INLS161-001 Summer II 2015
Course Info
Description: Tools and concepts for information literacy. Includes software use and maintenance, computer applications, and networked information systems.
Instructor: John D. Martin III
Location: 117 Manning Hall (computer lab inside the SILS library)
Time: 1100 - 1230
Days: MoTuWeThFr
Dates: 22 June - 23 July 2015
Exam day: 27 July 2015
About the Course
INLS161 focuses on the concepts and tools necessary for communicating information to users. This is a critical component of information literacy, which involves seeking, evaluating, and utilizing information. INLS151, titled "Retrieving and Analyzing Information," is focused on the seeking and evaluating components of information literacy. This course is about effective use and communication.
Information Literacy
From the American Library Association:
Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to 'recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.'
The technological component of information literacy is also defined:
Information literacy is related to information technology skills, but has broader implications for the individual, the educational system, and for society. Information technology skills enable an individual to use computers, software applications, databases, and other technologies to achieve a wide variety of academic, work-related, and personal goals. Information literate individuals necessarily develop some technology skills.
A full information literacy curriculum would include:
- Tool literacy - The ability to use print and electronic resources including software
- Resource literacy - The ability to understand the form, format, location and access methods of information resources
- Social-structural literacy - Knowledge of how information is socially situated and produced. It includes understanding the scholarly publishing process
- Research literacy - The ability to understand and use information technology tools to carry our research including discipline-related software
- Publishing literacy - The ability to produce a text or multimedia report of the results of research
Tools and Concepts
The course introduces some basic technology tools as an essential component of information literacy training. We will cover the following:
- Operating on a remote system
- Using version control software to maintain your workflow
- Manipulating and formatting text-based documents
- Processing data using spreadsheets
- Processing and storing data in databases
- Developing presentation materials to communicate your work effectively
- Beyond!
We will begin with the building blocks of the Internet and the World Wide Web, to be certain we understand what the our basic tools are doing for us. This will allow us to better understand methods for creating well-formed materials to be used on the Web. We will also introduce concepts and practice skills relevant to effective use and understanding of the power built into the tools listed above.
You will have choices for how to complete each set of tasks. Some may be familiar to you already while others may not. If you already know how to use a given set of tools, it will behoove you to learn a new set, thus increasing your technical skills. We will use primarily Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) when possible and conduct and submit most of our work in open repositories online.
A Note on Computers
This is a paper-free course. There will be no paper products generated in this class and there is no printing requirement. All work done in INLS161 will be done on computers either on your personal laptop or on the desktop systems in the SILS lab. In most cases, work will be done using web applications in such a way that you might access your workspace from any computer, anywhere. It would behoove you to bring your laptop to class every day as there will be some hands-on-keyboards work done in every class period.
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