School of Information and Library Science
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

INLS 461 Information Tools
2009 Spring

Course Information

• Credit hours: 3 credits
  
• Class Date & Time: Tuesday and Thursday, 12:30pm - 1:45pm
  
• Classroom: Manning 117 (Computer Lab in the SILS Library)
  
• Course Website: http://www.ils.unc.edu/courses/2009_fall/inls461_001/

Instructor Information

• Name: Sanghee Oh
  
• Email: shoh {at} email {dot} unc {dot} edu
  
• Office hours: Tue & Thu, 1:45pm – 3:00pm or by appointment. You can find me at the SILS library.
  

Course Goals

1. Ability to use the Internet effectively
   • Become familiar with the Internet and its basic tools
   • Be able to use some basic Unix commands and to understand the file transfer protocol
   • Become conversant with Open Source – some of its applications, its promise and its limitations
2. Ability to create useful Web content
   • Understand the basic tools underlying the Web
   • Be able to create Web pages by using basic HTML, basic CSS, and using HTML editors
3. Ability to effectively format written documents
   • Understand the underlying power of markup languages in document creation software problems
   • Be able to format documents for publication
4. Ability to use spreadsheets
   • Understand the vector power of functions in spreadsheet applications
   • Be able to format spreadsheets for professional usages
5. Learn the basics of a common relational database management system
   • Understand the power of related tables and the way to create new tables through queries
   • Be able to work with MSAccess on a fundamental level
6. Ability to design and produce effective visual presentations
   • Understand the power of visual language and design
   • Be able to design and deliver effective audio/visual presentations

Readings

• Textbook: Robbins, J.N. (2006). Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.
• The text book is available at Student Stores, and through Safari Books Online
• Additional readings are available here

Lectures

• First 5 to 10 minutes: something interesting from a class member that we all need to hear about
• Next 60-70 minutes: lecture (mostly, examples (a lot), exercises (sometimes) and discussion (some)

Lab Info

• You may (and may have to) use the computers and software in the SILS computer Lab to do your work.
• The computers in this room are arranged for the lecture materials, in-class exercises, or group activities, not for personal entertainment. Please be mature about using computers.

Evalution

• This will be a performance-oriented class and your grade will be determined by the proficiency you show on six tasks.
• Pay attention to the due dates. Tasks should be turned in by the end of the day they are due. Deadlines are listed for your time management purposes.
• If circumstances render you unable to turn in a task on time, you may negotiate a new, later, delivery date with me. If you negotiate a new delivery date and meet it, you will suffer no negative consequences.
• If you finish a task early and wish to have me look it over for completeness, I will do so and provide you feedback so that you may alter things if necessary. Of course, I can only do this if you provide it to me early enough and if I have the time available in my schedule. If you finish a task on time or late, I will grade what I receive.
• This class has neither a mid-term nor a final examination. Grades are based on class participation and the completion of six tasks. Each task will focus on the topic listed in the chart below, but each succeeding task will build on the skills learned in the ones which come prior to it. All tasks will be released for view at least one class session prior to their due dates.
  1. Task 1 will be broken up into several mini-tasks as you set up your web environment for this class. You will accomplish task 1 by sending emails giving me the response to the mini-tasks.
  2. Task 2 and 6 will be the URL of a web site you will construct and publish.
  3. Tasks 3 – 5 will be products you will post in your web space and you will send the URL or the location where I can download it from your web space.

Class Participation: Active Involvement

• Your active involvement in enhancing the learning environment for your fellow students will earn you full credit.
• Active involvement includes asking questions about topics in such as way that your question and the answer also help your fellow classmates.
• There is no doubt that everyone in the class will be an expert in at least one area and active involvement includes offering to display your skills in an area related to the topic under discussion so that we may all learn from and with you.
• The amount of points earned for class participation is a subject judgment and I will be making the subjective call.

Attendance

• Attendance is a key indicator of your participation. I won’t take roll daily, but I will notice your absence. It is very important that you do not miss classes. If you do miss class, you would be wise to talk to me about it, either before or after the session you miss.
• We will often have class exercises. If you miss classes, you won’t be able to participate in the exercises, and it will affect to your participation grade.

Grade

To be explicit, when averaging grades for the semester, I will use an Excel function to round off to two decimal places. But underlying that displayed number is an absolute number and I will use an Excel function to translate the underlying absolute number into a letter grade. The underlying absolute number must equal the lower number in a grade range to reach the minimum necessary to get that letter grade. A 91.999999999 is a B+, a 92.00 is an A-, for example

Honor Code

• Faculty and students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill adhere to their Code of Student Conduct. Accordingly, you all should recognize that most software applications available in the computer lab are copyrighted and cannot be copied
• Honor Code: It shall be the responsibility of every student at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code, which prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing when these actions involve academic processes or University, student or academic personnel acting in an official capacity.
• Campus Code: It shall be the further responsibility of every student to abide by the Campus Code; namely, to conduct oneself so as not to impair significantly the welfare or the educational opportunities of others in the University community.

Acknolwedgement

Bob Sumner, Kristin Chaffin, Serena Fenton, David West, Dr. Rong Tang, Dr. Lokman Meho, Dr. Ron Berqquist and to all the previous instructors of the course. This course is built on all their contributions.