Info 203: Social and Organizational Issues of Information

Info 203: Social and Organizational Issues of Information Course Introduction: Social Science Perspectives on Information and Information Technology

Your Instructors… • Coye Cheshire 305A, South Hall coye@ischool Office Hours: Tues and Thurs 4-5:30 • Graduate Teaching Assistants: • Ashwin Mathew • ashwin@ischool • Devin Blong • d_blong@ischool Info 203

Course Logistics: Instruction • Online Syllabus http://courses.ischool.berkeley.edu/i203/s09/ • Some special sessions (group discussions, debates) • Lecture format with open class discussions • No laptops during lecture and discussion (you can thank us later) Info 203

Course Logistics: Reading Response Papers and Participation Reading Response Papers (15%) • Write critical responses to weekly readings (2 pages, double-spaced). Turn in at beginning of class when due. • Not summaries of readings; these are about your responses and critical thoughts on course readings. • Graded on a check, check-minus, check-plus scale • These will be due about every 2-3 weeks. Schedule will be finalized this week so that they are spread out fairly and do not overlap assignments. Participation (10%) • Attendance and class participation Info 203

Course Logistics: Assignments Assignments (45%) • There will be three course assignments. Details on each assignment will be distributed in class and on our course website. • Each will be a take-home assignment (15% each). • Some parts of the assignments will ask you to answer essay questions, other parts will help to motivate your work on the final paper (e.g., provide a topic or a basic outline). Info 203

Assignments: Final Paper • Final Paper (30%) • You will choose your topic, research it, and defend an argument • Final paper will be ~25-30 pages. Info 203

Course Logistics: Readings Course Reader: • $71.20 of pure knowledge • Available from Copy Central, Bancroft Way. Info 203

Some Thoughts About the Readings… All readings are required, but they are broken into reasonable amounts each week. A mix of theory, empirical work and case studies. I take course discussion very seriously– there are no ‘filler’ readings. Everything is in the syllabus because we want to discuss, critique and learn from it. Info 203

Other questions?

Overview of Course Goals …To discuss aspects of information and technology from a social scientific perspective …Think critically about information and technology. We do not want to take anything for granted. …Learn from theory and empirical examples …Learn how to describe problems, justify them, and write about them clearly Info 203

Course Topics: The Social Side of Information • Case study of the social uses of an information technology: the telephone • Social implications of the Internet • Reading and evaluating social science research (quantitative and qualitative approaches) Info 203

Topics: Information and Technology Adoption and Use • Diffusion of Innovations • Communication in Networks • Tacit and explicit knowledge; Information sharing Info 203

Topics: Deconstructing the User • Key theoretical perspectives on technology and users • Challenges to designing with social factors in mind • Trust, Reputation and Identity • Community Structure and Dynamics • Crowdsourcing; user-generated content Info 203

For Thursday… • Brown and Duguid’s “The Social Life of Information” Info 203

Info 203: Social and Organizational Issues of Information