| Module Identifier | IL10110 | ||
| Module Title | FOUNDATIONS OF INFORMATION STUDIES | ||
| Academic Year | 2000/2001 | ||
| Co-ordinator | Dr Christine Urquhart | ||
| Semester | Semester 1 | ||
| Other staff | Mr Michael Lowe | ||
| Course delivery | Lecture | 18 Hours | |
| Seminars / Tutorials | 1 Hours | ||
| Assessment | Assignment | 2 written assignments of 1,500 words. Written Assignment 1 (10% of the total marks for the module) For this largely formative assignment you will need to read and make notes from the following five articles which you will find in the Thomas Parry library. Consult your Student Study Guide for help and hints in making useful notes from your reading. Anon. Performing miracles. The Economist, 17 June 2000, 118. Editorial, plus related article. What the Internet cannot do. The failure of the new media. The Economist, 19 August 2000, p.13-14, 59-61. Moore N. Creators, communicators and consolidators: the new information professional. Managing Information 3 (6) (1996), 24-25. Poirier, R. The information economy approach: characteristics, limitations, and future prospects. The Information Society 7 (1990), 245-285. (Scan this article. There are lots of tables, which you do not need to read in detail. Read p.268-272 carefully). Willard, N. Knowledge management: what does it imply for IRM? Managing Information 4 (8) (1997), 31-32. Use your notes from reading and your lecture notes to prepare answers (around 150 words long) to the following questions: 1. Identify two examples of "ambiguous" information professions and explain why they are "ambiguous". 2. Explain why it is difficult to assess whether IT boosts productivity. 3. In what ways might an information professional add value to information or help manage knowledge? 4. In what ways does the Internet help and hinder media producers and consumers? Written assignment 2 (90% of the total marks for the module) Consider the following scenario: "You are the information manager of a specialist engineering company that has just been taken over by another company with general engineering interests. Your new managers are seeking to cut the number of employees in your organisation, and your department is under threat". Write a report of between 1,800 and 2,000 words justifying to the new managers why they need to keep you and your department intact. You will need to include an explanation of the type of work you do, and show how you play a vital role in the functioning and further development of the new and old company. Points to check Use the relevant readings in the handbook, your lecture notes and the handouts to help plan your report. Use the learning outcomes listed in this handbook as a check that you have covered the main points. Remember that a report should include clear section headings, and make use of tables, charts and diagrams if these seem appropriate. Outline reporting guidelines are provided in the module handbook. | 100% |
| Further details | http://www.dil.aber.ac.uk/dils_new/Modules/Handbooks/Index.htm | ||
Brief description
The module delineates the principles of information management and information science. Topics covered include:
emergence, scope and professional issues in these disciplines, the commodity view of information, and an
overview of the information industry.
Aims
Many of the management gurus think that the majority of employees in the year 2000 will be
information workers of one kind or another. Whether you intend being an information manager or
not the principles of information science and management are relevant to you and should help you in
your future career.
The aim of this module is to give you an insight into the work of an information manager, information
scientist, or knowledge manager. You will consider what makes information science a science and
why information management is important. The roles of information management posts are varied
and the purpose of the module is to introduce you to some of the typical tasks and responsibilities
that might be faced by an information manager, and show you the theoretical principles which would
underpin their work.
A typical business conference today might discuss the "knowledge-based" company, or how to
make a learning organisation that really works. There is not much point in recruiting and training
"knowledgeable" employees unless the internal barriers to the flow of information are removed, and
information is managed better. Getting the information to work for the good of the organisation and
its employees requires an understanding of the human factors involved, as well as a knowledge of the
ways in which information can and should be processed, and managed.
By the end of the module you should be able to:
* Discuss why information is important to an organisation;
* Identify the main roles of information professionals and ‘knowledge managers’;
* Describe how information science, information management and knowledge management
evolved;
* Explain why issues of governance and quality are important in the knowledge intensive
organisation;
* Recognise some of the ethical problems in information handling;
* Describe how teams and groups contribute to the knowledge resources of an organisation;
* Explain various methods of organising information;
* Discuss the importance of document and record management;
* Discuss some economic and social implications of information technology.
N.B. Please read the Module Handbook carefully and remember that:
non-submission of any assignment leads to automatic failure on the module;
assignments submitted late are subject to the DILS late submission penalties (see the DILS
undergraduate programme handbook for details).