Course/Learning Objectives

At the end of the course students should have:

an understanding of the role of information in both the public and private sectors.

an understanding of the evolution, structure, nature, and environment of the information professions

an understanding of how technological developments affect social systems, and conversely how social systems affect the nature and use of technology for information exchange

an understanding of trends in professions in information studies. On completion of this course students should be able to: carry out electronic searches for, retrieve, manipulate, and present primary-source documentation. Design and conduct a search of electronic, mass media, Internet and archival materials for use as documentary material in support of a project, and demonstrate basic skills in analysis and presentation of such materials in an appropriate academic format. Prerequisites There are no prerequisites for this course except selfenrolement for this course number by subscription to www.univie.ac.at/frisch . Instruction Methods Lectures and class discussions with partly virtual-learning units will be the primary methods of instruction for this course. The analytical approaches in this course emphasize a conceptual understanding of ICT (computer applications and telecommunications) and social change in relatively specific settings, drawing upon empirical studies of computerization or upon conceptual analyses that are empirically grounded. Guest lecturers will be featured as appropriate. Research Targets & Term Paper Each students is expected to write a (min 9 pages) – research report in english. Students will select a topic for research on the WWW and archival materials throughout the semester, for use as documentary material in support of a term paper, and demonstrate basic skills in analysis and presentation of such materials. Major Area/Sub-Areas research targets:

Informatics and Society

Informatics, Voting and Political Parties

E-Bussines and E-Government

Ethical and Legal Issues related to Informatics

Select a research topic from the list for your term pape here.

Additional instructions will be published whithin the course syllabus or mailed to your email account. Monitor updates of course information.

To receive full credit, the term paper must have an abstract, introduction, thesis statement, body composed of several sections that follow a logical progression, and a conclusion. See an example paper (here). All direct and indirect quotations must be properly referenced with either footnotes or in-text references to a list of publications and links placed at the end of the paper in an appropriate academic citing style and printing format (.doc-template here). The paper must be edited for spelling and grammatical errors. Have some information on how to write a research proposal (.pdf file here).

! Final Term Paper due May 31, 2005. You may email your Proposal for Research and the english paper to the instructor for approval.

Evaluation Methods

Grades in this course will be given in the accordance with the grading system outlined. For all written assignments, pay close attention to the instructions provided. Students will be evaluated in this course in the following manner:

Critical Reaction Papers (25%);

Term Paper (25%);

Exam (25%);

Class participation (25%)

Lecture Notes & Materials Collection

This course will involve extensive reading and consideration of issues in the field. All appropriate background reading materials and model examples of completed tasks are distributed by instructor to your e-mail account and some are available @ www.unvie.ac.at/frisch/

Assignment for next meeting

April 5, 2005 HS 23 - Presentation of Proposal for Research Topic

Task 1: Subsciption to class 406366 @ ww.univie.ac.at/frisch due within 3 days here

Task 2: Teach yourself with the "Internet Tutorial" that you practice your Internet Information research skills Take the eTutorial and check the EU-Research Paper Archive related links.

Task 3: email to instructor your Research Proposal for approval (3 pages) in appropriate (academic format). and with correct columbia e-resources citation style including introduction and general description of topic, rational & objectives, method & expected result, (example - Proposal for Research) including relevant link list due before April 5, to instructor for approval.