
  [Or: Vermaat et al. (2014/2015). Chapter 7 (Input and Output)].
- Introduction to Streaming Media, Chapter 2 (Media Production) (also available 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

Session 5 (Feb 8): Relational Databases

Readings

Required:
- Vermaat et al. (2016). Chapter 11 (Building Solutions: Database, System, and Application Development Tools) [Or: Vermaat et al. (2014/2015). Chapter 11 (Information and Data 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 I
- Databases from scratch II
- Databases from scratch III
- 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] [mydb2016.accdb in Access 2016]

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

MS-Access 2013 Tutorials
- Microsoft Access 2013 Tutorial (including screenshots)
- Access 2013 videos and tutorials
MS-Access 2010 Tutorials
- Microsoft Office Access 2010 power tutorials
- Microsoft Access 2010
MS-Access 2007 Tutorials
- 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

Session 6 (Feb 15): Programming (Javascript)

Readings

Vermaat et al. (2016). Chapter 4 (Programs and Apps: Productivity, Graphics, Security, and Other Tools)
[Or: Vermaat et al. (2014/2015). Chapter 4 (Programs and Apps), Chapter 12 (Information Systems and Program Development)]
Vermaat et al. (2012). Chapter 13 (Programming)
Huddleston: Chapter 11 (Adding Forms to Your Site), or Huddleston (2005): Chapter 11 (Forms)
Huddleston (2005): Chapter 12 (Javascript)

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.

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.)
- Actually good programming tutorials on Youtube (HTML 5, CSS 3, Javascript J5, C++, C#, Java, Python, Prolog, LISP). Learn the basics of programming languages in an hour.
Javascript
- Javascript Talk
- Steal Javascript
- JavaScript demo: Search tool selector: shorthand version or full version (with semicolons and complete braces)
- JavaScript demo: Hello World
- 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
- Another JavaScript tutorial
- JavaScript Kit
- The Classic Image Rollover
- A Wizard for Popup Windows

Session 7 (Feb 22): Web-Database Integration (PHP); Midterm Review

Readings (Required)

Huddleston, Chapter 12 (Creating Dynamic Pages), Chapter 13 (Adding Information from a Database)

PHP Manual, Section I, Getting Started
AskTOG, First Principles of Interaction Design
You may want to refer to Huddleston's text for your project. Read the chapters you have not read.

Recommended

PHP + MySQL Quick Tutorial for Advanced LIS7008 Students
Programming via PHP (online book)

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!

Session 8 (Mar 1): 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 9 (Mar 8): Information Architecture; Web Design

Readings (Required)

Morville, Peter and Rosenfeld, Louis, 2007. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, 3rd ed. O'Reilly Media, Inc. Chapter 1 (Defining information architecture), Chapter 4 (The anatomy of an information architecture), Chapter 5 (Organization systems). Book in PDF.
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

Session 10 (Mar 15): Web Characterization and Cloud

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.

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.

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 22): 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 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.
Build a rapid prototype Website, solicit feedback from the client, revise your design or collect more information.
Reflect how copyright and information ethics issues are involved when working with a real organization.

Useful Resources

Play with the following search engines. Do not be surprised if they change their names or even go out of business.

Google
Microsoft Bing
Exalead
Vivisimo
Kartoo (now KnowHow)
WebBrain
Grokker (What does it search?)
Google Image Search
Singingfish Multimedia Search (now AOL Video)

Session 12 (March 29): Policy (Privacy and Security)

Readings

Required:
- Vermaat et al. (2016). Chapter 5 (Digital Security, Ethics, and Privacy: Threats, Issues, and Defenses).
  [Or: Vermaat et al. (2014/2015). Chapter 5 (Digital Safety and Security)].
Recommended:
- Surveillance Nation (Technology Review, April 2003) [Part 1] [Part 2]
- The Curse of the Biometric Future (February, 2004)
- Attention, Shoppers: You Can Now Speed Straight Through Checkout Lines! (Wired, July 2004)
- Digital signature guidelines
- Adding Signatures and Security in Adobe Acrobat 9
- Copyright
  - Fair Use
  - Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (Wikipedia)
  - Lawrence Lessig's Supreme Showdown (Wired, October 2002)
  - In Defense of Copyright (Salon, April 2002)
- Digital Rights Management
- Open Source

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!
Solicit feedback from your client and their users, revise your design, fix bugs.
Host your Website on your client's server, fix bugs.
Distribute the Project Survey.
Start to prepare the Website Maintenance Manual and the Project Reflective Essay.

Session 13 (Apr 5): Information Systems

Readings

Required:
- Stair, Ralph M. and Reynolds, George W. (2007). Principles of Information Systems, A Managerial Approach. 6th ed. Chapter 1. An Introduction to Information Systems.
- Vermaat et al. (2016). Chapter 12 (Working in the Enterprise: Systems, Certifications, and Careers).
  [Or: Vermaat et al. (2014/2015), Chapter 12 (Information Systems and Program Development: Designing and Building Solutions)].

Notes

Lecture slides will be posted on Moodle.

Project Activity

Solicit feedback from your client and their users, revise your design, fix bugs.
Host your Website on your client's server, fix bugs.
Distribute the Project Survey.
Start to prepare the Website Maintenance Manual and the Project Reflective Essay.

Session 14 (Apr 12): No Class; Spring Break

Project Activity

Please continue to work on your project.

Session 15 (Apr 19): System Life Cycle; Final review

Readings

Required:
- Stair, Ralph M. and Reynolds, George W. (2007). Principles of Information Systems, A Managerial Approach. 6th ed. Chapter 12 Systems Investigation and Analysis, Section 1 and 2: p.504-522
- Vermaat et al. (2016). Chapter 12 (Working in the Enterprise: Systems, Certifications, and Careers), if you have not read yet.] [Or: Vermaat et al. (2014/2015). Chapter 12 (Information Systems and Program Development: Designing and Building Solutions), if you have not read yet.]
Recommended:
- Randhawa, S. (2013). Open source library management softwares (in PDF). e-Library Science Research Journal, 1(7): 1-7.
- Vandana Singh, V. (2013). Experiences of Migrating to an Open-source Integrated Library System. Information Technology and Libraries, March 2013, 36-53.
- Natalya's QA Blog (2012). The differences between life cycle models- Advantages and Disadvantages
- Munassar, N. and Govardhan, A. (2010). A Comparison Between Five Models Of Software Engineering (in PDF). IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, 7(5):94-101.

Notes

Lecture slides will be posted on Moodle.

Project Activity

Solicit feedback from the client and the users, revise your design, fix bugs.
Reflect what software/system design model your team has used.
Host your Website on your client's server, fix bugs.
Prepare the Website Maintenance Manual (for your client) and the Project Reflective Essay.

Session 16 (Apr 26): Project submission

Project Activity

Project (including report and Website) due today before class starts. Each project team: please designate one person in your team to email your project report and the URL of your Website to me (cc to your team members).

Session 17 (May 3): Final Exam

Notes

The open-book final exam will be posted on Moodle before 11AM today or even earlier. Exam due:May 5 Friday midnight 11:59PM..
I will post an example final exam on Moodle.
All of your project Websites will be posted at http://www.csc.lsu.edu/~wuyj/Teaching/7008/sp17/proj_sp17.html. We will archive your Website for some period of time before your SLIS Web account is removed, so you are advised to transfer your content to your client ASAP (if you have not done so).
You may remove your Homework 3 from your website if you do not want to publish that page on the Web for any reason.

Yejun Wu