LIBR 240-04
LIBR 240-12
Information Technology Tools and Applications
Spring 2006 Greensheet
David Cloutman
E-mail
Phone: (510)601-9870
Office Hours: By telephone;
Monday & Tuesday
8:00pm - 10:00pm
| Greensheet Links Textbooks and Resources Course Requirements Course Calendar |
Resources Blackboard Blackboard Tutorials |
Students are expected to enroll between January 20 - January 26, the day after the first day of instruction. You will receive an access code for enrollment via MySJSU.
Course Description
This course examines the different ways in which we can structure, store, process, access, and present information on a Web site. It emphasizes the tools of information technology and their related processes.
For the Spring 2006 semester, we will focus on Web site design technology and processes. In this course you will learn to use HTML, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), and JavaScript; the building blocks for Web clients. Additionally, we will introduce server-side scripting using the PHP programming language. Finally, we will also do a little work with XML and some related technologies, including XSLT, RSS, and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG).
Course Prerequisites
Students must have completed the computer skills course required at the beginning of the program, and must be comfortable learning new computer skills independently. Students who flourish by face to face instruction or group learning should consider enrolling in a live 240 section.
Students should be aware that this class will being teaching XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript as languages. No instruction will be provided on the use of specific IDEs or WYSIWYG tools, such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver.
Course Goals
In this class students will:
- Learn processes and best practices used in creating professional Web sites
- Understand the client server relationship as it applies to the World Wide Web, the difference between client and server side processing, and the appropriate use of each
- Integrate conceptual and practical strategies for presenting information on a professional Web site
- Markup content in XHTML format using major language features
- Create consistent and flexible formatting using CSS
- Learn how to communicate with the server using interactive forms
- Host a Web site on a Unix style platform (Solaris/Apache)
- Integrate third-party scripting solutions written in Perl, C, and PHP
- Study design, accessibility, and cultural issues
- Learn PHP as a first programming language
- Use JavaScript to enhance Web interfaces.
- Explore XML technologies, including XSLT, RSS, and SVG
- Gain an overview of other competing technologies not covered in this class (e.g. Microsoft .Net and Java) and the potential of database integration to create web-based software applications
Student Learning Objectives
Web development is an interdisciplinary practice. This class will provide a survey of technologies and disciplines with which Librarians and other information professionals are likely to interface. Students successfully completing this class should gain the following professional skills:
- The ability to publish basic, standards compliant, Web documents using XHTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Students will understand how these technologies integrate with other technologies, such as XML and server-side scripting
- A strong enough understanding of Web architectures, technologies, and best practices to effectively participate in the management, and decision making process, of more complex Web projects involving other specialists; such as programmers, graphic designers, and systems administrators.
The course supports the following objectives from the School's Teaching Goal:
Upon completion of the program the student will know and be able to identify the major theories and important principles as well as demonstrate current practice in:
- Information transfer;
- The application of diverse technologies to information management.
Textbooks and Resources
Required Texts
The required books for this course are:
- Krug, Steve (2005) Don't Make Me Think : A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (2nd ed.). Berkeley: New Riders Press. ISBN: 0321344758
- Powell, Thomas. (2003). HTML & XHTML: The Complete Reference (4th ed.). Emeryville, Calif.: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media. ISBN: 007222942X
- Rosenfeld, Louis; Morville, Peter. (2002). Information Architecture for the World
Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites (2nd ed.). Sebastopol, Calif.: O'Reilly Media Inc. ISBN: 0596000359
Recommended Textbooks
Powell's book provides a great survey of most of the technologies we will be covering in this class. It is also an excellent reference book that you will be able to use in future projects.
However, students who are visually oriented learners, or require more in-depth technical tutorials may benefit from this title as well:
- Castro, Elizabeth. (2003). HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS (5th ed.). Berkeley: Peachpit Press. ISBN: 0321130073
Keep in mind that there are many different books on this topic that support a wide variety of learning styles. If you find a book that you find helpful, please let me know.
Additionally, we will be addressing some topics in this course not covered in the required texts. Students wanting to integrate some of these advanced topics into their final projects may find these books helpful.
- Goodman, Danny; Morrison, Michael. (2004). JavaScript Bible (5th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 0764557432
- Zandstra, Matt. (2004). Sams Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hour (3rd ed.). Indianapolis: Sams Publishing. ISBN: 0672326191
Other Resources
The Web is quite naturally a great place to learn about Web development. Below is a small sampling of what is available. Students are encouraged to review these Web sites which contain language references, good tutorials, and articles about leading edge techniques.
- http://www.alistapart.com - Advanced articles and tutorials on leading-edge DHTML, CSS and JavaScript techniques.
- http://www.w3schools.com - Provides beginning tutorials and language references for many of the technologies we'll be using.
- http://www.php.net - The official site of the PHP programming language that will be introduced in the latter part of this course. Contains excellent documentation with user commentary.
Course Requirements
Blackboard
This is a Blackboard course. Students are expected to enroll between January 20 - January 26, the day after the first day of instruction.
Grading
Your grade will be determined by the quality of your work. Points on assignments are awarded based upon your ability to follow directions, reason analytically, produce creative solutions, and justify your work. You will receive written documentation outlining the requirements for each assignment. The final exam will be open book and will require the practical application of technical skills acquired in this course.
Grading Scale
In accordance with the SJSU Graduate School guidelines, the following grading scale will be used:
| 97-100 | A |
| 94-96 | A- |
| 91-93 | B+ |
| 88-90 | B |
| 85-87 | B- |
| 82-84 | C+ |
| 79-81 | C |
| 76-78 | C- |
| 73-75 | D+ |
Class Assignments
The assignments for this course are:
| 10 Problem Sets (5% each) | 50% |
| Course Project | 40% |
| Exam | 10% |
There is no extra credit.
Submitting Assignments
Assignments are due before 8:00 pm on the date listed on the calendar. All of your files on the server must be time stamped before this time, or the assignment will be considered late.
I recommend loading your last files onto the server several hours in advance of this time. Assignments that are less than 24 hours late will lose 10% of their points. Assignments that are more than 1 day late, and less than 1 week late will loose 50%. No assignment that is more than 1 week late will be accepted. Dispensations may be made for medical or family emergencies. If you know in advance that you cannot make a due date, let me know as soon as possible. Extensions may be granted at my discretion.
Academic Integrity
This class does not include group work. Every student has to complete each assignment independently. You will not be able to ask other students for help.
Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San José State University, and the University’s Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty are required to report all infractions to the Office of Judicial Affairs.
The policy on academic integrity can be found at http://www2.sjsu.edu/senate/S04-12.pdf
Reasonable Accommodation of Disabilities
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability,
please e-mail me as soon as possible. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires
that students with disabilities register with the Disability Resource Center
(DRC) to establish record of their disability.
No matter where students reside, they should contact the SJSU DRC to register. The DRC Web site: http://www.drc.sjsu.edu/
Course Calendar
| Date | Topics | Readings | Assignments Due | Comments |
| January 25 | Course Intro; Clients, Servers, and Your: How the Web Works | Krug, chapters 1-7 | First Day of Instruction | |
| January 30 | Beginning Web Usability and Design | Krug, chapters 8-12; Powell, chapters 1-2 |
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| February 6 | The Development Process; Core XHTML | Powell, chapters 3-4; Rosenfeld, chapters 1-7 | Problem Set 1 | Last Day to Drop Courses Without an Entry on Student's Permanent Record |
| February 13 | Topic: Layout with Tables / CSS |
Powell, chapters 5-7, 10 | Problem Set 2 | Last Day to Add Courses & Register Late |
| February 20 | Images | Powell, chapters 8, 11, Rosenfeld, Chapters 10-12 |
Problem Set 3 | |
| February 27 | Layout with Advanced CSS | Powell, chapters 12-13, 16 | Course Project Deliverable #1: Direction Report | |
| March 6 | Putting it All Together: Architecting Your First Web Site | Rosenfeld, chapter 8 | Problem Set 4 | |
| March 13 | Sending Data to the Server: Using Forms and Other People’s Scripts | Problem Set 5 | ||
| March 20 | PHP as a First Programming Language | Review all of Krug; Powell, chapter 14 | Course Project Deliverable #2: Information Architecture | |
| March 27 | Spring break! |
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| April 3 | Clients that Do Stuff: An Introduction to JavaScript | Problem Set 6 | ||
| April 10 | Rolling Your Own: Client / Server Interaction Using PHP and JavaScript | Problem Set 7 | ||
| April 17 | XML: Designing Custom Data Structures | Course Project Deliverable #3: Design Concept | ||
| April 24 | Emerging XML-Based Languages: RSS and SVG | Problem Set 8 | ||
| May 1 | Reformatting and Presenting Data with XSLT | Problem Set 9 | ||
| May 8 | Web Applications and the World of Tomorrow | Problem Set 10 | ||
| May 15 | What'd I Say: Your Questions Answered | Exam | ||
| May 22, 2005 8:00pm |
Course Project Deliverable #3: Live Web Site | |||
(January 2006)
School of Library & Information Science
One Washington Square - San José, California USA, 95192-0029
Phone: 408-924-2490
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