Due Dates:

Technology & Service Inspiration Posts

February 3
February 24
April 06

Reflection Posts

February 10
March 02
April 27

Background
Museum, Library, Archive and other information technologies are a set of expansive domains. While we'll cover a variety of essential elements, there's a great deal of depth we won't be able to get to during class time together.

Moreover, technology, more so than many other areas within the information professions, is subject to an increasingly rapid pace of upheaval. What was considered a staple consumer technology or professional service just a few years ago may now be fading in importance, or worse, obsolete. For these reasons and others, keeping current with emerging issues and technologies is something that will be required of all people working in all information professions.

The class blog is an opportunity for students to direct their additional readings and media observation in a direction of their choosing in order to supplement more specific interests and tracks/programs within Pratt SI. For example, students interested in digital preservation issues may wish to focus their posts on current preservation concerns, while a student in the Information Experience Design track may wish to focus on trends in usability testing.

Technology & Service Inspiration Posts

Students will contribute at least three short posts to the class blog over the course of the semester. See the syllabus and class blog for a non-exhaustive list of potential sources.

These are meant to be brief annotated citations of services. Students should search professional literature sources as well as news sources and other media for examples---large or small---that relate to the use of technology in the provision of service. They can be citations of innovative services currently being offered by libraries, archives, or museums, or examples from other industries that could potentially be applied to information profession environments. Examples can range from "soft technology" --- e.g., social media, smartphone apps, etc. --- to more granular and complex technology examples, like Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), scripting tools, information visualization applications, etc.

Technology & Service Inspiration Posts Requirements

150-word minimum (original post content; not including excerpt or citation, etc.)
Published to class blog by the time class starts on the due date
- With descriptive title
- Categorizes appropriately, e.g., Technology & Service Inspiration Post 1, Technology & Service Inspiration Post 2, etc.
- Tagged with relevant keywords
- Use only the "standard" post format option
Excerpt or embed of source material
- Includes citations of any source material, with links embedded if possible
Brief comment about why the cited example is of interest, and how it is being or could be deployed in a library or archive context
- Addresses, briefly, at least the following questions:
  - What is new and/or noteworthy here?
  - Why should people in the information fields be paying attention to this particular development?

Reflection Posts

Students will contribute at least three significant posts to the class blog over the course of the semester. See below for initial topic suggestions, and see the syllabus and class blog for a non-exhaustive list of potential sources.

The posts should be a minimum of 700 words in length, and must include: an excerpted portion (not to be included in the word count) or embed (with Fair Use criteria in mind; see below) and direct link to the source; a brief summary or explanation of the material with comment on how the material was discovered; and the student's reflection, drawing connections and parallels to material covered in class and/or ongoing concerns to the library and archives communities.

Reflection Posts Requirements

700-word minimum (original post content; not including excerpt or citation, etc.)
Published to class blog by the time class starts on the due date
- With descriptive title
- Categorizes appropriately, e.g., Reflection Post 1, Reflection Post 2, etc.
- Tagged with relevant keywords
- Use only the "standard" post format option
Excerpt or embed of source material
- Includes citations of any source material, with links embedded links if possible
Brief summary or explanatory remarks about source material
Reflection on material in context of class topics and larger information professions discussions
- Addresses at least the following questions:
  - How are the sources under consideration in the post deeply relevant to the information science profession?
  - How does this tie to larger technology trends or implications?
  - Why should people in information fields be paying attention to this particular development?
Two concluding questions that prompt further consideration of the topic

Note on writing style/tone:

Write what feels comfortable, and helps you get your point across.

No need to be overly formal as long as what you write is expressed clearly and effectively.

If it helps you frame your posts, feel free to consider your audience to be both me and your class peers, eager to hear from the periodic updates on relevant materials you've discovered in the course of this class.

Meanwhile, I also suggest that you consider re-publishing the posts you write for this class in other places, such as your own blog, on Medium.com, or elsewhere. They can be great fodder as writing samples, especially if you consider that kind of re-use ahead of time.

Appendix: On Fair Use

Fair use is an extremely important facet of the information industry, and is an essential component of the law to understand and be able to clearly communicate to patrons, researchers, students, and anyone else who might benefit from fair use.

17 U.S. Code § 107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include---

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) **the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. **

---

The following are the best and most succinct informal criteria for fair use I've heard:

Are you using the material to illustrate a specific point that you're trying to make?
Are you only using so much as is necessary to make that point?
Is it clear to the audience what that point is?