Readings
We will not have any required textbooks
But we will have several recommended books.
Losee, R. M. (2012).
Information from processes: About the nature of information creation, use, and representation.
Berlin: Springer.
As the author describes it:
A book on Information and Information Science. Not a book about computers or psychology, the emphasis here is on information, the processes that produce information, and how information can be understood and used in a range of environments.
The others are popular books that you will find both enlightening and enjoyable. Any readings from these books will be made available to you, but you might find it worthwhile to get your own copies for fuller reading.
Gleick, J. (2011).
The information: A history, a theory, a flood.
New York, NY: Pantheon Books.
From the New York Times:
... a sweeping survey that covers the five millenniums of humanity's engagement with information, from the invention of writing in Sumer to the elevation of information to a first principle in the sciences over the last half-century or so. It's a grand narrative if ever there was one ...
Weinberger, D. (2007).
Everything is miscellaneous: The power of the new digital disorder.
New York: Times Books.
The book's blog doesn't say this, but:
charts how as business, politics, science, and media move online, the rules of the physical world—in which everything has a place—are upended. In the digital world, everything has its places, with transformative effects:
• Information is now a social asset and should be made public, for anyone to link, organize, and make more valuable.
• There's no such thing as "too much" information. More information gives people the hooks to find what they need.
• Messiness is a digital virtue, leading to new ideas, efficiency, and social knowledge.
• Authorities are less important than buddies. Rather than relying on businesses or reviews for product information, customers trust people like themselves.
Other Readings
When additional readings are assigned, they will be made available electronically, through the class schedule and the specific session pages.
[top]