Course Catalog Description: INLS80 Data Communication (3 hours). Examines the functions of data communication networks, such as the Internet, for communication, accessing remote resources, and information searching and retrieval. Explores emerging multimedia applications and their potential uses. Note: This is an undergraduate level course, intended primarily for students pursuing their minor in information science.

Pre-requisite: INLS50 or comparable skills, including the ability to send and receive email, the use of microcomputer software such as word processors, and the use of Web browsers.
 

Course Objectives: INLS80 gives broad knowledge of data communication systems, with a focus on Internet tools and applications. Goals include:

• Gaining hands-on experience with modern tools for Internet-based communication.
• Developing an informed approach to historical and future trends in networked computing.
• Demonstrating fundamental skills for instruction, diagnosis, support, analysis and management in diverse computing environments.

Evaluation: All assigned work must be completed in order to receive a passing grade in INLS80. Late work is downgraded at a rate of 1 point per business day. Unless otherwise discussed in class, all work is to be added to your online Web-based portfolio for evaluation and is due by 1:00 p.m. on the due date. Instructions for doing this will be given in class. Througout the semester, you will be able to create more and more sophisticated presentations of your work.

Assignments & Grading: You will be graded on three assignments (30% total, 10% each), a mid-term exam (25%) and a final project (35%). Class participation (10%) will also count towards your final grade. The assignments are as follows:

1. Internet Explorations: Three written assignments dealing with different aspects of Internet communication resources. Details and examples of the scope and purpose of these reviews will be discussed in class.

Beyond the review content, each review should include:

• A title; good organization; effective use of English
• Identification of the review's intended audience
• Identification of the resource's intended audience

 

All reviews will be authored as HTML documents and will be available for perusal by your classmates. A formula for making the reviews available will be discussed in class. Each is graded on a scale of 0 to 10 points, with 8 being 'good.' Together, the reviews compose 30% of your course grade.
 

Due Date	Resource Type	Review Type
September 26th	Online Literature	Report and analysis
October 31st	Search Engines	Comparison and recommendation
November 26th	Internet Group Projects	Selected Topics

2. Mid-term. October 29th. Test of knowledge on data communication systems, networking and HTML.

Counts as 25% of your course grade. (Note: there is no final exam for INLS80)
3. Term project. Choose one of the following types of projects, or propose an alternate. You may elect to complete your project independently or in a group with up to 3 other students in the class. A one-page proposal for your term project is due on November 20th. The final project is due on December 17th at 9:30am.. Counts as 35% of your course grade. 
• Create a substantial "webliography" on a chosen topic using HTML and related tools. The number of resources included will depend on the extensiveness of the content you develop: A series of hypertext links to network-wide resources with only brief reviews might have over 100 resources, while a collection of extensive multi-paragraph reviews with introductory and summative content might only include 30. The webliography must include a clear statement of purpose and audience, be well-organized, and provide proper attribution for any secondary resources used.
• Author a series of web pages for a particular organization, including various types of multimedia in your design. The initial requirements for the page, as well as any feedback from the organization, should be included somewhere in your final pages.


For either project, follow good HTML/Web design principles and use the appropriate <META> tags (we'll go over these in class). If you choose to work in groups, you will be asked to submit a brief paragraph or two on the contributions of the various group members

The proposal should be a brief summary of what you are planning on doing for your final project. The specific items included in your proposal will vary based on which type of project you choose to complete. If you are doing a web page for an organization include information about that organization and any resources that are already available, some of the additional resources you will be including in your project, and information about your contact person at the organization. Questions to answer might include: Do they have a web site currently? What type of audience will view these web pages? If you are creating a "webliography" outline your chosen topic and give an indication of the type of resources you will include.

Final Project presentations will be no longer than 10 minutes in length. Presentations of your web pages should include background information about your site and why you created it, a basic "tour" of your web pages, and a discussion of any difficulties you ran into.

In addition to the project itself (the web pages you've created), you will submit documentation. This can be linked to from your web project, or it can be emailed to me separately, but all of this is due by December 17th . Late work will absolutely, positively, NOT be accepted. Early work is encouraged!

The supporting documentation should consist of:

1. a site map, diagram or index
2. documentation of your design decisions and your justifications for these decisions
3. documentation of the tools you used to create your pages (e.g., HTML editors, hand coded, Photoshop, etc.)
4. a description of your target audience for these web pages and the purpose of your web site
5. a discussion of any major problems you ran into and what you did to get around these problems
6. what are the strengths and weaknesses of your site?
7. documentation should include anything that you think is relevant or special. If I can't see it, or am not aware of it, then it won't be graded
8. Group projects only--if you are doing a group project, turn in an evaluation of each team member's contributions to the project (email this to me separately - don't put this on your web page) - include who did what and an evaluation of the effort put forth by each team member. This will be completed confidentially.
4. Preparedness and involvement. Your level of participation and preparedness in class discussions, lab exercises and class electronic forums. Counts as 10% of your course grade.

 

A	95 - 100
A-	92 - 94
B+	87 - 91
B	83 - 86
B-	80 - 82
C+	77 - 79
C	73 - 76
C-	70 - 72
D+	67 - 69
D	60 - 66
F	59 and below

Text: There is not a required text for this course.  I will discuss available texts the first week of class. You may elect to choose supplemental readings from alternate texts. There are many books related to the course subject matter, most of which cover similar topics. Other readings may be placed on reserve in the Undergraduate Library and announced in class. Read the assigned readings before the class date they are assigned for, and review as necessary afterwards.

Readings assigned from: Fundamentals of the Internet by Greenlaw and Hepp