LIBR 246-10
Information Technology Tools and Applications - Advanced (Focus on MySQL and PHP)
Summer 2006 Greensheet
Robert Sutton
E-mail
| Greensheet Links Required Textbook Course Requirements |
Resources Lecture Notes |
Course Description
Learn to develop simple database-driven Web applications using the freely available, open source MySQL and PHP software package.
Goals and Objectives
Extend your existing knowledge of HTML, cascading style sheets, Javascript, and other Web technologies you're currently familiar with so that you will be able to independently create your own database-driven Web applications using MySQL and PHP. This course will not be a thorough survey of MySQL, PHP, or database theory. It will quickly help you learn enough about both of these software packages so you can start to use freely available, open-source software technologies and develop practical Web applications.
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 technology to information management.
Why Is This Course Relevant To Your Studies?
It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention. This is especially true in library and information science. For several decades, creative and innovative librarians and other professionals working in libraries have used computers to streamline library staff workflow and provide new services to their patrons by automating library processes and develop customized solutions to special problems that they have identified. However, it has only been in the last 10 years or so that computer hardware and software technology evolved to the point where people with limited economic means and limited computer programming skills can produce software without having to resort to buying it or hiring someone to develop it thanks to the availability of free, high-quality software and cheap, powerful computers to run it on. This new capability gives librarians opportunities not even dreamed only a few short years ago. MySQL and PHP are two such pieces of freely available, open source software and they will allow you to develop complex and sophisticated Web server-based applications.
Required Textbook
PHP and MySQL Web development: Third edition
Luke Welling and Laura Thomson
Sams Publishing, 2005
ISBN: 0-672-32672-8
Course Requirements
Use Of Blackboard
This course will not use the Blackboard distance learning software. Instead, Web pages have been developed that can be considered a form of lecture notes. These may be found at www.mendacis.com.
Office Hours
Because this is an online course with students scattered everywhere, traditional office hours are not practical. I guarantee that I will be available to you on the phone between 8 pm and 9 pm most Mondays. Of course, you may also send me e-mail with your questions and I will respond as soon as possible.
Contacting You, The Student
In order to keep all students enrolled in this course informed of news such of changes to the course notes or modifications to course requirements, every student enrolled in this course should send an e-mail to the instructor in order to inform him of student's e-mail address.
Assignments
Because this is an online course, closed-book exams and quizzes are not practical so the entire course grade will be based upon the successful completion of two assignments:
- A 20-page research paper discussing applications of freely available (although not necessarily open source) Web and database technology employed in libraries, developed either by librarians for their libraries, by groups of libraries, or developed by library software vendors.
- A Web application that demonstrates significant competence in the use of MySQL and PHP.
Grading
The assignments will contribute to your final grade as follows:
| Research Paper | 40% |
| Web Application | 60% |
Grading Scale
The following grading scale shall 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+ |
Incompletes
Incompletes will not be granted except in extreme circumstances such as a family emergency, a health problem, or other significant unfortunate life event. If an incomplete is granted, the grade for course material that is turned in past the original due date will be reduced by a whole letter grade after it is graded. Furthermore, all work must be submitted 21 days after the last day of finals week. Any material submitted after that time will not be accepted.
Plagiarism
All assignments submitted for credit must be your own work. All sources must be properly cited in your papers. All HTML and PHP code submitted must be your original work unless properly cited in the files submitted. The San José State University regulations governing plagiarism will be rigorous enforced. Those regulations may be found at:
Note: It is common in the software industry to reuse existing software code from open-source applications or employ libraries whose authors allow such use. Indeed there are many commercially available libraries that are sold explicitly this purpose. If you contemplate borrowing program code or using software libraries that were not written by you, you must first send me an e-mail explaining what you want to you and why you want to use it. I will allow or disallow it on a case-by-case basis. Make sure you can show that you have the right to use the software in question. Plagiarism gets you in trouble with me and the university; copyright violations can get you in infinitely worse trouble with the owner of the copyrighted material.
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/
School of Library & Information Science
One Washington Square - San José, California USA, 95192-0029
Phone: 408-924-2490
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