SJSU SLIS LIBR 287 Special Topics: Information Architecture Updated 01/23/2005
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.IA
Information Architecture
Syllabus
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assignment /
Study
Modules / Projects / Blackboard
course
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outline
This course is entirely online. It is a rigorous, interdisciplinary, 3-credit hour, graduate level, elective course that simultaneously introduces and exercises the procedural (PD), contextual (CX), and conceptual (CO) levels of information architecture for virtual, physical, and hybrid information s/places. This is NOT a web construction or computer programming class. Basic understanding of information organizational tools is assumed. The focus of this class is to enable attitudes that empower potentials to facilitate effective and efficient intermediation of the data-information transfer process (d-i-k) and relations among user-medium-message (a-b-g). Students will cultivate a professional persona of the practicing Information Architect through entirely online interactions, completion of online study modules, and architecture of an IA prototype project.
The instructional model for this class is based on the metaphorical model for the
Intellectual Foundations of Library Information Science
developed in J.Z. Nitecki's (1993)
Metalibrarianshipcourse components /
Students will read extensively and engage in rigorous online discussions in the class blackboard while working independently through the six online study modules and completing their associated tasks. Students will create a workbook-based set of documentation (IA deliverables) to support their development of an Information Architecture project.
Through the six online study modules, students will learn to: Define, Understand, Analyze, Shape, Create, and Value their thinking as professional Information Architects. Through the workbook and project students will develop practical skills that facilitate their professional contribution to the development of intelligent information s/places. Through the readings and online discussions, students will explore the history, principles, theories, and practices of information architecture, and develop their unique IA voice.
This course addresses all the goals and objectives of the school.
This course is challenging. Students are expected to relinquish all assumptions and expectations about online classes and about Information Architecture. Students are asked to HOLD all questions until they have adequately navigated through this website and arrive at a very specific s/place in this web, at which s/place all questions will be invited and encouraged. Most logistical questions about this course are answered in the content leading to this specific s/place...meantime, students are asked to focus on the experience, and examine their personal questioning behavior and attitudes during navigation. Most answers to other questions are already held by the student. ALL questions, except those of a strictly private nature are to be asked, and will be addressed collaboratively in the blackboard, by the class in collegial interaction, when that time/s/place arrives. Students will understand this more clearly when they progress through the "information anxiety" discussion.
Graduate students are expected to actively participate in and manage their own education, and to search both inside and outside themselves for answers to questions. Answers are rarely black and white at this level of study. Tolerance for ambiguity, chaos, and change is required, as is the ability to seek out and answer one's own questions. Self-discipline and effective time management are necessary for successful completion of this course. The ability to multitask in online information s/places is assumed.
This class is conducted entirely online. There will be NO scheduled class meetings, but there will be extensive asynchronous interaction online. Participants in this class are expected to show up regularly, engage unabashedly, and create, nurture, and sustain their voice as professional Information Architects. Participants are expected to be intellectually curious critical thinkers and to challenge and raise and discuss ideas as colleagues. Participants are expected to have already read the assigned materials ahead of time, and researched additional sources for more information, which they are expected to have synthesized into knowledge, and share during discussions. The sources chosen for this class are only some of those available in the field; participants are encouraged to expand the discussion. Most importantly, participants are expected to learn, and to leave this course with new ideas, and the confidence and ability to bring them to fruition.
The professor serves this course as facilitator and will present information related to the subject, and help participants synthesize that material. The professor will both ask and answer questions. There are no lectures. There are no graded assignments. There are no examinations. No paper is required. This course is an opportunity to produce IA products while synthesizing the issues and exploring possibilities and options. Participants are expected to behave as professional colleagues. This course is an opportunity to develop, cultivate, and practice basic IA techniques in a creative, nurturing environment.
The professor will be available to answer questions concerning assignments and topics covered in class after individual participants have had time to synthesize the course overview materials presented here. The professor will also calculate grades. Contact with the professor is entirely online. All questions, except those of a personal nature, must be asked, and will be answered in the course blackboard, when that time arrives. If a matter needs to be addressed privately, student may contact the professor by sending email to: professor [at] intertwining.org, identifying themselves as a student in this class.
Most of all, the professor's role is to encourage participants to learn – encourage, not force -- and to help introduce practices and procedures of the profession. Participants will take from this course of study what they put into it. It is up to the participant to manage the learning adventure.
If a participant has special needs as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act and needs course materials provided in an alternative format, please notify the professor immediately.
Because of the nature of our subject matter, this course is evaluated "as if" it is pass/fail. Participants are expected to successfully demonstrate completion of all the components of this class. Following is the first of three course overviews provided in this introductory course materials. Participants should hold all questions until they have completed all three overviews, and arrive at the invitation to begin online interaction as colleagues.
There are four intertwined course components:
the readings, which are extensive, ongoing, and demanding, and which we will actively discuss in the blackboard.
the six online study modules, and the IA workbook with its embedded exercises,
the student project, and
class participation.
Since IA is at once an artistic and scientific undertaking and requires the risk taking, innovation, and daring associated with creativity, and because participants retain and are expected to exercise considerable creative freedom and responsibility for their learning in this class, performance is evaluated "as if" this were a pass/fail class. Participant documents (deliverables) will not be "graded" by the professor. Rather, the professor will review and monitor and, where appropriate, comment, make suggestions, etc., acting in a consulting capacity to each participant, and to the class. Participants are likewise expected to monitor and comment on fellow participants' work, also acting in a collegial and consulting capacity to the class.SJSU cannot accommodate true pass/fail grading. Accordingly, successful demonstration of participation in and completion of all four components of this class earns an "A." Failure to do so necessarily earns an "F." No incompletes will be granted except as dictated by University policy, and no extensions beyond the official class end date will be considered. Participants are not evaluated in relation to each other. There is no bell curve.
Each component represents roughly 1/4 of the final grade, that is, they are of equal value. Sustained participation in all four components is required to successfully complete (pass) this course, and earn an A.
More about student evaluation is explained in the first assignment.
"Failure cannot be conceived in knowledge. Only ignorance fails"
/ text & readings / site outline / course logistics
“Read not to accept, nor to
deny, nor to agree, nor to criticize or condemn,
but to .”
--Sir Francis Bacon
Hello! I am your virtual professor
dr. joanne twining
You can learn more about me at intertwining.org
Please HOLD all your questions until...
Browse our course website thoroughly and read every single word several times before you "do" anything or jump to questioning. Get oriented. Take your time, and pay attention to your processes, your feelings, and your assumptions.
Most questions are probably already answered in the next few pages. We will reach a point on this website when we are ready to begin interacting, and this includes asking questions. At that point, we will all use the discussion forums in our Blackboard for ALL questions related to our course.
Do not email me privately with course-related questions.
If you absolutely, positively HAVE to contact me privately, and then only if it is a personal or private matter, please use email: professor@intertwining.org and identify yourself as a student in this class.
My role as your virtual professor is to facilitate your online learning FOR THIS CLASS, and to guide you through the course content. I am not a faculty advisor and cannot advise you on matters related to your degree program, SJSU, or SLIS.
my focus
My research is focused the interface between human and machine, between carbon and silicone,
and the in-form-ation and ecology of information "flows": "action potential" of information. My particular interest is in the role of information in consciousness and creation, specifically the quantum information action potentials of the finding mind. If you'd like to know more about this, read Evan Harris Walker's (2000) The Physics of Consciousness.My favorite philosopher of library information science is J.Z. Nitecki, whose book, Metalibrarianship (1993) I published online in 1995 as part of the Nitecki Trilogy, one of the Internet's first ebooks and one of the academic library world's first entirely online collections, which is now used in LIS and other graduate courses around the world.
Nitecki constructs a metaphorical model of the action potentials and interactions among the three dimensions (three being minimally necessary for understanding to occur) and the nine facets of the of all known information s/places. Nitecki's model informs the design of this class.
Briefly, the Metalibrarianship model is:
the relations among user-medium-meaning (a-b-g relations)
are equal in terms of the principles that define these relative to
the data-information-knowledge transfer process (d-i-k transfer process))
when analyzed at the
procedural-contextual-conceptual levels (PD, CX, CO levels)We will learn more about the model, and why it is a relevant for Information Architecture and pertinent to the IA mind, as we continue our studies together. For now, let's just keep the metaphorical mathematics "...are equal in terms of the principles that define these relative to..." in the back of our mind. This will help us stay focused: on track, and not get swept away in the details of any particular element of the model, or our work together in this class. Nitecki's model has proven helpful in cultivating the simultaneously multidimensional mind considered necessary for successful and innovative Information Architectures (and architects!)
my "style"
My teaching style is andragogical ("guide on the side" rather than "sage on the stage") and constructivist, which means participants are in charge of their learning and expected to contribute to the course content. Since this is an upper level graduate school elective, participants are given the opportunity and expected to function as professional colleagues. We are adult, life-long learners, and among a new breed: adult online learners, whom I call "virtuals." As graduate students of the highest and most demanding discipline, Library Information Science, a certain maturity (in behavior, attitude, practice, and knowledge) is assumed. In this class, you will have the opportunity to "blur the boundary" between school and professional practice, and to put on and figure out how to wear the peculiar hat of a professional information architect.
what I know, and what I expect you'll experienceOnline learning promises freedom and flexibility but requires considerable self-discipline, self-motivation, and the ability to manage time efficiently and effectively. Online learning is not for the light minded, the easily distracted, or the insecure. Online learning is not like taking a "correspondence course" of old, in which you read, filled out some paper, and send it in for grading.
For us, online learning is all about interaction.
Online learning at this level requires a tolerance for ambiguity and a willingness to suspend expectations and assumptions about what "taking an all online class" means. If you assume "online" will be easier: think again. This is not a "jump through the hoops" take a little test, and bang out a paper -type class. In fact, none of those skills really apply...it is assumed you've already mastered them and are ready to move on.
If you assume an online class will take less time, also think again. You will likley find that you somehow never get to quite take off the "hat" of an online learner...since the class is always there, beckoning you...calling for you attention....toying with your emotions...:-).
The tolerance required for this class probably goes far beyond the level of tolerance you've cultivated for success as a traditional student...but it's exactly the type of tolerance you'll need to be a practicing IA. We are in new, and still largely unmapped, territory, flying by the seat of our minds, hoping we have what it takes to be brilliant enough to show the way....
The good news is: the rewards and opportunities are also likely to exceed your expectations!
So, this class is not for the light-minded.
It is, however, for the light-hearted ;-)
So, no worries...
but, if you are a quitter, withdraw NOW.
Some of us will be simultaneously learning the course content, SJSU and SLIS technologies, and how to function effectively as a "virtual." There will be different challenges for each of us...but, we are ALL learners, and, in this class, colleagues.
I trust each is eager and willing to help with grace and generosity as we construct and share our knowledge-creating processes.
This gives me the opportunity to introduce you to
twining's laws for computer users:
think before you click
read the help files
the first answer is always "it depends"
save early, save often
keep a backup, keep it current
the network will fail, count on it
Read them again.
twining's laws are related to S. R. Ranganathan's ("the father of faceted classification") fourth of his Five Laws of Library Science: "...save the time of the user." Translated to this course: let's save each other's time and not ask questions without first applying twining's laws. Read them again.
Everyone is busy and has a full life. We will all monitor the blackboard, and respond to questions when appropriate. This, combined with this course's built-in sensitivity training about your own questioning behaviors (see law #3) gives us good practice ASKing and answering questions...as lib*info*pros.
As for laws #4 through #6 ...no excuses for lost files, crashed systems, last minute stafu's, etc., please.
Our class will be conducted in asynchronous mode,
which means there are no specific time and s/place attendance requirements.attendance
You are able to "attend" our class, online, whenever and from wherever you choose. This website and our class Blackboard will be here, waiting for each of us, 24 hours a day, seven days a week (network outages notwithstanding), whenever and wherever we're ready to come to class. But, please don't expect me to be "there" (here??) 24x7, or even every day!
Participants are expected to log on to our blackboard at least twice a week. This is a minimum. Successful graduate students always go beyond the minimum, and Information Architects are notorious over-achievers, so "more than minimum" is expected generally. The blackboard keeps a sophisticated set of user statistics, which I use to help monitor student activity. In addition, as with all graduate school classes, you should expect to joyfully invest an additional 6-9 hours outside of class for every one hour in class (that's why six to nine hours of grad school class is considered fulltime.) Participants are expected to extend their learning and reading beyond the class requirements and assignments.
For asynchronous learning to work, we must be sensitive that each of us will be in a different time and s/place. We are coming together online, outside of shared time and space, but in a shared VIRTUAL environment....the very type of environment we will be architecting! These environments are new...and the old rules don't apply...so, pay attention to yourself as you continue...listen for your assumptions, your attitudes, your emotions, your expectations.
Information Architects are expected to have an acute awareness of the subtleties of the online environment.
You must accept that you are not going to be "spoon fed" data that will somehow miraculously become "information" or "knowledge" for you, and understand that, for this class, "regurgitating" information is not a measure of success....any more than it is a measure of success in a professional working environment. You must exert your own processes and, in collaboration, we will try to create new knowledge, and develop new skills together. You will learn more about collaboration in a bit. For now, you must be willing to be daring, and to take risks, and to go out on limbs, just as every practicing professional is expected to do.
no worries.
We all have busy schedules, challenging work lives, demanding families and friends, and sometimes "things" happen. In asynchronous mode there are no "time and space" emergencies, and there little real need to "panic" about anything....especially if we follow twining's laws, and particularly so if you stay current.
You must self-enroll in the blackboard and learn to use it on your own. do not skimp with your time here. Perhaps you and Blackboard are old friends. In this class you will be exposed to and expected to use its advanced (professor level) features. So, take the time to learn it properly. Blackboard has much to teach about interface, online behavior, organization for knowledge production, navigation, intuitive needs, etc. Shortly after this introduction and orientation, and after the 1st Assignment, you will be given full professor access to our blackboard, which you will need in order to complete the class project requirements. This will be a rare opportunity for you to "see" and play with what your blackboard professors see.
This class is not a one-to-many transmission of knowledge (from professor to student), but a many-to-many construction of shared knowledge....just like in the real world of practicing IAs. Blackboard is a standard shared, online virtual classroom platform that includes chat, email, bulletin board, document repository, metadata functions, advanced search, white board, etc. What you learn by using it (and I don't mean just learning what buttons to click) can be easily translated to virtually any other interactive platform. Once you achieve blackboard professor status, you will be expected to help architect and construct our Blackboard. We will be "building community" in the blackboard through our discussions and the construction of individual project s/places, and your regular and focused presence is required.
You are expected to read (more about "reading" later) the Blackboard posts and messages, think about them, bring your mind to bear, and respond thoughtfully. You are expected to contribute to the course content; this can include providing links to additional resources, helping other students, etc. You are expected to use effective and efficient subject lines, and to refrain from irrelevant and impertinent messaging, such as "me too" messages, etc. that violate Ranganathan's 4th law (we will master this in our 1st Assignment.)
You may use the Blackboard functions freely, including setting up a chat sessions (virtual classroom) with each other, and for the class whole if you'd like, perhaps as study support, etc. To schedule a chat session, simply use the blackboard email function to invite the people you want to chat with, give the time (Pacific Standard Time, please) and date for your chat session, set up the chat, and be there. Be sure to turn on the archiving function, too, so that those who can't be there "live" at your preferred time can access the transcript at their convenience.
Our blackboard system is not linked to the university enrollment system, so if you withdraw from this class, please send me an email through the blackboard email function so we can "remove" you from the participants list.
Reading is an important activity in graduate school, and for some, the volume of reading can overwhelm. You are advanced library school students; if you are still overwhelmed by reading, this class is probably not for you. Sustained reading of the scholarly and trade literature is expected of all professionals, including IAs. IAs need to read across the disciplines. We will address the interdisciplinary nature of IA later, in one of the online study modules. But for now, know that contributing to the literature (when appropriate) is also expected, as is participating in peer review activities. You will cultivate these practices during this class as you begin serving as "consultants" to each other's IA projects, and discussing the readings in the blackboard forums.
There are several ways to read
By now you should have learned to read at a very high and highly discriminating level, and (hopefully) do not suffer from the alleged "information overload." If this is not the case, I highly recommend Mortimer Adler's classic, "How To Read A Book" which offers effective reading strategies. Here is a nice synopsis of the book's concepts. You may assume we've all read the assigned readings and thought about them, and have no need for anyone to tell us what they say...what we'll expect are insights, external references, thoughts, syntheses, and other "value added" intelligence in relation to them. Our discussions will stretch beyond the concepts as they are presented in the books, but will rely on the readings as a shared foundation of understanding.
Since our class is entirely online and in asynchronous mode, we do not have a regular, weekly meeting time or s/place. This inevitably causes some confusion for those who count "weeks" on the class schedule, and those who rely on externally-imposed deadlines, particularly when determining when assignment and deliverables are "due." Our schedule is flexible, but we must nevertheless synchronize with each other. For those who need a bit more rigidity: all assignments and deliverables are "due" on the last day of the "week" in which they are due. The first day of the week is the day of the week of the first day of the semester. So, if our semester starts on a Wednesday, then the following Tuesday is the "last day of the week" and also the day that week's assignments are due.
Hold your questions!
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