SI 550 Winter 2010

Victor Rosenberg
305-C West Hall
e-mail: victorr@umich.edu
Tel: (734)-764-1493
Office Hours: Wed. 3:30 to 4:30 and preferably by appointment

Seminar on Information Policy - Syllabus

Learning Objectives

The course seeks to provide an opportunity for students to do in-depth research into an information policy topic of their interest. The topic must be approved by the instructor, but great lattitude is left to the student. The course is in the seminar format.

This seminar will attempt to understand current United States Government Policy in areas involved with information and information technology. Each student will select an area of policy of specific interest to him or her. If the student has no specific interest a topic will be selected in consultation between the student and the instructor. Policies are forming and changing daily. In order to keep up with these changes the class will include guest lecturers who are studying or actually creating policies in the information area. The first part of the course will aid the student in selecting and defining a topic. The second part of the course will involve the presentation and discussion of the topic. As an advanced graduate course there is an expectation that the final paper will be, with suitable editing, publishable in a journal.

Several guest lecturers will be invited to address the seminar.

Course Requirements: One to two-hour oral presentation and discussion of research topic.
Proposal for research topic is due Jan 28.
Written paper on research topic due the last day of class

Week 1, Jan. 6: Introduction and discussion of the range and scope of information policies. Presentation of sample research topics.

Week 2, Jan. 13: Possible Guest Lecture

Week 3, Jan. 20: U.S. Government policies in e-commerce.
Readings: Magaziner Report on e-Commerce, The Emerging Digital Economy, Part 1., Summary of FY2001 TA DOC Budget on e-commerce as submitted to Congress. (Papers are Online in C-tools)

Week 4, Jan. 27: Lecture: E-Commerce Issues

Weeks 5 to 14: Student Research Presentations and Guest Lectures

Research Topic Examples:

Note: Research for the course will consist of a written report with careful documentation of sources. There will be an oral presentation of the work. Those presenting early in the term will be reporting on work in progress. Those reporting nearer to the end of the term will be expected to have more polished presentations. The proposals for the research will be reviewed to determine the suitability of the topic.