Museum Studies and Information Studies intersect in a number of intriguing ways, not least is the fact that they both serve to make information-laden materials cognitively, culturally, and intellectually accessible. This course offers a foundation of interpretive frameworks and genres of objects for aspiring information and museum professionals as well as those interested in cultural studies. Students examine a wide variety of interpretive frames, yet those from the sociology/anthropology of technology, cultural anthropology, and popular culture studies prevail.

This course teaches the fundamentals of statistics, that is, the ability to describe data samples and draw inferences about the populations from which they were drawn. It should also sharpen individual intuition about how to read data, interpret data, and judge others' claims about data.

• characterize population data intuitively for themselves and others;
• draw conclusions and inferences from population data;
• check assumptions of others' claims and debug their putative "facts";
• look for correlations while controlling for confounding effects.

Provides an understanding of why societies, cultures, organizations, and individuals create and keep records. Presents cornerstone terminology, concepts, and practices used in records management and archival administration. Examines the evolution of methods and technologies used to create, store, organize, and preserve records and the ways in which organizations and individuals use archives and records for ongoing operations, accountability, research, litigation, and organizational memory. Participants become familiar with the legal, policy, and ethical issues surrounding records and archives administration and become conversant with the structure, organization, and literatures of the archival and records management professions.

Introduces principles and issues of collection development and management. Considers evaluation criteria, resources and procedures for selecting and acquiring information products in all formats (print, audiovisual, electronic, etc.). Includes collection policies; collection description, evaluation, maintenance and preservation; document delivery, vendor plans, fund allocation, intellectual property and resource sharing.

Covers the key concepts of evaluation and a variety of methods used to determine the goals of a system or service, performs organizational analysis, assesses task/technology or service fit, determines ease of learning of new or existing services or systems, determines ease of use, assesses aspects of performance (including information retrieval), and evaluates the success in accomplishing the user/organizational goals. Methods include observation, survey, interviews, performance analysis, evaluation in the design/iteration cycle, usability tests, and assessment of systems in use.

Covers the key concepts of evaluation and a variety of methods used to determine the goals of a system or service, performs organizational analysis, assesses task/technology or service fit, determines ease of learning of new or existing services or systems, determines ease of use, assesses aspects of performance (including information retrieval), and evaluates the success in accomplishing the user/organizational goals. Methods include observation, survey, interviews, performance analysis, evaluation in the design/iteration cycle, usability tests, and assessment of systems in use.

Course provides an overview of the purposes and uses of outcome-based evaluation approaches and methods, and provides an opportunity to conduct a focused outcome evaluation of a user-focused service in a library, a nonprofit organization, an archive, a museum or other service-focused organization.

• Learn about approaches to outcome-based evaluation
• Identify and use context-centered methods for evaluating public information services
• Examine the role of evaluation in developing more effective information services
• Gain skill in identifying appropriate data collection and analysis methods
• Gain an understanding of recent developments in measurement and evaluation
• Read assigned readings and appropriate focused readings
• Plan and carry out a focused outcome-based evaluation project

Most professionals are deeply involved with information technology throughout their careers. Many professionals elect to lead, or are asked to lead, an IT unit. This cross-disciplinary course introduces students to the skills needed to manage the modern IT organization. Students develop skills and techniques in the areas of technology assessment, strategic planning, budgeting and financing, human resources administration, IT operations, and leadership.

This course is designed to be cross-disciplinary, with examples and activities drawn from higher education, information services, manufacturing, health care, public administration and other areas. A variety of instructional methods are used to engage students and help identify similarities and differences between IT applications in various professional fields.

Examines the archivist's "first responsibility," the appraisal of records in all media for long-term preservation. The responsibility is "first" because appraisal comes first in the sequence of archival functions and thus influences all subsequent archival activities, and it is "first" in importance because appraisal determines what tiny sliver of the total human documentary production will actually become "archives" and thus part of society's collective memory. The archivist is thereby actively shaping the future's history of our own times.

Begins with the theoretical foundations of appraisal and the controversial responsibility of assigning cultural value to some documentary artifacts and not others, within a broader content of history and memory. Sessions on the evolution of appraisal thinking, and different appraisal experiences, In Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia, follow. With this background, the course focuses on examples from the real world of appraisal strategy and methodology, including electronic records. Attention will be paid to personal and private records as well as government and institutional ones. The class will end by trying to apply the theories and methodologies through group projects to various recording media and functional areas of records creation, these reflecting student interests.

The goal of the course is to provide students -- through readings and discussion -- a thorough knowledge of the basic theories, strategies, and professional practices concerning appraisal and an orientation to doing this job well as working archivists.

Builds on the conceptual framework of information needs and the use of information provided in SI 501. In that course the focus is on techniques that information professionals use to understand the needs of people who employ a wide variety of information systems.

Emphasis is on professional practice. Professional practice occurs both in institutional settings (including public, academic, special, and school libraries and information centers) and directly between information professionals and clients (such as information brokers).

Prepares students for need-based, client-centered professional practice in a variety of information environments (including public, academic, special libraries and school media centers) in a period of major change. Professional practice consists of a variety of functions and practices which increase client access to information and knowledge. It is based both on an understanding of user information constructs and on knowledge of information systems and services. Course addresses concepts related to public libraries, academic libraries, special libraries, medical libraries, school libraries, and information centers, strategy and strategies, competency, and competencies.

Acquaints students with representative sources of information in all formats as well as with delivery methods for services and systems in a variety of information environments. Emphasizes the dynamic nature of contemporary provision of information service and the importance of understanding users' information needs and behaviors. Resources considered include all formats and delivery methods: print-based, vended online services, Web-based resources, Internet search engines, CDs/integrated media, large data files, digital libraries, community networks, GIS, knowledge management systems, etc. Students study a representative sample of resources and services and their applications.

Covers understanding users' information-seeking needs and behaviors and meeting those needs through both human-based/face-to-face and technology-based services, through direct or intermediated provision of information, as well as through education and training activities; evaluation of such resources and services; preparation of information resources; management issues; current developments, trends, and future research. Format is lecture and discussion, with students using actual reference questions for searching practice and to demonstrate mastery of the material. Students may work with a single partner to develop Web-based or other information resource or service plans.

• Learn about the information needs, information resources and delivery mechanisms available in both human and technology-based systems
• Study a representative sample of same and apply these sources to real-life situations
• Consider the on-going management and evaluation of systems and services designed to meet information needs
• Learn about likely developments and future research in this area

Records are the corporate and cultural memory that provide proof of actions and decisions, build a knowledge-base for reflection and learning, and form a perspective on today's society that we will pass on to future generations. As organizations create and maintain more of their records electronically, they are struggling to develop effective policies, systems, and practices to capture, maintain, and preserve electronic records.

Course examines the ways in which new information technologies challenge organizations' capacities to define, identify, control, manage, and preserve electronic records. Students learn how different organizational, technological, regulatory, and cultural factors affect the strategies, practices, and tools that organizations can employ to manage electronic records. Problems of long-term preservation and continuing access to electronic records are analyzed and addressed.

Addresses electronic records management issues in a wide variety of settings, including archives and manuscript repositories.

Surveys basic principles of cognitive and social psychology relevant to the design and use of information systems. Focuses on important findings in psychological science and their implications for the design and use of information systems. Topics include the basics of human perception, memory capacity and organization, the development of skill and expertise, and the characteristics of everyday reasoning and decision making. For example, a central problem in information science is how to label information stored for later recall. By examining how human memory operates, we can gain some insight into possible schemes that may be compatible with human users. This survey of what we know about the human mind offers ideas about how to exploit mental capacities in the design and use of information systems.

Each week in the course, students read original articles and discuss their content. For each session, students should come prepared with questions regarding the readings (~40 pages per week). Since no background in psychology is assumed, it is important that students actively identify unfamiliar concepts and raise questions in class. The instructor's goal is to provide assistance and support as students learn to draw upon and integrate new scientific findings into their thinking about information use. Students are expected to actively participate in discussions, and through interactions in class, learn to draw connections from the research literature. Because class discussions are the core activity in the course, it is expected that students attend class regularly, contribute to the interactions, and complete assignments on time.

Each student writes a one-page reaction paper each week to help identify the relevance of the ideas from the readings. This paper describes a concrete illustration of a psychological principle and its implications for information systems. There is also a final project requiring the evaluation of a single existing information system using multiple principles of psychology discussed throughout the term. This project can be conducted individually or in small groups (two to four students working together) and the report should contain no more than 10 pages. Final grades for the course are a weighted average of participation (one third), short papers (one third), and the final project (one third). Students should feel free to discuss their progress in the course, along with any suggestions, with the instructor at any time.

Meets weekly for presentations and discussions of new work by leading researchers studying human organization and related subjects. Students attend all seminars and read weekly assignments. Students may write independent papers when enrolled for larger numbers of credit hours. Prior course work in organizations is recommended. ICOS is the Interdisciplinary Committee on Organizational Studies.