LIS 550
Information in a Social Context
Information School
University of Washington
Winter quarter 2010
Course Description • Objectives • Academic Conduct
Instructor: David M. Levy
Email: dmlevy@uw.edu
Voice: 206-616-2545
Fax: 206-616-3152
Class meets T-Th 8:30-10:20am in MGH 241
Office Hours: Mondays, 2:00-3:00pm, or by appointment
Office Location: Mary Gates Hall, room 330T
You have all been subscribed to the course e-mail list. To post messages to the class, send a message to lis550a_wi10@u.washington.edu.
Course Description
This course explores a range of information issues, including but not limited to information and professional ethics, intellectual property, and privacy. At a time when contemporary society is undergoing rapid and profound change in technology, information practices, and social institutions, the course aims to give students a basis for understanding, acting upon, and reacting to the kinds of information issues that will arise in their future lives as information professionals and citizens.
Objectives
The intent of the course is to help students think deeply and clearly about challenging socio-technical issues as they are likely to affect information work and the information professions in the future. At a time of rapid change, the content of these issues will continue to change, but the strategies or processes for thinking, analyzing, and understanding complex socio-technical issues will largely remain the same.
The course aims to provide a set of tools and understandings that will help you deal with a variety of information issues you may encounter as an information professional. This will mean not only exploring the intellectual content of certain key issues (including but not limited to information and professional ethics, intellectual property, and privacy), but also exploring the process, both personal and interpersonal, by which an information issue can be approached, understood, and addressed.
Academic Conduct
The following paragraphs discussing academic integrity, copyright and privacy outline matters governing student conduct in the iSchool and the University of Washington. They apply to all assignments and communications in this course.
Academic Integrity
The essence of academic life revolves around respect not only for the ideas of others, but also their rights to those ideas and their promulgation. It is therefore essential that all of us engaged in the life of the mind take the utmost care that the ideas and expressions of ideas of other people always be appropriately handled, and, where necessary, cited. For writing assignments, when ideas or materials of others are used, they must be cited. The format is not that important–as long as the source material can be located and the citation verified, it’s OK. What is important is that the material be cited. In any situation, if you have a question, please feel free to ask. Such attention to ideas and acknowledgment of their sources is central not only to academic life, but life in general.
Please acquaint yourself with the University of Washington's resources on academic honesty.
Students are encouraged to take drafts of their writing assignments to the English Department Writing Center for assistance with using citations ethically and effectively. Information on scheduling an appointment can be found here.
Copyright
All of the expressions of ideas in this class that are fixed in any tangible medium such as digital and physical documents are protected by copyright law as embodied in title 17 of the United States Code. These expressions include the work product of both: (1) your student colleagues (e.g., any assignments published here in the course environment or statements committed to text in a discussion forum); and, (2) your instructors (e.g., the syllabus, assignments, reading lists, and lectures). Within the constraints of "fair use" (you should have/will have learned about that in depth in LIS 550), you may copy these copyrighted expressions for your personal intellectual use in support of your education here in the iSchool. Such fair use by you does not include further distribution by any means of copying, performance or presentation beyond the circle of your close acquaintances, student colleagues in this class and your family. If you have any questions regarding whether a use to which you wish to put one of these expressions violates the creator's copyright interests, please feel free to ask the instructor for guidance.
Privacy
To support an academic environment of rigorous discussion and open expression of personal thoughts and feelings, we, as members of the academic community, must be committed to the inviolate right of privacy of our student and instructor colleagues. As a result, we must forego sharing personally identifiable information about any member of our community including information about the ideas they express, their families, life styles and their political and social affiliations. If you have any questions regarding whether a disclosure you wish to make regarding anyone in this course or in the iSchool community violates that person's privacy interests, please feel free to ask the instructor for guidance.
Knowing violations of these principles of academic conduct, privacy or copyright may result in University disciplinary action under the Student Code of Conduct.
Students with Disabilities
To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services: 448 Schmitz, 206-543-8924 (V/TTY). If you have a letter from DSS indicating that you have a disability which requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to me so we can discuss the accommodations you might need in the class.
Academic accommodations due to disability will not be made unless the student has a letter from DSS specifying the type and nature of accommodations needed.
Student Code of Conduct
Good student conduct is important for maintaining a healthy course environment. Please familiarize yourself with the University of Washington's Student Code of Conduct.
Overview • Schedule • Assignments • Grading
Last updated: Monday, 04-Jan-2010 21:25:04 PST
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