• Tuesdays, 8:30-12:00
• Main Building, Room 550

• Wednesdays, 10:00-12:00, and by appointment
• Rabin Social Sciences Building, Room 8031
• Telephone: 04-8249152 (x3152) Fax: 04-8249120

This course explores the ramifications of developing communication technologies upon individual and societal information processing. We'll discuss works from a wide variety of disciplines, including educational, psychological, and social psychological perspectives. There will be a specific emphasis upon the future role of the library in an increasingly interconnected yet decentralized world of information. Although research issues are the primary concern of the course, students will be required to have or develop CMC skills pertaining to e-mail and information searching on the Internet.

Course Topics

• Historical and Evolutionary Perspectives
• Digitization
• Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)
• Cyberculture and Cybercommunity
• Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence
• Organizational Trends
• The New Library
• New Learning
• Social and Legal Policy
• Critical Views: The Balance of Communication Power
• Connecting Cultures

Students should understand, furthermore, that readings and Internet-based information resources will be mostly in english.

REQUIREMENTS/GRADING CRITERIA
Participation	20%	-
Group Project	40%	Ends on 22.01.99
Final Exam	40%

You will be using Internet-based information tools, such as email, FTP, GOPHER, and the World-Wide Web, to get information and communicate with me, your fellow students, and others. We will spend some time discussing how to use these resources most effectively.

Students will develop a World-Wide Web page concerning a topic in the syllabus or a topic to be arranged with the me. This web page will function as a way of
helping students organize course material,
giving firsthand experience with CMC information processing techniques and social issues, and
providing us with a means of involving people around the world with our course.

I will be providing you with more detailed information about the nature of this project in the coming weeks. This assignment will be ongoing, through the course of the semester, and we will cover design issues as needed during the semester.

This project will end on 22.01.99

Each student will make an individual home page on the WWW which will include information links of the student's choosing. This home page will be updated as the student sees fit.

An important part of the course involves the discussion and participation of students, who are expected to be prepared to discuss readings. Each student is expected to write one two-page reaction paper over the course of the semester, dealing with the readings of a single week. This reaction paper will also include discussion of at least one source not included in the syllabus.

The final exam will cover mainly material provided in lectures. However, students will be expected to be able to refer to material in the readings in order to clarify their answers and provide illustrative examples where appropriate.

Student input into the formulation of examinations is encouraged.