Information Workshop I


INF1005H

INF1005H — Information Workshop I (Winter 2023)

Experiential, participatory workshop to integrate the skills, perspectives, and knowledge introduced in the other core courses. The intention of the workshops is to broaden your exposure to other areas; we encourage students to go outside of their comfort zone. Students will be working in groups.

Students must complete two (2) workshops (INF1005H and INF1006H), each worth 0.25 FCE to fulfill the core requirements for the Master of Information degree. The workshops must be taken with different instructors and are different topics. Normally INF1005H and INF1006H are taken during the same term. INF1005H is offered the first 6 weeks of the Winter term and INF1006H starts right after.

All instructors will give their workshop twice in the session (unless otherwise indicated) – once (INF1005H) in the first 6 weeks (week of January 9, 2023 to week of February 13, 2023) in the winter 2023 term, and again (INF1006H) in the last 6 weeks of the session (week of February 27, 2023 to week of April 3, 2023) in the same time slot.

Please note that students need to enroll in one section each of both INF1005H and INF1006H.

INF1005H information workshop course descriptions for winter 2023 are below.

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INF1005H section 0101: Unanticipated Consequences of IT

Every IT artifact has a dual impact on individuals, organizations, and societies. The first category of impacts is always predicted by technology developers and adopters, and these usually serve as a justification for IT implementation and use. Examples include increased effectiveness, efficiency, productivity, entertainment, and quality of life. In contrast, the second type of impacts is never envisioned, but these unanticipated impacts may result in a multitude of negative consequences for various stakeholders. Examples of individual-level consequences include privacy violation, technology addiction, physical and mental health issues, cyberbullying, cyberslacking, negative user behavior, technology-family conflict, identity distortion, and skills deterioration. Instances of organizational-level consequences pertain to IT use-related employee stress (i.e., technostress), strain, information overload, work overload, work-family conflict, diminished productivity, innovation and well-being, and work interruptions. Examples of societal-level burdens pertain to election and public opinion influence, fake news, freedom of speech in social media, negative and misleading social advertising, cyber-terrorism, public safety, changes in social norms, and various ethical issues. It is critical to identify, understand, control, and hopefully minimize the negative unanticipated consequences of IT which result from the exponentially increasing ubiquity and power of intelligent machines and humans’ dependence on them. At the same time, some unanticipated consequences may be positive; whereas these were not envisioned by technology developers, they, nevertheless, accidentally appear and make a positive impact on various stakeholders.

The primary purpose of this workshop is to help students identify the negative unanticipated consequences of IT at the individual, organizational, and societal levels, to understand their cause, to predict their future direction, and to develop proactive measures to mitigate and hopefully eliminate their harmful effects. The secondary goal is to help students understand the driving force behind the positive unanticipated consequences of IT in order to recognize, predict, and enhance them.

INF1005H section 0102: Internet of Things

This course focuses on Internet of Things (IoT) paradigms, architectures, and standards. Explores convergence of IT and OT, and IoT challenges. Provides an overview of security and privacy in IoT. Discusses and explores opportunities in implementing IoT systems.

INF1005H section 0103: Systems Thinking, Systems Design

Most of us lack an intuitive conceptual grasp of complex environments and their systemic interactions. We tend to criticize simplistic ways of thinking, but find it difficult to make constructive suggestions for how to deal with challenging situations where social, technological and humanistic questions interact. Information professionals in particular are keen on interdisciplinary engagement, but often find it challenging to engage with formal representations of complex systems, conceptual models of social and technical environments, and epistemic questions around such models.

This workshop aims to provide students with an initial conceptual toolset to bridge disciplinary modes of thinking. It introduces systems thinking frameworks as mental devices to illuminate and critically interrogate key concepts, assumptions, frameworks and modes of engagement. Through these frameworks, it explores the multi-faceted nature of sustainability and the role of information systems and technology design in addressing it. We will use systems thinking games, collaborative modelling and case studies to explore the role of systems design in social, environmental and economic sustainability and discuss roles and responsibilities for information professionals in this space.

INF1005H section 0104: Information and Contemplation

Contemplative practice is an umbrella term that encompasses various approaches, disciplines, and methods for developing attentiveness, awareness, compassion, concentration, presence, wisdom, transformation, and a deepened sense of meaning and purpose. This new INF1005/1006 Workshop introduces students at the Faculty of Information to contemplative practice and explores its potential for sparking positive change in Information Studies and in information institutions such as libraries, archives, museums, and the Internet. The goals of the course are as follows: To examine points of intersection between Contemplative practice and Information Studies; to imagine contemplative programs, services, and resources for the betterment of information institutions and their publics; and to give participants a structured opportunity to develop their own contemplative practice. Participants in the Workshop will experience three epistemologies, that is, ways of learning and knowing: A third person epistemology will engage the scholarly literature; a second person epistemology will entail discussions with peers and experts; and, a first person epistemology will consist of each student’s lived experience of contemplative practice. (It is important to note that first-person learning treats contemplative practice as an object of study and does not require belief or conversion to any spirituality, religion, or contemplative experience.)

INF1005H section 0105: Adopting DevOps for Large-Scale Information Systems

Information systems need to continuously evolve to cope with the rapid changes in our society. In the last years, DevOps has gained popularity as a practice that combines development and operation teams to reduce the time needed to build and deliver high-quality systems. This workshop provides an overview of the DevOps concepts and best practices. Throughout the workshop, students will learn the challenges of adopting DevOps for large-scale information systems. In addition, students will understand how to leverage Artificial Intelligence techniques to manage IT Operations (i.e., AIOps) of information systems.

INF1005H section 0106: Information and the World of Work

A steep rise in unemployment rates and increase in people looking for work in the wake of the pandemic coincides with a strong public perception that libraries can help people find jobs. Both public and private organizations are responding with the expectation that librarians to have a role in preparing job seekers for a post pandemic economy. This workshop will survey the roles of information practitioners in providing employment support services. We will explore debates about these roles; consider how to provide job hunting and career support services in libraries; and assess the values underlying these initiatives in order to propose innovative responses to providing information about developing skills, finding work, and pursuing careers.

INF1005H section 0107: Methods and Memory Work

What is the black cultural imagination and what methods can we use to ethically study its contours? This six-week master’s level workshop brings together black critical theory, black queer and trans studies, and contemporary cultural (literary, sonic, historical, and performance) sites and texts as productive arenas for the theorization of the form and function of archival practices and cultural memory. Students will produce creative writing and collectively envision visionary archival methods.

INF1005H section 0108: Trauma-informed Information Practices

This workshop is designed for students who are interested in learning about the ways information sources or encounters with people with difficult stories can emotionally affect them and/or their colleagues and patrons. Drawing from expertise in social work and information studies, students will consider how emotionally sensitive content encountered in their profession may have “traumatic potentialities” — a concept that will be explored in further depth throughout the workshop. The purpose of this workshop is for students to develop and apply trauma-informed approaches adapted for their respective professional contexts, and to learn about and practice methods for coping with potentially traumatic situations in the workplace, such as encountering racist language in a record or email. Students will build the knowledge and skills necessary to recognize and address expressions of direct and indirect trauma, and to learn concrete strategies to manage the impacts of trauma both for themselves and those they interact with in a professional workplace setting.

INF1005H section 0109: Primary Source Research as Inquiry: Storytelling, Memory, and Authenticity

Historiography—the writing of history based on a critical examination of sources—plays a central role in the construction of narrative and is closely tied to memory and storytelling. As information professionals, including archivists, curators, librarians, system and UX designers, data scientists, etc., our work revolves around maintaining the integrity and authenticity of information. It is important that we, too, understand the relationship between storytelling and the records under our care. Framed through the archive, this new workshop will introduce students to the concepts of Research as Inquiry, as drawn from the ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (2016) and its role in questioning the reliability, authenticity, and relevance of primary sources. With memory fallible, we must ask ourselves a series of question when exploring the archive: Can we rely on the archive to support—or supplant—the role of memory? How can the core tenants of historiography be applied to the archive? What kinds of truths can letters, documents, and photographs reveal during research inquiry? Over the course of six weeks, this workshop will position the student as researcher and invite them to question the reliability and relevance of archival sources as they participate in the process of constructing and presenting a historical narrative revealed through a set of records. Through a combination of hands-on work, guest speakers, and tours, students will learn about and critique the process of constructing and presenting historical narrative. No previous knowledge of archives is required; students from all paths are encouraged to participate.

INF1005H section 0110: Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Museums and Archives

This Information Workshop is designed for students wanting to contribute to the efforts of national reconciliation, especially in the contexts of museums and archives. The Workshop draws on film, biography and autobiography, critical texts, and experiences of mapping so that students can improve their understanding of the history and enduring effects of residential schooling, learn how to listen to survivors’ stories, empathize with ideas of dispossession and scarcity, and appreciate the role of heritage in Indigenous cultural resurgence and survivance.

INF1005H section 0111: Queer Art and Archives 

As an artist in residence at the GLBT Historical Society, E.G. Crichton developed “Matchmaking in the Archive,” a project that paired contemporary artists with collections housed in the GLBT Historical Society’s archive. Resulting in two exhibitions and a soon to be published book, Crichton’s project asked each artist to create a new work based on their assigned collection. In this workshop, we will explore creative projects like “Matchmaking in the Archive” that utilize archival research to grapple with queer and trans histories. Specifically, this workshop looks at contemporary film, performance, and visual art by artists such as Jean Carlomusto, Leah DeVun, Cheryl Dunye, Xandra Ibarra, Chase Joynt, Theodore Kerr, Allyson Mitchell, Ulrike Müller, LJ Roberts, Tourmaline, and Chris Vargas. Though working in different mediums and focusing on different historical contexts across the 20th century, these artists similarly play with the possibilities and limits of the archival record of queer and trans lives and social movements. Through carefully attending to these projects, this workshop more generally introduces major trends in queer and trans historiography, while asking what art can teach us about archives and the histories they document. Alongside our study of how artists use archives, workshop participants will develop their own creative project based on research at The ArQuives or the Sexual Representation Collection that will be included in a digital exhibit on “Queer Art + Archives.”

INF1005H section 0112: Exploring Outreach: Sharing Collections, Engaging the Public, and Encouraging Participatory Approaches

Over the years, an increasing number of galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs) are investing in and contributing to spaces beyond their walls and interfaces. Such efforts, or outreach activities, predominantly focus on engaging with the public by sharing collections to increase visibility and demonstrate institutional value. However, such initiatives can also engage new audiences through the organization of public events and development of participatory approaches. In this workshop, students will explore Wikimedia platforms, including Wikipedia (the free online encyclopedia), Wikimedia Commons (the media file repository), and Wikidata (the central storage for structured data) as a site for this work. This workshop will study how these tools can enhance outreach and participation, while also examining the tensions between internal factors (such as institutional control and metrics) and outside influences (the limitations, biases, or criticisms of tools and spaces), and their impact on the design, delivery, and reception of programming. Taught from the perspective of an archivist, the knowledge gained from this workshop can be applied to the responsibilities of gallery, library, and museum workers.

INF1005H section 0113: Reading and Unreading Digital-Born Creative Works: Critical Making of Contemporary Information

The recent digital-born creative works are imbued with heterogenous components of digital media aesthetics such as graphic designs, kinetic texts and images and videos. Using digital media aesthetics contemporary writers and artists deploy such digital-born creative works to address cultural values, and societal challenges and issues. Such creative works have transformed conventional methods of reading and call for an alternative method to understand and glean information that is ingrained in the creative works. Digital media aesthetics thus demand digital literacy to engage in such conversation.

The aim of this workshop is to provide students with tools and methods to critically interrogate digital-born creative works and their media aesthetics to discern contemporary societal challenges wrought by digital industries (for example Google and Amazon), the COVID 19 pandemic and environmental crises. This workshop engages with the following questions a) What conceptual changes in critical making of contemporary information practices can be discerned from digital creative works? b) What methods are best suited to critically interrogate and interact with digital-born creative works in the current information ecosystem? The workshop will source digital-born creative works (electronic literature and electronic art) from Electronic Literature Volume (1,2,3 and 4) and other online databases. The digital artists who work in this field of practice will be invited to facilitate a conversation between students and artists about how digital media aesthetics are encoded and how they can be critically decoded in a nuanced way to apprehend information embedding and circulation practices from creative works. The students will also be given a hands-on training to create their own digital-born creative works through the online tool, Twine on any one of the themes taught in the course. No prior knowledge of digital-born creative works, methods and tools are required. Students from all backgrounds will be encouraged to participate in the workshop.

INF1005H section 0114: Best Practices in Data Visualization

Visual literacy is an increasingly important skill and through this workshop we will explore ways to visually represent data and to interpret existing visualizations of data. Workshop participants will leave with a better understanding of what visualization works best for a particular data set, what makes for a strong visualization and the importance of narrative in the construction of a graphic representation of data.

INF1005H section 0115: Graphic Design for UX

Graphic design is a major component of the overall user experience of interactive systems. This workshop will introduce students to graphic design elements needed in the design of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs). Throughout the workshop, students will learn the basic graphical design principles and theories that are essential for effective visual design. Topics will include: alignment, layout, repetition, contrast, colour, and typography; fundamentals of composition; usability and accessibility. The workshop will integrate current software tools and appropriate digital methods for the design of interactivity and user interfaces.

This workshop will allow students to:

Explain the relationship between user experience and graphic design;

Develop visual vocabularies related to graphical design elements;

Develop an aesthetic understanding of how graphic design impacts the look and feel of user interfaces; and

Apply graphical design principles and theories to design the skin of graphical user interfaces.

INF1005H section 0116: Supporting Researchers Investigating Difficult Histories: A Relationship-Based Access System

In the last decade scholars have highlighted the ways materials that document difficult histories can traumatize and cause pain to those who access them.   This workshop investigates the components of an access system and the ways each element helps or hinder researchers investigating difficult histories.  The course proposes a holistic view of an access system including the archival environment, finding aids and indexes, as well as the interactions among archivists and researchers.  It will discuss a relationship-based access system grounded on the principles of “respect, honesty, wisdom, courage, humility, love and truth”, a temporal model of slow archives and the theoretical construct of an ethic of care.  The assignments will involve the development of a relationship-based access rubric and a visit to a library or archives to evaluate their access system.

INF1005H section 0118: Creating and Exploring Software Environments with JavaScript and Node.js

With the rise of rich Web applications such as Canva and Google Docs, software is returning to a mode of service first developed in the 1970s, in which users “inhabit” responsive and intuitive environments. The emergence of JavaScript as a powerful scripting tool has proved pivotal for these efforts. JavaScript has also moved to the command line in the form of Node.js, helping to spark a new generation of command-line interface (CLI) tools. This workshop will explore these exciting frontiers through both hands-on coding exercises, and readings that cover several decades’ worth of hardware and software innovations in these areas. Students will harness the power of JavaScript by exploring and building simple tools within the Node.js CLI, while also creating their own simple CLIs. Readings will explore the roots of software environments in time-sharing systems, and later expressions of graphical systems such as Mac OS and Windows.

Prior knowledge of JavaScript is not necessary, only a willingness to embrace the programming experience with curiosity and a determination to learn. To maximize learning (and fun) potential, we will borrow some concepts from Agile software development, breaking into teams based on ability and striving to quickly produce working programs.

****Please note the add/drop deadlines for INF1005H in winter 2023***

  • Last date to ADD: Monday January 16, 2023 (Use ACORN – Within SGS Deadline, no form needed)
  • Last day to DROP: Monday January 23, 2023 (Use ACORN – Within SGS Deadline, no form needed)

____________________________________________________________

INF1005H — Information Workshop I (Winter 2022)

Experiential, participatory workshop to integrate the skills, perspectives, and knowledge introduced in the other core courses. The intention of the workshops is to broaden your exposure to other areas; we encourage students to go outside of their comfort zone. Students will be working in groups.

Students must complete two (2) workshops (INF1005H and INF1006H), each worth 0.25 FCE to fulfill the core requirements for the Master of Information degree. The workshops must be taken with different instructors and are different topics. Normally INF1005H and INF1006H are taken during the same term. INF1005H is offered the first 6 weeks of the Winter term and INF1006H starts right after.

All instructors will give their workshop twice in the session (unless otherwise indicated) – once (INF1005H) in the first 6 weeks (week of January 10, 2022 to week of February 14, 2022) in the winter 2022 term, and again (INF1006H) in the last 6 weeks of the session (week of February 28, 2022 to week of April 4, 2022) in the same time slot.

Please note that students need to enroll in one section each of both INF1005H and INF1006H.

INF1005H information workshop course descriptions for winter 2022 are below.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

INF1005H section 0101:  Pandemics and Information

The purpose of this workshop is to apply an information lens to the phenomenon of global pandemics. Using COVID-19 as a context for analysis, five main topics will be explored over the first five weeks: (a) introduction to measuring disease in populations; (b) public health systems and structures in Ontario; (c) disease surveillance and information systems; (d) pandemic management strategies; (e) pandemics and misinformation. Students will identify and analyze a country or region where the creation, use, or management of information played a pivotal role in achieving a positive or negative outcome in the fight against COVID-19. Students will also learn about pandemic measurement and information systems for pandemic tracking.

INF1005H section 0102: Introduction to Indigenous Matters in Librarianship

This course provides an introduction and overview to Indigenous peoples, cultures, knowledges, and concerns within the context of library and information studies. The course will cover areas such as library services with Indigenous peoples; Indigenous knowledge organization; Indigenous ways of knowing; ethics, protocols and relationships; collection building and language; and Intellectual property and data sovereignty. Throughout the course students will explore the past and ongoing impacts of colonization on librarianship, decolonization and Indigenization initiatives, and the connection to human rights frameworks such as UNDRIP.

INF1005H section 0103: Internet of Things

This course focuses on Internet of Things (IoT) paradigms, architectures, and standards. Explores convergence of IT and OT, and IoT challenges. Provides an overview of security and privacy in IoT. Discusses and explores opportunities in implementing IoT systems.

INF1005H section 0104: Systems Thinking, Systems Design

Most of us lack an intuitive conceptual grasp of complex environments and their systemic interactions. We tend to criticize simplistic ways of thinking, but find it difficult to make constructive suggestions for how to deal with challenging situations where social, technological and humanistic questions interact. Information professionals in particular are keen on interdisciplinary engagement, but often find it challenging to engage with formal representations of complex systems, conceptual models of social and technical environments, and epistemic questions around such models.

This workshop aims to provide students with an initial conceptual toolset to bridge disciplinary modes of thinking. It introduces systems thinking frameworks as mental devices to illuminate and critically interrogate key concepts, assumptions, frameworks and modes of engagement. Through these frameworks, it explores the multi-faceted nature of sustainability and the role of information systems and technology design in addressing it. We will use systems thinking games, collaborative modelling and case studies to explore the role of systems design in social, environmental and economic sustainability and discuss roles and responsibilities for information professionals in this space.

INF1005H section 0105: Introduction to Indigenous Matters in Librarianship

This course provides an introduction and overview to Indigenous peoples, cultures, knowledges, and concerns within the context of library and information studies. The course will cover areas such as library services with Indigenous peoples; Indigenous knowledge organization; Indigenous ways of knowing; ethics, protocols and relationships; collection building and language; and Intellectual property and data sovereignty. Throughout the course students will explore the past and ongoing impacts of colonization on librarianship, decolonization and Indigenization initiatives, and the connection to human rights frameworks such as UNDRIP.

INF1005H section 0106: Unanticipated Consequences of IT

Every IT artifact has a dual impact on individuals, organizations, and societies. The first category of impacts is always predicted by technology developers and adopters, and these usually serve as a justification for IT implementation and use. Examples include increased effectiveness, efficiency, productivity, entertainment, and quality of life. In contrast, the second type of impacts is never envisioned, but these unanticipated impacts may result in a multitude of negative consequences for various stakeholders. Examples of individual-level consequences include privacy violation, technology addiction, physical and mental health issues, cyberbullying, cyberslacking, negative user behavior, technology-family conflict, identity distortion, and skills deterioration. Instances of organizational-level consequences pertain to IT use-related employee stress (i.e., technostress), strain, information overload, work overload, work-family conflict, diminished productivity, innovation and well-being, and work interruptions. Examples of societal-level burdens pertain to election and public opinion influence, fake news, freedom of speech in social media, negative and misleading social advertising, cyber-terrorism, public safety, changes in social norms, and various ethical issues. It is critical to identify, understand, control, and hopefully minimize the negative unanticipated consequences of IT which result from the exponentially increasing ubiquity and power of intelligent machines and humans’ dependence on them. At the same time, some unanticipated consequences may be positive; whereas these were not envisioned by technology developers, they, nevertheless, accidentally appear and make a positive impact on various stakeholders.

The primary purpose of this workshop is to help students identify the negative unanticipated consequences of IT at the individual, organizational, and societal levels, to understand their cause, to predict their future direction, and to develop proactive measures to mitigate and hopefully eliminate their harmful effects. The secondary goal is to help students understand the driving force behind the positive unanticipated consequences of IT in order to recognize, predict, and enhance them.

INF1005H section 0107: Information Policy Workshop

The purpose of this workshop is critically consider laws, regulations and policies that influence and regulate the creation, use, access, processing, and dissemination of information, as “a constitutive force in society” (Braman). In this workshop students will actively engage in information policy topics related to issues such as access to information, copyright, freedom of expression, information as a public good, accessibility, and information as a commodity or a resource. Students will identify current and emerging information issues, identify stakeholders, gather relevant information, analyze it critically, and create a policy solution.

INF1005H section 0108: Information and the World of Work

A steep rise in unemployment rates and increase in people looking for work in the wake of the pandemic coincides with a strong public perception that libraries can help people find jobs. Both public and private organizations are responding with the expectation that librarians to have a role in preparing job seekers for a post pandemic economy. This workshop will survey the roles of information practitioners in providing employment support services. We will explore debates about these roles; consider how to provide job hunting and career support services in libraries; and assess the values underlying these initiatives in order to propose innovative responses to providing information about developing skills, finding work, and pursuing careers.

INF1005H section 0109: Customer Journey Analytics

Customer Journey Analytics is a new area of research that combines User Experience and Behavior aspects with Data Science. The course will explore how data-driven Customer Journey Mapping, i.e. the mapping of sequences of events that users perform when they consume services, employs analytical techniques in order to reveal previously unknown traits in users actions. We will present the necessary theoretical background and see how it applies in practice and, whenever possible, on real data sets.

INF1005H section 0110: Primary Source Research as Inquiry: Storytelling, Memory, and Authenticity

Historiography—the writing of history based on a critical examination of sources—plays a central role in the construction of narrative and is closely tied to memory and storytelling. As information professionals, including archivists, curators, librarians, system and UX designers, data scientists, etc., our work revolves around maintaining the integrity and authenticity of information. It is important that we, too, understand the relationship between storytelling and the records under our care. Framed through the archive, this new workshop will introduce students to the concepts of Research as Inquiry, as drawn from the ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (2016) and its role in questioning the reliability, authenticity, and relevance of primary sources. With memory fallible, we must ask ourselves a series of question when exploring the archive: Can we rely on the archive to support—or supplant—the role of memory? How can the core tenants of historiography be applied to the archive? What kinds of truths can letters, documents, and photographs reveal during research inquiry? Over the course of six weeks, this workshop will position the student as researcher and invite them to question the reliability and relevance of archival sources as they participate in the process of constructing and presenting a historical narrative revealed through a set of records. Through a combination of hands-on work, guest speakers, and tours, students will learn about and critique the process of constructing and presenting historical narrative. No previous knowledge of archives is required; students from all paths are encouraged to participate.

INF1005H section 0111: Best Practices in Data Visualization

Visual literacy is an increasingly important skill and through this workshop we will explore ways to visually represent data and to interpret existing visualizations of data. Workshop participants will leave with a better understanding of what visualization works best for a particular data set, what makes for a strong visualization and the importance of narrative in the construction of a graphic representation of data.

INF1005H section 0113: Trauma-informed Information Practices

This workshop is designed for students who are interested in learning about the ways information sources or encounters with people with difficult stories can emotionally affect them and/or their colleagues and patrons. Drawing from expertise in social work and information studies, students will consider how emotionally sensitive content encountered in their profession may have “traumatic potentialities” — a concept that will be explored in further depth throughout the workshop. The purpose of this workshop is for students to develop and apply trauma-informed approaches adapted for their respective professional contexts, and to learn about and practice methods for coping with potentially traumatic situations in the workplace, such as encountering racist language in a record or email. Students will build the knowledge and skills necessary to recognize and address expressions of direct and indirect trauma, and to learn concrete strategies to manage the impacts of trauma both for themselves and those they interact with in a professional workplace setting.

INF1005H section 0114: Elements of Responsible AI Development: A Practical Introduction

In this hands-on course, you will form teams which responsibly design, execute, and evaluate a small AI system that “does something useful” (anything of your choice! Some examples: satellite imagery analysis for pollution monitoring, decision support system for medical triage, quantification or removal of dataset bias, visual file-system exploration tool for personal computers, music + article pairing recommendation engine, renewable energy grid optimization, natural language processing of financial disclosures for audits…).

The process will include: [Week 1] (1) Brainstorming and consultation with stakeholders & relevant experts. (2) Writing a proposal which describes your AI system and how it addresses a need, fits into or simplifies an existing system, helps elucidate or teach a concept, etc. [Week 2-4] (3) Developing (coding) a working prototype of your system with tests/experiments demonstrating how it works. [Week 4] (4) Conducting a user study. [Week 5] (5) Presenting your prototype and giving constructive peer review of other groups’ projects [Week 6] (6) Writing a technical report, including an impact analysis and description of next steps.

INF1005H section 0115: Graphic Design for UX

Graphic design is a major component of the overall user experience of interactive systems. This workshop will introduce students to graphic design elements needed in the design of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs). Throughout the workshop, students will learn the basic graphical design principles and theories that are essential for effective visual design. Topics will include: alignment, layout, repetition, contrast, colour, and typography; fundamentals of composition; usability and accessibility. The workshop will integrate current software tools and appropriate digital methods for the design of interactivity and user interfaces.

This workshop will allow students to:

  • Explain the relationship between user experience and graphic design;
  • Develop visual vocabularies related to graphical design elements;
  • Develop an aesthetic understanding of how graphic design impacts the look and feel of user interfaces; and
  • Apply graphical design principles and theories to design the skin of graphical user interfaces.

INF1005H section 0116: Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Museums and Archives

This Information Workshop is designed for students wanting to contribute to the efforts of national reconciliation, especially in the contexts of museums and archives. The Workshop draws on film, biography and autobiography, critical texts, and experiences of mapping so that students can improve their understanding of the history and enduring effects of residential schooling, learn how to listen to survivors’ stories, empathize with ideas of dispossession and scarcity, and appreciate the role of heritage in Indigenous cultural resurgence and survivance. Students from both Workshop sections INF 1005/1006 will contribute to the creation of an online atlas during the course; no prior cartographic knowledge is required, only an openness to learning.

INF1005H section 0117: Information and Contemplation

Contemplative practice is an umbrella term that encompasses various approaches, disciplines, and methods for developing attentiveness, awareness, compassion, concentration, presence, wisdom, transformation, and a deepened sense of meaning and purpose. This new INF1005/1006 Workshop introduces students at the Faculty of Information to contemplative practice and explores its potential for sparking positive change in Information Studies and in information institutions such as libraries, archives, museums, and the Internet. The goals of the course are as follows: To examine points of intersection between Contemplative practice and Information Studies; to imagine contemplative programs, services, and resources for the betterment of information institutions and their publics; and to give participants a structured opportunity to develop their own contemplative practice. Participants in the Workshop will experience three epistemologies, that is, ways of learning and knowing: A third person epistemology will engage the scholarly literature; a second person epistemology will entail discussions with peers and experts; and, a first person epistemology will consist of each student’s lived experience of contemplative practice. (It is important to note that first-person learning treats contemplative practice as an object of study and does not require belief or conversion to any spirituality, religion, or contemplative experience.)

****Please note the add/drop deadlines for INF1005H***

  • Last date to ADD: Monday January 17, 2022 (Use ACORN – Within SGS Deadline, no form needed)
  • Last day to DROP: Monday January 24, 2022 (Use ACORN – Within SGS Deadline, no form needed)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Winter 2021 information workshops

Experiential, participatory workshop to integrate the skills, perspectives, and knowledge introduced in the other core courses. The intention of the workshops is to broaden your exposure to other areas; we encourage students to go outside of their comfort zone. Students will be working in groups.

Students must complete two (2) workshops (INF1005H and INF1006H), each worth 0.25 FCE to fulfill the core requirements for the Master of Information degree. The workshops must be taken with different instructors and are different topics. Normally INF1005H and INF1006H are taken during the same term. INF1005H is offered the first 6 weeks of the Winter term and INF1006H starts right after.

All instructors will give their workshop twice in the session (unless otherwise indicated) – once in the first 6 weeks (week of January 11, 2021 to week of February 22, 2021) in the winter 2021 term, and again in the last 6 weeks of the session (week of March 1, 2021 to week of April 5, 2021) in the same time slot.

Please note that students need to enroll in one section each of both INF1005H and INF1006H.

List of INF1005H information workshops for winter 2021:

INF1005H section 0101: Pandemics and Information

INF1005H section 0102: Information and Contemplation

INF1005H section 0103: Unanticipated Consequences of IT

INF1005H section 0104: Data and the City

INF1005H section 0105: Systems Thinking, Systems Design

INF1005H section 0106: Sexual Representation Collection

INF1005H section 0107: Open Data, Private Data

INF1005H section 0109: Museum Objects and Thing Cultures

INF1005H section 0110: Best Practices in Data Visualization

INF1005H section 0111: Customer Journey Analytics

INF1005H section 0112: Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Museums and Archives

INF1005H section 0113: Innovation in Times of Disruption

INF1005H section 0114: Users Helping Users: Software Learning, Video Tutorials Design and the Wisdom of the Crowd

INF1005H section 0116: Social Media Data Analytics

INF1005H section 0117: Research Data Curation

INF1005H section 0118: Knowledge Organization, Equity, and Justice

Add/drop dates for INF1005H are:

Last day to add INF1005H:  Friday January 15, 2021 (use ACORN, no course add/drop form)

Last day to drop INF1005H:  Monday January 25, 2021 (use course add/drop form)

_________________________________________________________

Winter 2020 information workshops

INF1005H section 0101: Unanticipated Consequences of IT

INF1005H section 0102: Contemplation and Information

INF1005H section 0103: Space and the City

INF1005H section 0104: Futures Thinking

INF1005H section 0105: Open Data, Private Data

INF1005H section 0106: Physical Computing

INF1005H section 0107: Usability Assessment: Concepts, Methods and Tools

INF1005H section 0108: Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Museums and Archives

INF1005H section 0109: Introduction to Machine Learning

INF1005H section 0110: Interventions in Surveillance Infrastructure

INF1005H section 0111: Users Helping Users: Software Learning, Video Tutorials Design and the Wisdom of the Crowd

INF1005H section 0112: Community Asset Mapping

INF1005H section 0113: Best Practices in Data Visualization

INF1005H section 0114: Digital Transformation – Making It Happen

INF1005H section 0115: Social Media Data Analytics

INF1005H section 0116: Storytelling, Materiality, and Memory

****Please note the add/drop deadlines for INF1005H***

  • Last date to ADD: January 10, 2020 (Use ACORN/ROSI – Within SGS Deadline, no form needed)
  • Last day to DROP: January 20, 2020 (Please fill out course add/drop form even though it is within SGS Deadline)

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Winter 2019 information workshops

Experiential, participatory workshop to integrate the skills, perspectives, and knowledge introduced in the other core courses. The intention of the workshops is to broaden your exposure to other areas; we encourage students to go outside of their comfort zone. Students will be working in groups.

Students must complete two (2) workshops (INF1005H and INF1006H), each worth 0.25 FCE to fulfill the core requirements for the Master of Information degree. The workshops must be taken with different instructors. Normally INF1005H and INF1006H are taken during the same term. INF1005H is offered the first 6 weeks of the Winter term and INF1006H starts right after.

All instructors will give their workshop twice in the session – once in the first 6 weeks (week of January 7, 2019 to week of February 11, 2019) in the winter 2019 term, and again in the last 6 weeks of the session (week of February 25, 2019 to week of April 1, 2019) in the same time slot.

Please note that students need to enroll in one section each of both INF1005H and INF1006H.

INF1005H section 0101: Contemplation and Information

INF1005H section 0102: Unanticipated Consequences of IT

INF1005H section 0103: Systems Thinking, Systems Design

INF1005H section 0104: Sexual Representation Collection

INF1005H section 0105: Futures Thinking

INF1005H section 0106: Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Museums and Archives

INF1005H section 0107: Authenticity of the 3D Printed Object

INF1005H section 0108: Users Helping Users: Software Learning, Video Tutorials Design, and the Wisdom of the Crowd

INF1005H section 0109: De/Constructing the Book

INF1005H section 0110: Interventions in Surveillance Infrastructures

INF1005H section 0111: Community Asset Mapping

INF1005H section 0112: Usability Assessment: Concepts, Methods and Tools

INF1005H section 0113: Open Data, Private Data

****Please note the add/drop deadlines for INF1005H***

  • Last date to ADD: January 11, 2019 (Use ACORN/ROSI – Within SGS Deadline, no form needed)
  • Last day to DROP: January 21, 2019 (Submit an Add/Drop form to iSchool Student Services)

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Winter 2018 workshop descriptions

Experiential, participatory workshop to integrate the skills, perspectives, and knowledge introduced in the other core courses. The intention of the workshops is to broaden your exposure to other areas; we encourage students to go outside of their comfort zone. Students will be working in groups.

Students must complete two (2) workshops (INF1005H and INF1006H), each worth 0.25 FCE to fulfill the core requirements for the Master of Information degree. The workshops must be taken with different instructors. Normally INF1005H and INF1006H are taken during the same term. INF1005H is offered the first 6 weeks of the Winter term and INF1006H starts right after.

All instructors will give their workshop twice in the session – once in the first 6 weeks (week of January 8, 2018 to week of February 12, 2018) in the winter 2018 term, and again in the last 6 weeks of the session (week of February 26, 2018 to week of April 2, 2018) in the same time slot.

Please note that students need to enroll in one section each of both INF1005H and INF1006H.

The following are the winter 2018 information workshops:

INF1005H section 0101:  Open Data, Private Data
INF1005H section 0102:  Museum Objects and Thing Cultures
INF1005H section 0103:  Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, Museums and Archives
INF1005H section 0104:  The Liberal Arts Hobby
INF1005H section 0105:  Systems Thinking, Systems Design
INF1005H section 0106:  Futures Thinking
INF1005H section 0107:  De/Constructing the Book
INF1005H section 0108:  Social Data Analytics
INF1005H section 0109:  Interventions in Surveillance Infrastructures
INF1005H section 0110:  A Competitive Intelligence Primer
INF1005H section 0111:   Introduction to Prospect Research for Non-Profit Organizations
INF1005H section 0112:  Usability Assessment: Concepts, Methods and Tools

****Please note the add/drop deadlines for INF1005H****

  • Last date to ADD: January 12, 2018 (Use ACORN/ROSI – Within SGS Deadline, no form needed)
  • Last day to DROP: January 22, 2018 (Use ACORN/ROSI – Within SGS Deadline, no form needed)

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Winter 2017 workshop descriptions
:

INF1005H section 0101:  Platforms for Annotation, Commentary, and Collaborative Editing
INF1005H section 0102: Futures Thinking
INF1005H section 0103: De/Constructing the Book
INF1005H section 0104: The Library as Conversation: the Information Professional as Facilitator of Conversation
INF1005H section 0105: Interventions in Surveillance Infrastructure
INF1005H section 0106: Exploring User Experience, Cultural Theory and Gamification through Board Games
INF1005H section 0107: Users helping users: software learning, video tutorials design, and the wisdom of the crowd
INF1005H section 0108: Social Data Analytics
INF1005H section 0109: A Competitive Intelligence Primer
INF1005H section 0110: Introduction to Prospect Research in Nonprofit Organizations
INF1005H section 0111: Graphic Design for User Experience

****Please note the add/drop deadlines for INF1005H:****
Last date to ADD:  January 13, 2017 (Within SGS deadline – No form needed)
Last day to DROP: January 23, 2017 (Within SGS deadline – No form needed)


Winter 2016 workshop descriptions:


INF1005H section 0101: Authenticity of the 3D printed Object
INF1005H section 0102: The Library as Conversation: the Information Professional as Facilitator of Conversation
INF1005H section 0103: Futures Thinking
INF1005H section 0104: The Liberal Arts Hobby
INF1005H section 0105: A Competitive Intelligence Primer
INF1005H section 0106: De/Constructing the Book
INF1005H section 0107: Introduction to Prospect Research in Nonprofit Organizations
INF1005H section 0108: The Library as Conversation: the Information Professional as Facilitator of Conversation
INF1005H section 0109: Usability Assessment: Concepts, Methods and Tools

****Please note the add/drop deadlines for INF1005H:****
Add: January 15, 2016
Drop: January 25, 2016

Note:  Formerly INF1004H