CS 151 Fall 2004 Research Project – Making Use of Information Literacy
Purpose: To practice applying information literacy to a task. You will search for, evaluate, and use information from various sources to create something new – in this case a paper and a WWW site.
Assigned: 10/21/2004
Due: 12/02/2004 at the start of class. (This is largely an outside-of-class effort)
Preliminary Hand In: On 11/09, hand in what you have then for initial review. This might include some of the following: sources and explanations; outline; introduction; partial text …, www site plan
Course Significance:
10% of course grade.
Assignment:
Write a 3-5 page paper on one of the topics listed below. Or choose another topic concerning computer’s impact on society. Use at least 5 sources, at least 1 of which must be available via “traditional” media (journals, books) and at least one of which must be an on-line source. Append after the paper a short explanation of why each source you used was appropriate for your research, include a copy/print of the first page of each source.
Your paper should be coherently written. While I am primarily interested in the ideas, and the sources, the presentation of the ideas should not distract from reading. Sentences that do not follow from one another, major grammatical errors, spelling mistakes etc could distract from the ideas being presented.
Format should be fairly normal – font 10-12 pt, margins 1.0-1.25 inches, single space, …, bibliography at end, …
We will be using turnitin.com to fight plagiarism. You may not duplicate even a sentence from other sources. Quotes from sources should be in quotations and referenced. Paraphrases of material from sources should be limited in length and be referenced. All sources should be referenced. Claiming another's work as your own is cheating. Your paper/www site should exhibit significant independent synthesis and/or extension of source material. Don’t choose a topic that is over your head such that you cannot contribute beyond pasting quotes together. Plagiarism, be it from a book, a web site or a fellow student, will be considered cheating.
Develop a WWW site as an alternative presentation of your research. The site should be uploaded to La Salle’s area for student WWW pages; you should also turn in a disk containing your files for use in case of trouble accessing your on-line site. The www site should include at least your major points and supporting arguments. Include links to all of your on-line sources and any other links that you feel would be useful to the reader, and a bibliography of non-on-line sources. Include the date of creation. Also, include basic identifying info/ credentials for yourself so that anybody who finds your page while doing research can evaluate your pages (not so much information that somebody could stalk you)
Your WWW site should include the official La Salle personal Web page disclaimer. Remember, you are posting to an international network, and the things you put up are publicly accessible worldwide. Don’t put up anything that reflects badly on yourself or La Salle, or anything that violates La Salle’s WWW policy. The La Salle policy, including disclaimer can be found at:
http://www.lasalle.edu/webcontact/policy.htm
We will discuss publishing WWW pages at La Salle, but as backup, see:
http://www.lasalle.edu/admin/personal/pages.htm
Ensure that I know the exact address (URL) of your main page and leave the WWW site up at least until I grade it.
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Topics (Some of these may require narrowing):
§ The Internet is a world-wide entity. This presents issues for countries wishing to control content deemed unacceptable – such as pornography, gambling, terrorism, etc. What’s a country to do?
§ For some people, the WWW and e-mail is a distraction that makes them less productive at work. What monitoring of employees’ computer activities is acceptable in a free society?
§ As more and more information is computerized, the linking of different sources could be a means of surveillance (e.g. knowing where somebody was at different times. For instance, you went through the EZ Pass over the Ben Franklin bridge at 8:40, charged a tank of gas in Cherry Hill at 9:30, …). What limitations should there be on linking information from different systems?
§ Some corporations say that gathering information about customers is a way of serving them better. For instance, a store can send promotions related to products to people that might be interested in those products (“target marketing”). Some people are concerned about the privacy implications of companies keeping tabs on what they buy. Where should the line be drawn?
§ The government wants to defend the nation (“homeland security”) through means including greater surveillance of on-line activities (e-mail, and other). What is an acceptable trade-off between security and privacy?
§ The explosion and availability of information seems to have driven an increase in “identity theft” where somebody pretends to be somebody else in order to defraud. How should this trend be stemmed?
§ With greater information stored on computers, there appears to be a trend of law enforcement seeking access to that information. For instance, purchase records have been sought for search. What should be the “new economy” balance between privacy and law enforcement?
§ Digital information can be changed. For instance, pictures can be digitally altered to show something that wasn’t there. Has the legal system adapted to this capability? How is “actual photographic evidence” treated?
§ Has access to computers and information become a great division between haves and have nots?
§ Hackers have used “denial of service” attacks on some prominent WWW sites. How does such an attack work? And how can a site defend against it?
§ Computers have increased the productivity of workers in many job categories. In some cases this has strongly reduced the number of people working in those areas. Has this loss of jobs been compensated for in other ways or is it a permanent problem for our economy?
§ Computers have gotten more and more powerful, able to do more and more tasks. Are there some decisions a computer should never make?
§ What is the future of computerized voting? Is the 2000 election a blow or a blessing? Will it/ Did it have any effect on the 2004 election?
§ Many workers are now telecommuting – working at home while connected to the work place via computers, electronic devices, and telephones. Is this beneficial to the individual, organization, and society?
§ Should schools and libraries be required to implement software filters on Internet use?
§ There is substantial temptation to use medical records for reasons other than treatment. For example, employers may prefer to hire employees that are low medical risks in order to cut insurance and absenteeism costs. At least one law has been passed to protect the privacy of medical records. Is it enough?
§ Unlike doctors, lawyers, accountants and engineers, there is no method of certifying the competency of software developers (outside of company specific designations such as Microsoft Certified Software Engineer). Should computer professionals be required to be licensed?
§ There have been advances in “biometric” technology – the identification of people via unique biological features – such as retina scans, finger print scans, etc. Should there be limits on the use of biological identification?
§ Do violent computer games desensitize people towards real violence?
§ Companies such as DoubleClick make money by keeping track of people’s behavior on the WWW. For instance, DoubleClick uses “cookies” to keep track of pages visited in order to target ads to a person’s interests. What limits should there be on such collection of WWW clicks?
§ Robots have started to move out of the factory and research lab. Will they be a useful part of the average home in the next 20 years?
§ Computers have become an “embedded” part of many products, helping to control them (such as cars). How does this change the economy? What impact does it have on jobs/ job prospects?
§ Digital storage of media (music, movies) etc makes copying of them easier and allows potentially an infinite number of copies to be made, without loss of quality. From the perspective of the business trying to make profits on such products, what would be an appropriate and successful reaction to the digital revolution? (good question for a business major?)
§ Distance learning via computer has been highly touted as more flexible form of education for working adults. How does it compare to regular classroom education?
§ Worldwide computer networking has facilitated the political “hot-potato” offshoring – in which “white-collar” work is done by lower salaried employees abroad (e.g. India). Is this a good thing? How should the government respond to this trend? (or a business major might want to look at this issue from a business perspective – what are the requirements for successful off-shoring?)
§ It has been argued recently that one of the reasons for spiraling health care costs is the lack of use of modern “IT” (information technology) techniques by the medical industry. Does this claim hold up? Would greater use of computerization lead to lower costs?
§ Spam (un-solicited junk e-mail) has become a major problem / nuisance. What would be an effective solution to the problem of spam?
§ The 2004 presidential campaign has been heralded as a new threshold in the impact of the Internet on politics. Do you think this is true? Has the impact been positive?
§ It has been claimed that the spread of computers and the Internet has aided democracy by making it possible for everyday people to promote their ideas and have on impact on politics. Do you think this is true? Has the impact been positive? Do you think that the impact is significant worldwide?
§ OR Another topic related to computers and society, approved by the instructor. For instance, a topic involving the impact of computers on your major.