School of Library and Information Science
Indiana University

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L547: The Organizational Information Resource
Summer 1996
Tuesday, Thursday, 9:00-11:45 AM
Room 001

hrosenba@indiana.edu

Assignments

• Critical review of commercial web sites

  Visit, explore, and critically evaluate three commercial World Wide Web sites that you think do a good job of presenting themselves. Select three sites that are similar in some way (owned by the same mega-conglomerate; involved in the same product or service line; competitors for the same market share), and, as you examine them, pay careful attention to the range of information resources and services used in the sites and the ways in which they are organized and presented. Write a brief three to five page essay comparing three commercial web sites in terms of their:

  • "Look and feel;"
    
  • Coverage;
    
  • Organization (structure);
    
  • Currency; and
    
  • Ease of use.

  The purpose of this assignment is to begin thinking about the desirable features of a web site that would be of use in the development of an intranet. This assignment will be discussed in class on June 18 and is due on July 1 ; it will be worth 25% of the final grade.

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• Leading class discussion

  Select one topic from the class syllabus and lead a class discussion on that topic. You will sign up for a topic on June 25. If you decide to use additional readings for this class, you will provide the instructor with one copy of each reading no later than one week before you are scheduled to lead the discussion. The instructor will make copies of these readings for everyone in the class.

  When you lead the discussion, you should be prepared to talk about the topic and raise questions that will serve as the basis for our discussion. You may prepare any notes or supporting materials (such as overheads or, for the brave, a live demonstration), but you are not required to submit any written materials. You complete this assignment by showing up in class and leading the discussion.

  This assignment is worth 25% of the final grade.

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• Term project

  Conduct a semester-long group project which centers on the development of a web-based "corporate intranet" for SLIS. This project will involve systematic research intended to derive a user-based description of the content, utilities, and structure of this intranet. Throughout the course you will be exposed to a wide range of issues about OIR; this project is an opportunity for you to engage with these issues, both analytically and practically.

  You will will be part of a team that will create a prototype of a web-based intranet for SLIS. This will involve interviewing faculty, staff, and students at SLIS to find out what types of information and services the various constituencies of the School would like to see as part of this internal communications system. After analyzing the data that you have collected, you will then develop a prototype of the intranet will be presented in class on August 8, the date on which the final project (the written report and the prototype) is due.

  This project will have several components. You will:

  • Review literature on intranets (Weeks 1, 2);

  • Develop an interview instrument (Weeks 1, 2);

  • Select an interview sample (Week 1);

  • Conduct the interviews and collect data (Weeks 3, 2);

  • Organize and code the data (Weeks 3, 4, 5, 6);

  • Develop the prototype intranet (Weeks 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

  • Write the report (Weeks 5, 6, 7, 8); and

  • Present the report and demonstrate prototype (Week 8).

  The project will have the following timeline:
  

  This project is worth 45% of the final grade. There will be one grade assigned to the entire group on the basis of the written report and the prototype of the SLIS intranet.

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This page prepared by Howard Rosenbaum
Last update: 6.10.96
hrosenba@indiana.edu