Syllabus | Coursework |

LiS 614, Information Theory and Transfer: Martin Frické

Spring, 1997, Outline and Requirements

This is current as of 2/26/97. Material may be added or changed on a continuing basis. Three sections will remain unchanged throughout : Requirements, Grading, and the Academic Code of Integrity.

Introduction

This course will consist of the study of certain core issues in the theory of information science, together with a selection from among topics that are more exploratory or research-oriented.

The core will consist of theories of information and the transmission of information. These will include signal information, information as knowledge, semantic information, other ideas on information, information in thermodynamics, information and probability, signal transmission, database ...

More exploratory material might consider some of the following questions: Why is information of interest and value to us? How does information relate to problem solving? How does information help in decision making? What is relevant information? How is information to be valued? What are the properties of information depicted in diagrams, as opposed to in text? How is information transferred across different media?

The course presupposes no specific prior knowledge or skills on the part of intending students, and academically it will be of an intermediate level of difficulty.

Coursepack and readings

There is a small coursepack which contains

 

Belkin, N.J. [1978]. 'Information Concepts for Information Science'. Journal of Documentation, 34, 55-85.

Brookes, B.C.[1980]. 'Foundations of information science.Part 1. Philosophical aspects'. Journal of Information Science, 2, 125-133.

Brookes, B.C.[1981]. 'The foundations of information science.Part IV. Information science: the changing paradigm'. Journal of Information Science, 3, 3-12.

Bush, Vannevar. [1945]. 'As we may think'. in Kochen Manfred. The Growth of Knowledge: Readings on Organization and Retrieval of Information. New York, NY: Wiley (Reprinted from the Atlantic Monthly, 176(1), July 1945, pp. 101-108); 1967:209-15.

Fox, Christopher J. [1983]. 'Information in Information Science' Chapter 3 of Information and Misinformation, Westport: Greenwood, 1983.

Hayek, Friedrich A.[1945], 'The Use of Knowledge in Society', reprinted in Hayek, Friedrich A.[1948], Individualism and Economic Order, London:Routledge, 1948

Larkin, Jill H., and Simon, Herbert A.[1987], 'Why a Diagram is (Sometimes) Worth Ten Thousand Words', Cognitive Science, 11, 65-99

Mill John Stuart, 1806-1873.[1956!], On Liberty Chapter II, `Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion', Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill,1956.

Miller George A. [1956], 'The magical number seven plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information', Psychological Review, 63, 81-97, 1956

 

There is also a useful book, which is inexpensive,

Pierce John R. [1980]. An Introduction to Information Theory, New York: Dover, 1980.

Requirements

The course requirements are a) a coursework requirement and b) a final examination. The coursework requirement will be two papers, one due about 4 weeks and the other 8 weeks into the course, at times to be announced in class. The final examination will be a take-home exam of three hours duration. It will be handed out on Wednesday May 7th and has to be returned to my mailbox at latest by Wednesday May 14th at 4.00pm.

Grading

I use the following scales

 

Internal

Internal

For Graduate School

90-100%

A+

A

85-89%

A

A

80-84%

A-

A

75-79%

B+

B

70-74%

B

B

65-69%

B-

B

below 64%

C

C

Thus, for example, a mark of Internal: 82 A- External: A on a piece of work would be seen by outsiders as an A; however, the A- will convey to you that the work can be improved.

The coursework will count for 50% of the final grade, and the final exam for 50% of the grade.

Academic Code of Integrity

Students are expected to abide by The University of Arizona Code of Academic Integrity. 'The guiding principle of academic integrity is that a student's submitted work must be the student's own.' If you have any questions regarding what is acceptable practice under this Code, please ask an instructor.

Contacting me

Please raise queries in class, or by email to Fricke@ccit.arizona.edu or in Room 16 during Office Hours (Wednesday 11-2, and Thursday 11-2).

Outline

The course is scheduled to have 15 weekly two and a half hour meetings. I conceive of the course as consisting of 30 'Lectures' or 'Topics'; so, on average, we will get through two of these lectures per meeting (or per week).

There is some flexibility here over the exact topics to be lectured on-- perhaps not all of these topic will appear, and maybe some others not in this list will make an entry.

Assignments received

Syllabus | Coursework |