INLS 92

Emerging Topics in Information Science

Spring 2005

Mondays and Wednesdays 9:30 - 10:45 in Manning 304

Paul Jones
Manning 213, ibiblio.org
Phone: 919-962-7600
E-mail: Paul_Jones@unc.edu
AIM: smalljones
Office Hours: Tuesdays 3-5 and by appointment

Contemporary topics of information science, information systems, information technology, information design and information management. Assesssment of future impact of new developments.

This class will look across many of the issues, technologies and policies that will form the directions for information science processionals in the immediate and near future. Those issues include ownership and access to information, privacy, copyright, information sharing, and an always-on-line culture. Those technologies include RFID tags, surveilance cameras, database pooling, sms, social computing, blogs, results rankings, artificial intelligence, and grid computing. Those policies include information management and responsibility such as HIPAA, weakening of FOIA, record keeping on library patrons, and outsourcing of jobs.

We will begin by looking at some earlier forecasting of futures (Bush and Greenberg). Discuss briefly dystopian information futures (Orwell, London, etc). Then reading Dan Gillmor's We, The Media, we'll look at new ways that information is being created and distributed and shared.

During the reading and discussion of Gillmor, we will have a visit with Dan Gillmor himself and an opportunity to meet Triangle Bloggers at their Conference on February 12 - 14 as well as a visit with Jessamyn West who was an official blogger at the Democratic National Convention and the keeper of Librarian.net

As the semester closes, we will read Howard Rheingold's Smart Mobs and his associated website smartmobs.com, look at the issues as observed by Rheingold and augment his discussion with our own grounded observations.

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