Information Management
DIG 3563 – Fall 2012
J. Michael Moshell, Professor
Course website:
e-mail:
Philosophy of the Course
The overt purpose of this course is to learn how to build and use media systems to store and retrieve information. The covert purpose of the course is to put you into situations where you can develop your skill at discovering, defining and solving problems.
Our world is full of information that we need to retrieve, and of media systems that store it. Here are some random questions that I have asked in the last year, which required that I find information.
FAMILY
* Where is the information I need to file my income taxes?
* When did my (newly acquired) cat get her last rabies shot?
* What did my grandfather look like when he was 30 years old?
ACADEMICS
* What topics did I cover when I last taught DIG 3563?
* What was the grade distribution when other teachers taught this course?
* What information is available about the IQs and academic performance of this class of Digital Media students?
DESIGN
* What is the most current version of the code that my team built for the Splash Conference?
We will structure this exploration by studying four aspects of information, and conducting a series of projects.
1. Theory
Metadata and Content Description
Sorting, Searching and Indexing
Cataloging - What a Library is good for
XML, RDF and the Semantic Web
Digital Rights Management
Encryption and Security
2. Systems
Version Control Systems (e. g. Subversion, Git)
Content Management Systems (e. g. Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal)
Digital Asset Management Systems (e. g. AlienBrain)
Search Algorithms and Engines (e. g. Google)
Search Engine Optimization
3. Techniques
Requirements Analysis
Database Design Principles
4. Case Studies
Analyzing products for specific markets, e. g. family photo albums
Analyzing a business' storage strategies (field trip, interview, report)
5. Class Projects
1. Requirements Analysis
2. Product Analysis
3. CMS Module Profile and Demonstration
4. Site Visit Report and Business Analysis
5. Project Development and Presentation
Examples of Information System Domains
I offer these four examples for discussion purposes. I sincerely hope that most of you can find creative challenges BEYOND these four categories.
* Student Portfolio Manager
* Family Album and Genealogy Display System
* Motor scooter parts lookup system
* Animal Shelter Database
We will use these four examples as starting points for classroom discussion, and will think up additional examples from which the class will then choose projects to perform the Requirements Analysis.
NOTE: Your teams will be paired up. You will perform and present the Requirements Analysis for the other team's project. Once your team receives their Req Analysis document, you can improve and extend it, before designing your project.
Classroom activities are a mixture of lecture/demonstrations and student group presentations. See the schedule for details.
Websites. Each team will create a website on which to post your work. You should know how to do this by now, but if you don’t, come to my office hours and I’ll help you learn how to set up a site on Sulley.
Documents. You will prepare a number of documents during this course. Some of these are Powerpoint presentations, and some are substantial pieces of written work. They are enumerated on the course schedule. Each document will be based on a Requirements document that I will post to the website on the day of the first lecture on the given subject.
Each of your documents must be delivered in this specific fashion:
-It must be placed on your team’s website, in the form specified in the appropriate section (below).
-You will show the class how to get to the document, when you make your presentation.
Group work. You are all collectively responsible to see that the work gets done. Everyone hates to be in a position where “my team-mate didn’t do what he said he would do, so I’m in trouble.” But it happens in the real world, too. Here are some ways to prevent this disaster:
COMMUNICATION WITH FELLOW STUDENTS:
- Communication: you need to know your team’s e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers, and where they live. You need to have a regular weekly meeting – I will provide time for this during class – and build internal schedules so that you can SEE what your teammates are producing, before it comes together.
- Responsibility: Each of the six projects should have a designated leader. That leader needs to be supported by the team-mates. There should be a second-in-command on each project, who is capable and ready to wrap up the project if the leader gets the flu or goes to Afghanistan to become a suicide bomber.
- Meltdown. If your team melts down, I will attach your survivors to other teams. You, as an individual, may at any time declare meltdown, if your surviving teammates are persistently incommunicative or irresponsible. This happens every semester.
- What to do if the person who is responsible the project, doesn’t show up? Tell them the story of the assassin behind the assassin.
- Courtesy when dropping out. Inevitably a fair number of students drop out of the course. It is a basic courtesy to let your team members know you are leaving. Just send them an e-mail! It would be nice if you would let me know, by the same means.
COMMUNICATION WITH ME THE PROFESSOR:
- All official communication of assignments will be by posting the relevant documents on your group's website. Why do we do this? Because I want all of you to be capable and accustomed to building functional, easily updated websites.
- All e-mail communication with me must follow this protocol:
- The subject MUST include DIG3563
- You must not assume that I've received the e-mail unless and until you receive an acknowledging e-mail.
- Events that must be communicated to me by e-mail:
- Members dropping from your group. (Self report AND team report.)
- Team will not be able to present on the day when it is scheduled
Late work. Unless all members of your team have a doctor’s excuse, we simply cannot accept late work in this class. If it’s not submitted by the due date, no credit accrues.
Website. You may use an existing website or create a new one for this purpose. The requirements for this website are very simple; all you need is a URL to which the reader of your document (that’s me) can be directed. That page, with no Flash or other barriers to use, must contain on its front page, links to each of the required documents.
Group assignments (items 1 through 6 in the “Due” column of the schedule.) When you make your first class presentation, you will provide to all of us with the URL where your group's work can be found.
When an individual assignment is made, you will need to have a website of your own on which to post those writing assignments. (items a and b, in the “Due” column of the schedule.)
The Course Schedule
Let us now walk through the schedule and discuss the documents, as they are the heart of the course. First, note that the schedule comes in several colors.
BLUE:Theory. Stuff you need to understand in order to perform the analyses and design the systems you will be working on, this semester. From the class schedule you can see that four theory items occur before the gold block in the "Cross-Design" row. This is because you need to understand these key concepts before you design your system.
GREEN: Systems. Four kinds of systems are available as tools for building your system. (Actually, you may think of others; I'm just supporting these four.) We will explore version control systems such as Git and Subversion; content management systems such as Joomla and Drupal; digital asset management system such as AlienBrain; and backup systems such as Mozy.
YELLOW: Requirements. These sections provides guidance on how to prepare your presentations; examples of what I expect, and discussions about how I'm going to grade it.
GOLD: Present It. The gold days on the schedule show when your groups make presentaitons. The "Due" column, also in
The intended outcome: A portfolio piece that you can show future potential employers: "I know how to build a CMS-based website!"
PURPLE: Participation in The Startup Game. See details below.
The Startup Game
We are conducting an experiment this semester; a kind of game is to be played with three classes participating.
DIG4104c will play the role of Entrepreneurs, starting a business.
DIG3563 will play the role of Investors, giving ‘bucks’ to the Entrepreneurs and receiving stock in the startups.
DIG xxxx ( at this time, an unknown class) will evaluate the resulting Mobile Websites.
Depending on how well your “investment” turns out, you receive some number of Bucks. Your grade in the Startup Game (5% of your course grade) depends on how many Bucks you have at the end.
** BUT WAIT, you say – you are telling me that MY GRADE depends on how well some OTHER STUDENT does in their project?
Yes, somewhat --- but you have several ways to influence that outcome.
a)You will have Stockholder Meetings with the Entrepreneur and can give feedback to guide their product’s development;
b)You can buy or sell your stock, or trade with others, to diversify your portfolio.
c)You may have bucks left over after the auction, and these also apply to your final bank account.
So, like in real life – if you pay attention and contribute, you might get rich!
How many bucks equals how many points?
Aha, that I won’t tell you. Nobody knows the total number of bucks that will be in circulation by the end of the game. All I will tell you is that (a) the more bucks you have, the higher your grade will be; and (b) the best way to get bucks is to intelligently invest.
See the Startup Game document linked from the course website, for complete rules and details.
Business Details
Grading. About 25% of the credit for each submitted item will consist of “points you can lose”. These concern grammar, spelling and neatness. The rest of the credit will consist of verification that the items listed in the Requirements are in fact provided, in adequate detail and clarity. The final 10% is for that extra “oomph” that says “these people really tried hard and succeeded. They should have an A”.
Late work is not accepted unless a written medical excuse is provided – and since this is group work, it would need to cover the whole group! We know that there are always disasters, computers that crash, cars that won’t start. But those are going to happen when you are working, too. HAVE A PLAN B that WORKS.
Classroom absences. You are expected to attend class. Points are allocated for attendance. A medical excuse (or official UCF excused absence, e. g. marching band) is required if you cannot attend class, or you will lose the associated attendance points.
Use of computers and PDAs in class. You may use any device at any time, except during exams (because it is not possible to verify that you are doing your own work, under those circumstances.). If laptop use for surfing the web or playing games causes you to miss anything in the classroom presentation or discussion, well ... it helps me figure out who to give the A’s and B’s and C's to.
Cell-phones. Turn the ringers off when you come in the door.
Office hours are visible on my website at .I warmly encourage making appointments for office visits outside the scheduled hours, and will do whatever I can to meet your schedule. The best time to make an appointment is at the end of a class.
Intellectual property.. Informally speaking, there are three levels of due diligence with respect to the use of others' art-work, writing, sound, music or other IP.
Level 0: Use with no acknowledgement. This level is NEVER acceptable in this course or in the world.
Level 1: Use with citation. This means, in the case of words, putting quotation marks around the original words and clearly citing the source. In the case of imagery, it means citing the source. The "Fair Use Doctrine" for when this level of use of others' work is permissible, is complex and evolving. In general, the use must be brief, relevant and well marked. No more than a small portion of the entire original work may be used.
In an educational context (e. g. a class presentation) you are generally safe if the above rules are followed. There is a specific requirement that the usage be temporary - only for the duration of the course. You must take down any website that contains such cited imagery or other IP at the end of the course.
Level 2: Use with permission. Much information available on the Internet is made available via explicit licensing rules. If you see "copyright (c) 2007 - all rights reserved" then this means specifically that the author does not want you to re-use their IP without contacting them. Look on wikipedia for another image instead. Much of the information there carries the notice "public domain" or "GNU Free Documentation License". Cite the source and the licensing, and you're safe - even if you leave the images posted after the semester is over. You do not have to contact the owner of the IP if this kind of license is cited at the place where you got it.
If you find it necessary to incorporate anyone else’s imagery or intellectual property in your Powerpoint presentation, it must be done with (at least) proper attribution (Level 1). This topic will be covered in more detail, in class.
Penalties for the submission of others’ work as your own (outside your project group) can range up to failure of the course, at the discretion of the instructor.
GRADING
The documents and the earned points are listed on the course schedule. I do not use +- grading (No A-, C+ etc.)
The basic philosophy is this:
“A” is for exceptional work, that goes above and beyond the assignment and demonstrates superior quality.
“B” is for work that meets all the requirements as stated.
“C” is for work that comes close to meeting the requirements, but may meet some of them in a minimal fashion.
“D” is for work that is barely acceptable, and it is a useless grade since it does not contribute to your required courses for the major. Therefore I don't assign this course grade.
“F” means sorry, you will need to try again if you want credit for this course.
CONTACT INFORMATION
J. Michael Moshell, Professor
Orlando Tech Center
Building 500, Room 155
Orlando, FL 32816
Phone: 407-694-6763 (cell phone) – please use only in emergencies.
Fax: 407-823-6103
Email:
For other details see
Academic Honesty and Problem-Solving Agreement – DIG 3563
I, ______, have read and understood the Intellectual Property section of the Syllabus this course being taught by Dr. Moshell. I agree to abide by its terms and by the Golden Rule for UCF student conduct.
I understand that any issue concerning the conduct of this course, or any other course in Digital Media, should be dealt with in the following fashion:
1)I will first visit with the instructor in office hours or by special appointment, to try to resolve the difficulty;
2)If no satisfactory resolution can be achieved, I will meet with the Head of the School of Visual Arts and Design, to request assistance in resolving the difficulty. I will provide him with a written factual description of the events that have occurred, detailing my request for changes or corrections.
3)Appeals to anyone in the Digital Media Department, the College of Arts and Humanities, or the upper administration of the university, will only take place after steps (1) and (2) have been tried. I understand the importance of approaching problems in the proper order, to maximize my chances of success.
Signed: ______Date: ______
SIGN AND RETURN THIS PAGE TO THE INSTRUCTOR BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE CLASS. A copy of this agreement is included in the class syllabus. You will not begin to receive grades for this class until a copy of this form has been turned in.
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