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FIT2054 Information management in organisations - Semester 2 , 2008

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Unit leader :

Steve Wright

Lecturer(s) :

Tutors(s) :

Caulfield

  • to be announced

Introduction

Welcome to FIT2054 Information Management in Organisations, which is a core unit of the Information Management Major in the Bachelor of Information Technology Systems, and available as an elective to other undergraduate students. The unit has been designed to provide you with an understandingof fundamental information management (IM) tools such as business (functional) analysis and metadata, against the background of the organisational and cultural contexts that characterise contemporary workplaces.

Unit synopsis

The unit begins with a review of Information Management fundamentals, from layers of individual and collective use within organizations, to the place of information within the process of knowledge creation. Other topics addressed include:

  • theories and applications of classification and metadata schema
  • the place of knowledge and memory within an organisational context
  • the role and nature of records, and
  • the implications of culture and power relations for the use of information within organisations.

Learning outcomes

At the completion of this unit students will have a theoretical and conceptual understanding of:
  • the main techniques used for information management (IM) in organisations
  • the purpose of facet and business analysis, and their application to the development of basic classification schemes
  • the place of information creation, representation, storage, access, retrieval, and use within organisations
  • the purpose of using various classification schemes for conducting business analysis for information requirements specification
At the completion of this unit students will have developed attitudes that enable them to:
  • recognise the importance of managing information and knowledge
  • recognise the concept of ownership and security of information and knowledge
  • recognise the importance of problems associated with managing information/knowledge processes within organisations
  • recognise issues related to the information lifecycle within organisations.
At the completion of this unit students will have the skills to be able to:
  • evaluate the organisational context of information and its sources critically
  • evaluate the usefulness of classification and metadata schemes
  • create metadata records and use metadata modelling tools
  • evaluate and use ICTs and IM tools to create, represent, store, access, retrieve and use information within an organisational context.

Workload

For on campus students, weekly workload commitments are:

  • two-hour lecture and
  • two-hour tutorial/laboratory (requiring advance preparation)
  • a minimum of 2-3 hours of personal study per one hour of contact time in order to satisfy the reading and assignment expectations.

  • You will need to allocate up to 5 hours per week in some weeks, for use of a computer, including time for newsgroups/discussion groups..

Unit relationships

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this unit.

Relationships

FIT2054 is a core unit of the Information Management Major in the Bachelor of Information Technology & Systems.

You may not study this unit and IMS2102 or IMS2603 in your degree.

Continuous improvement

Monash is committed to ‘Excellence in education' and strives for the highest possible quality in teaching and learning. To monitor how successful we are in providing quality teaching and learning Monash regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. Two of the formal ways that you are invited to provide feedback are through Unit Evaluations and through Monquest Teaching Evaluations.

One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through Unit Evaluation Surveys. It is Monash policy for every unit offered to be evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys as they are an important avenue for students to "have their say". The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.

Student Evaluations

The Faculty of IT administers the Unit Evaluation surveys online through the my.monash portal, although for some smaller classes there may be alternative evaluations conducted in class.

If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to http://www.monash.edu.au/unit-evaluation-reports/

Over the past few years the Faculty of Information Technology has made a number of improvements to its courses as a result of unit evaluation feedback. Some of these include systematic analysis and planning of unit improvements, and consistent assignment return guidelines.

Monquest Teaching Evaluation surveys may be used by some of your academic staff this semester. They are administered by the Centre for Higher Education Quality (CHEQ) and may be completed in class with a facilitator or on-line through the my.monash portal. The data provided to lecturers is completely anonymous. Monquest surveys provide academic staff with evidence of the effectiveness of their teaching and identify areas for improvement. Individual Monquest reports are confidential, however, you can see the summary results of Monquest evaluations for 2006 at http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/cheq/evaluations/monquest/profiles/index.html

Improvements to this unit

The section on organisational context has been enlarged, while that on folksonomy has been reduced.

Unit staff - contact details

Unit leader

Dr Steven Wright
Senior Lecturer
Phone +61 3 990 32994

Lecturer(s) :

Tutor(s) :

to be announced

Teaching and learning method

This on-campus unit entails:

  • Lectures (2 hours per week)
  • Laboratories/Tutorials (a 1 hour lab immediately followed by a 1 hour tutorial, for a total of 2 hours per week)
  • Assignments - Group and individual  

Emphasis in lectures will be given to providing examples of keyconcepts in the use and management of information within organisations, and discussing some of the debates that these ideas provoke.

Emphasisin tutorials and labs will be given to exploring how information is sought,organised and used in an organisational environment.

Tutorial allocation

On-campus students need to register for tutorials/laboratories using Allocate+.

Communication, participation and feedback

Monash aims to provide a learning environment in which students receive a range of ongoing feedback throughout their studies. You will receive feedback on your work and progress in this unit. This may take the form of group feedback, individual feedback, peer feedback, self-comparison, verbal and written feedback, discussions (on line and in class) as well as more formal feedback related to assignment marks and grades. You are encouraged to draw on a variety of feedback to enhance your learning.

It is essential that you take action immediately if you realise that you have a problem that is affecting your study. Semesters are short, so we can help you best if you let us know as soon as problems arise. Regardless of whether the problem is related directly to your progress in the unit, if it is likely to interfere with your progress you should discuss it with your lecturer or a Community Service counsellor as soon as possible.

Unit Schedule

Week Topic Key dates
1 Introduction and overview  
2 Classification  
3 Information and knowledge processes  
4 Power and information in organisations  
5 Culture in organisations  
6 Document aggregation Assignment 1 due
7 Classification systems: functional analysis  
8 Information discovery and retrieval  
9 Metadata  
10 Metadata ; Media, storage, representation  
11 Information policy in organisations I  
Mid semester break
12 Information policy in organisations II Assignment 2 due
13 Revision  

Unit Resources

Prescribed text(s) and readings

No textbook is required for this unit.

Recommended text(s) and readings

Recommended texts:

See separate lecture notes and tutorial/laboratory exercises to be provided during the semester.

Other references:

The following journals will be useful throughout the unit:

Information, communication & society (CA)

Information Management Journal (CA)

Information Today

Library philosophy and practice

Records Management Quarterly (CA)

Access to electronic versions of these journals is available via the Monash library catalogue. Hard copies of some journals (designated CA) may be found in the Caulfield campus library.

Other relevant online journals may be found at ‘Information Technology electronic journals', Monash University Library, http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/ejournals/infotech/index.html

Required software and/or hardware

Lab work will utilise a range of installed software.

Tutorial presentations will utilise Powerpont or similar software. 

Equipment and consumables required or provided

 Students will need access to a personal computer with:

  • Word or similar word processing program
  • Firefox or similar browser
  • Powerpont or similar software
  • Acrobat or similar PDF reader
Students will also require access to:
  • the internet via dial-up connection or preferably by broadband
  • a printer for assignments

On-campus students may use the facilities available in the computing labs. Information about computer use for students is available from the ITS Student Resource Guide in the Monash University Handbook.

Study resources

Study resources we will provide for your study are:

  • Weekly lecture notes;
  • Weekly tutorial or laboratory tasks and exercises;
  • Assignment specifications;
  • A sample examination, with annotations;
  • Access to past examination papers;
  • Discussion groups;
  • This Unit Guide outlining the administrative information for the unit;
  • The unit web site on MUSO, where resources outlined above will be made available.

Library access

The Monash University Library site contains details about borrowing rights and catalogue searching. To learn more about the library and the various resources available, please go to http://www.lib.monash.edu.au.  Be sure to obtain a copy of the Library Guide, and if necessary, the instructions for remote access from the library website.

Monash University Studies Online (MUSO)

All unit and lecture materials are available through MUSO (Monash University Studies Online). Blackboard is the primary application used to deliver your unit resources. Some units will be piloted in Moodle. If your unit is piloted in Moodle, you will see a link from your Blackboard unit to Moodle (http://moodle.monash.edu.au) and can bookmark this link to access directly. In Moodle, from the Faculty of Information Technology category, click on the link for your unit.

You can access MUSO and Blackboard via the portal: http://my.monash.edu.au

Click on the Study and enrolment tab, then Blackboard under the MUSO learning systems.

In order for your Blackboard unit(s) to function correctly, your computer needs to be correctly configured.

For example:

  • Blackboard supported browser
  • Supported Java runtime environment

For more information, please visit: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/downloadables-student.html

You can contact the MUSO Support by: Phone: (+61 3) 9903 1268

For further contact information including operational hours, please visit: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/contact.html

Further information can be obtained from the MUSO support site: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/index.html

Assessment

Unit assessment policy

To pass this unit, a student must obtain :

  • 40% or more in the unit's examination and
  • 40% or more in the unit's non-examination assessment
     and
  • an overall unit mark of 50% or more

If a student does not achieve 40% or more in the unit examination or the unit non-examination assessment then a mark of no greater than 44-N will be recorded for the unit.

Assignment tasks

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Assignment 1

    Description :

    Specific tasks and marking criteria will be distributed at the appropriate time during the semester

    Weighting : 15%

    Criteria for assessment :

    Due date : Week 6

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Assignment 2

    Description :

    Weighting : 20%

    Criteria for assessment :

    Specific tasks and marking criteria will be distributed at the appropriate time during the semester

    Due date : Week 12

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Tutorial Assignment

    Description :

    Specific tasks and marking criteria will be distributed at the appropriate time during the semester

    Weighting : 15%

    Criteria for assessment :

    Due date : Weeks 3-12

Examinations

  • Examination

    Weighting : 50%

    Length : 3 hours

    Type ( open/closed book ) : closed book

Assignment submission

Assignments will be submitted by hand to tutor's pigeonhole, with the appropriate cover sheet correctly filled out and attached. The due date is the date by which the submission must be received.

Assignment coversheets

are accessible from the unit website at MUSO.

University and Faculty policy on assessment

Due dates and extensions

The due dates for the submission of assignments are given in the previous section. Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are seldom regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course.

Requests for extensions must be made to the unit lecturer at least two days before the due date. You will be asked to forward original medical certificates in cases of illness, and may be asked to provide other forms of documentation where necessary. A copy of the email or other written communication of an extension must be attached to the assignment submission.

Late assignment

If you believe that your assignment will be delayed because of circumstances beyond your control such as illness, you should apply for an extension prior to the due date.

Late assignments submitted without an approved extension may be accepted at the discretion of your lecturer, but will be penalised at the rate of 5% of total assignment marks per day (including weekends). Example:

Total marks available for the assignment = 100 marks

Marks received for the assignment = 70 marks

Marks deducted for 2 days late submission (10% of 100) = 10 marks

Final mark received for assignment = 60 marks

Return dates

Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.

Assessment for the unit as a whole is in accordance with the provisions of the Monash University Education Policy at http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/assessment/

Plagiarism, cheating and collusion

Plagiarism and cheating are regarded as very serious offences. In cases where cheating  has been confirmed, students have been severely penalised, from losing all marks for an assignment, to facing disciplinary action at the Faculty level. While we would wish that all our students adhere to sound ethical conduct and honesty, I will ask you to acquaint yourself with Student Rights and Responsibilities (http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/about/committees-groups/facboard/policies/studrights.html) and the Faculty regulations that apply to students detected cheating as these will be applied in all detected cases.

In this University, cheating means seeking to obtain an unfair advantage in any examination or any other written or practical work to be submitted or completed by a student for assessment. It includes the use, or attempted use, of any means to gain an unfair advantage for any assessable work in the unit, where the means is contrary to the instructions for such work. 

When you submit an individual assessment item, such as a program, a report, an essay, assignment or other piece of work, under your name you are understood to be stating that this is your own work. If a submission is identical with, or similar to, someone else's work, an assumption of cheating may arise. If you are planning on working with another student, it is acceptable to undertake research together, and discuss problems, but it is not acceptable to jointly develop or share solutions unless this is specified by your lecturer. 

Intentionally providing students with your solutions to assignments is classified as "assisting to cheat" and students who do this may be subject to disciplinary action. You should take reasonable care that your solution is not accidentally or deliberately obtained by other students. For example, do not leave copies of your work in progress on the hard drives of shared computers, and do not show your work to other students. If you believe this may have happened, please be sure to contact your lecturer as soon as possible.

Cheating also includes taking into an examination any material contrary to the regulations, including any bilingual dictionary, whether or not with the intention of using it to obtain an advantage.

Plagiarism involves the false representation of another person's ideas, or findings, as your own by either copying material or paraphrasing without citing sources. It is both professional and ethical to reference clearly the ideas and information that you have used from another writer. If the source is not identified, then you have plagiarised work of the other author. Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty that is insulting to the reader and grossly unfair to your student colleagues.

Register of counselling about plagiarism

The university requires faculties to keep a simple and confidential register to record counselling to students about plagiarism (e.g. warnings). The register is accessible to Associate Deans Teaching (or nominees) and, where requested, students concerned have access to their own details in the register. The register is to serve as a record of counselling about the nature of plagiarism, not as a record of allegations; and no provision of appeals in relation to the register is necessary or applicable.

Non-discriminatory language

The Faculty of Information Technology is committed to the use of non-discriminatory language in all forms of communication. Discriminatory language is that which refers in abusive terms to gender, race, age, sexual orientation, citizenship or nationality, ethnic or language background, physical or mental ability, or political or religious views, or which stereotypes groups in an adverse manner. This is not meant to preclude or inhibit legitimate academic debate on any issue; however, the language used in such debate should be non-discriminatory and sensitive to these matters. It is important to avoid the use of discriminatory language in your communications and written work. The most common form of discriminatory language in academic work tends to be in the area of gender inclusiveness. You are, therefore, requested to check for this and to ensure your work and communications are non-discriminatory in all respects.

Students with disabilities

Students with disabilities that may disadvantage them in assessment should seek advice from one of the following before completing assessment tasks and examinations:

Deferred assessment and special consideration

Deferred assessment (not to be confused with an extension for submission of an assignment) may be granted in cases of extenuating personal circumstances such as serious personal illness or bereavement. Information and forms for Special Consideration and deferred assessment applications are available at http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html. Contact the Faculty's Student Services staff at your campus for further information and advice.