School of Informatics | Introduction to Informatics
I101 | 6946 | Rawlins

I101 Introduction to Informatics (3 cr.) P: computer literacy as can
be obtained for example from CSCI A110, BUS K201, or TEL T101.
Emphasis on topics in human computer interaction and human factors,
collaborative technologies and group problem solving.  Ethics,
privacy, and ownership of information and information sources,
information representation and the information life cycle, the
transformation of data to information, futuristic thinking.

Informatics is concerned with the development, representation,
interactions, and consequences of information.  It starts with
information theory, the background to all information, then follows
information throughout society and technology.  Information informs
both our social structures (who has it? who doesn't? who can get it?
who can hide it? who can exploit it?) and our technology (modern
technology, unlike industrial-age technology, is quickly reducing to
the task of design, not construction of the equipment:  this holds
true most strongly with computer technology, but it applies to
everything from sewing machines to space shuttles).  Information also
has both a past and a future.  Historically, information management
has had major consequences on world history, particularly in
cryptography and communications, and, looking ahead, information
management is likely to have perhaps the single largest consequence on
our near future--anything from advanced computer technology to
economic development to bioengineering.  Our world, at least in
advanced societies, is rapidly reducing to information and its
management.  Hence, informatics and its importance.

This course introduces informatics to prospective majors, minors, and
other interested undergraduate students.  It is a basis for many of
the more advanced informatics courses, and therefore presents a broad
overview of the five aspects of informatics: information technology,
foundations, human-computer interaction, new media, and social