Undergraduate Minor in Information Technology Studies
Please Note: The following information is for students who have declared this minor prior to the 2007/2008 academic year. New students interested in starting an undergraduate minor in information science should visit the site of the new campus-wide informatics minor.
Admission to the ITS Minor
The ITS minor program is open to undergraduates from all colleges and majors. It complements the backgrounds of those majoring in any field, whether liberal arts and sciences, engineering, applied life sciences, or commerce. Majors in Media Studies may elect Information Technology Studies as their General Advanced Study Concentration.
Admission is by application. Students will normally be in their sophomore year or above, with a grade point average of 3.0 or above (students with a lower grade point average are reviewed on an individual basis).
To apply, contact the ITS Undergraduate Advisor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS): -lis-itsminor, at uiuc.edu-
Upon acceptance, students must:
- Complete the University of Illinois Statement of Intent to Pursue a Campus-Approved Minor form available from the ITS Undergraduate Advisor or at http://www.provost.uiuc.edu/programs/advising/intent.pdf.
- Have the form signed by a GSLIS representative--normally the Coordinator of the ITS Minor or the ITS Undergraduate Advisor.
- Have the form signed by a representative of their college of enrollment.
- Submit the Campus-Approved Minor form to their college and return a copy of the form, signed by a representative of their college of enrollment, to the ITS Undergraduate Advisor.
Admission to ITS Courses
All students are welcome to take LIS ITS minor courses. However, enrollment preference in these courses will be given to students admitted to the minor.
Requirements for the ITS Minor
The minor requires 18 hours of coursework, which must include:
- At least one of:
LIS201: Info, Technology and Orgs (3 hours)
or
LIS202: Social Aspects Info Systems (3 hours)
- The Capstone course: LIS491: Literacy in the Info Age (3 hours)
- Twelve (12) hours of additional courses at 300-level or above, normally taken as LIS minor courses (see the course options below).
Students must maintain a 2.67 average or above in the courses for the minor to be awarded.
Course Descriptions
For times and locations of courses each semester, see the course schedules on our Course Information pages.
Core and Required Courses
Unless otherwise specified, course are 3 hours. LIS201: Info, Technology and Orgs and LIS202: Social Aspects Info Systems are approved as General Education courses for Social and Behavioral Sciences: Social Science.
LIS 201: Info, Technology, and Orgs
Explores the way in which social aspects of information use combine with technical aspects of information technologies in organizational settings. This course examines the way in which organizations collect, process, and exchange information, the technologies they use to handle information, and the organizational, technological and societal factors that affect information processing goals. [Same as Comm 201]
LIS 202: Social Aspects Info Systems
Explores the way in which information technologies have and are transforming society and how these affect a range of social, political, and economic issues from the individual to societal levels. The course explores the impact of communications and information technology in a wider societal context. The issues explored include the history of communication media and institutions, including publishing, broadcast, film, and the Internet; communication policy; and social impacts of technology. [Same as Comm 202]
LIS 491: Literacy in the Info Age
This seminar explores what it means to be information literate in today's world. Students examine a number of information literacies, from print to multimedia, from stand-alone to networked, and discuss a variety of themes that have been affected by new communication and information technologies, such as community, the political sphere, and education. This course is normally taken as a capstone course in a student's last year. [Same as Comm 491] Prerequisite: LIS 201 or LIS 202, or permission of instructor.
Electives
Unless otherwise specified, courses are 3 hours. Unless otherwise specified, students may take different sections of LIS390, and each will count toward the minor. Current exceptions: Students may not take both LIS390 G "Science and the Internet" and LIS390 BSI "Business, Social Science and the Internet." Prerequisite for all 300-level courses are completion of LIS 201 or LIS 202, and junior or senior standing.
LIS 310: Computing in the Humanities
Use and application of computers to scholarly activity in the humanities, such as projects that put classic texts on the web or create multimedia applications on humanities topics. Students learn about agreements that facilitate computer-based cooperation and their impact on humanities scholarship, the role of computers in writing, and other related topics.
LIS 351: Design Info Interfaces
Examines issues of human computer interaction and the design of better computer interfaces. Students review interfaces to a number of different information systems to gain an understanding of the challenges and trade-offs in good design. The course involves practical interdisciplinary team work in designing, testing, and improving interfaces. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor, and junior or senior standing; preference given to registered ITS minors (for further information, see http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/~twidale/duii/info.html).
LIS 352: Cognitive Psych Info Systems
Introduction to research and theory on topics in human cognition including: perception, attention, pattern recognition, representation of knowledge, language, problem solving, reasoning, and learning. Emphasis is on the relationship of these processes to computer models and implications of this body of knowledge for building information systems. Students will conduct a series of brief studies of current information systems and report on the strengths and weaknesses of the systems in relation to human cognitive ability, along with recommendations for the redesign of these information systems. Prerequisite: junior or senior standing
LIS 390BSI: Business, Social Science and the Internet
A hands-on introduction to understanding and using business and social science information, especially that available on the Internet. The course covers general issues concerning use of the Internet as a source of information, including the evaluation of information reliability, and of search and retrieval techniques. Students also gain awareness of issues of business and social science information production, distribution, organization, and use. Restriction: Students may not take both LIS390 BSI and LIS390 G.
LIS 390EMT: Emerging Technologies
This course is designed for undergraduate students who are interested in examining various uses of emerging information technologies, as well as identifying and assessing their social impacts. The course sessions will include guest lectures, computer-based activities, demonstrations, and discussions. Possible student projects could include evaluation of the use of such emerging technologies and research on these technologies, specific to their majors or interests.
LIS 390G: Science and the Internet
A hands-on introduction to understanding and using scientific information, especially that available on the Internet. The course covers general issues concerning use of the Internet as a source of information, including the evaluation of information reliability, and of search and retrieval techniques. Students also gain awareness of issues of information production, distribution, organization, and use in science. Restriction: Students may not take both LIS390 BSI and LIS390 G.
LIS 390MSI: Music and Sound as Information
The advent of multimedia computing has awakened interest in the representation, manipulation, and use of both music and sound as part of our everyday lives. This introductory course will examine the wide variety of methods used to create, record, represent, modify, and present music and sound information. Basic acoustics, major notation schemes, and formats such as streaming audio, mp3, WAV, and MIDI, are explored with an eye toward learning how music and sound fit into our information universe. Prerequisite: LIS201 or LIS202 and junior or senior standing, or permission of the instructor. Students should have basic computer skills.
LIS 390PIO: Principles of Information Organization
An introduction to the principles of information organization and access, including indexing and cataloging, with examples of how these concepts are applied in different environments and formats. The course explores the information needs of various communities and how certain organizations provide access or services that meet these needs.
LIS 390RGI: Race, Gender and Information Technology
Examines how expression of gender and race affect, and are affected by, information technologies. The course considers how information technologies interact with race and gender in high-technology workplaces, classification schemes, and the cultures of computing, and reviews theoretical background in the social studies of gender, race, technology, and knowledge.
LIS 390W1A Web Technologies and Techniques
This course provides an introduction to the technologies behind the Web. Topics covered include: hypertext, hypermedia, the history of the Web, the role of Web standards and their impact on the development of Web resources. The course introduces principles of Web design and usability. Students gain an understanding of how the Web works and how to design, construct, evaluate, and maintain Web-based materials. [same as LIS390 W1B]
LIS 490LEI: Legal and Ethical Information Issues
Considers legal issues such as privacy, copyright, intellectual and academic freedom, and censorship, from the U.S. and an international perspective. Ethical situations covered include the distribution, use, and possession of information that might harm others. This class is for students who are interested in learning about such issues as they apply to a wide variety of social and cultural contexts.
LIS 490KN: Visualizing and Navigating Knowledge Networks
Examines the state of the art in visualizing and navigating a variety of networks, including social and knowledge networks. Major topics include representation, visualization, navigation and utilization of knowledge networks. Students will read about relevant models and approaches from network analysis, human computer interaction and computer graphics. Interdisciplinary student design teams will work on projects involving specific networks and problems, and learn and evaluate existing visualization environments including headmounted displays, large 2D (wall) displays, and 3D CAVE. The teams will study the available computational tools and software, and prototype new tools for visualization and knowledge navigation Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. CS 498AT and ECE 498NA
LIS 490MUI: Museum Informatics
Covers information organization and access in museums, exploring the relationship between information technology and modern museum environments. Students learn about classification systems for museums, computer systems for information storage and retrieval, universal access to shared electronic data, copyright in the digital world, virtual museums, interactive exhibits, and information management in museums, through lectures, computer-based activities, and interactive discussions. The final project is design of an electronic portfolio of virtual museum resources. Students are encouraged to approach class topics from their individual backgrounds in the humanities, sciences, or social sciences.
LIS 490NT: The Evolution of the Net: Information Infrastructure from the Telephone Network to the Global Mind
This course will discuss the technologies of the Net--the global information infrastructure. "infra" means "internal" and "structure" means "support." Information Infrastructure is the underlying protocols that enable users worldwide to interact with information. Over the years, improved technologies can support deeper structures, to enable user interaction to become closer to cyberspace visions of "being one with all the world's knowledge." The course will discuss in equal parts: the past, the present, the near future, and the far future. Explanations of the workings of underlying technology are given at length, but no technology prerequisites are assumed for the lectures. Students will be required to write essays on both the past and the future, to better appreciate how the lessons of the past guide the realities of the future.
LIS 490SE: Search Engines and Information Retrieval Systems
This introductory course examines how search engines and other information retrieval systems are put together. By understanding what makes these fascinating systems "tick," students will be in a position to make better use of these important tools. This course looks at present and future search engines, both on and off the Internet, designed to retrieve a wide range of information types, including text, images, sound, and music.
LIS 490SH: Social History of US Culture and Information Industry
Theoretical approaches to the study of culture and information are used to engage with an extended period in US history. The course examines the rise of the market in cultural and information provision, and situates selected instances of market development within wider processes of social historical development.
LIS 490TC: Social History of US Telecommunications
This course seeks to provide a broad historical account of a vital producer and consumer service: telecommunications. Its focus is on changing industry structures and public policies, set within the larger historical movement of American society. Experiences of private carrier monopoly, inter-carrier competition, and regulated monopoly are examined; the impact of emergent and sometimes destabilizing technologies, from radio to computer networking, is analyzed; and successive conflicts over the social purpose of telecommunications are scrutinized.
LIS 490W2A Web Structures and Information Architecture
This course builds on 390 W1A to explore how Web structures have expanded from simple hypertexts and the informational implications of different Web-enabled activities. Topics covered include: Internet privacy, security/hacking, interactivity on Web pages, Web e-commerce, Web advertising and Web server logs. The course also expands on the issues of Web design introduced in W1A. This course will include an introduction to scripting languages (no previous programming experience is assumed). Prerequisite: LIS390 W1A
Non-LIS Courses
Will your non-LIS course count as an elective? By petition, a student may include non-LIS courses in their minor to a maximum of six (6) hours of coursework.
The course must be:
- approved before you take it (exceptions may be made in some cases for those transferring to UIUC or joining the minor late in their time at UIUC)
- 200 level or above
- complement your program: e.g. more technical for students in the humanities or social sciences, more social for those in computer science
- not in your major (exceptions may be made for independent studies or special projects that are listed as courses under your major)
To have a course accepted for the minor you need to:
- bring the syllabus to the ITS minor coordinator for approval
- complete the minor modification form and get the coordinator's signature
- give the minor modification form both to your college and to the ITS minor advisor or coordinator
- minor modification forms must be submitted to your college by 5:00 p.m. of the first day of class in the term of your graduation
The following courses are crosslisted and no action is needed to have these count toward the minor.
- Comm 201 (LIS 201)
- Comm 202 (LIS 202)
- Comm 291B (LIS 350SH)
- Comm 291TC (LIS 350TC)
- Comm 391 (LIS391)
The following course is approved for all minor students, however you need to complete a minor modification form to have it count toward the minor. See the undergraduate advisor.
- English 382 Writing Technologies
For More Information
If you have any questions, or wish to receive new information as it is available, send e-mail to: -lis-itsminor, at uiuc.edu-
