B20.2317 Information and Internet Technologies

Spring 2002

Wednesday, 6:00pm-8:50pm


 NOTES

 

 

 

INDEX

Class Web page and course schedule
Course Description
Teaching Staff
Audience and Prerequisites
Logistics
Course Texts
Grading
Project
Homework assignments and quizzes
Computer facilities
Academic Integrity 
Acknowledgments

Class Resources (including MS Access resources)

CLASS WEB PAGE

The class Web page is http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~vassalos/class/IIT-S2002. The course schedule can be found at http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~vassalos/class/IIT-S2002/schedule.html

Note that this page is a ``living document''; it can be expected to change during the quarter, and the "official'' contents are whatever the on-line version has, not the hardcopy handed out at the beginning of the course. You are encouraged to visit the class web page often!


COURSE DESCRIPTION

Information and Internet Technologies introduces the technical concepts underlying current and future information systems, with an emphasis on internet-related technologies. The course begins with the fundamentals of computer systems, databases, and networking. Then special emphasis is given to technologies that underlie the World Wide Web and E-commerce, including HTML, XML, search, information retrieval, agent technologies, data warehousing, data mining, middleware and distributed systems.

Information and Internet Technologies provides both a refresher to the basics as well as coverage of cutting edge technologies. According to Business Week (Aug. 28, 2000), more than a third of business capital expenditure is for information technology. Students will gain an understanding of how modern information systems work, as well as exposure to powerful high level tools that allow us to take advantage of computer power without having to write conventional computer programs.


TEACHING STAFF
 

Person

Role

Office

Phone

Office Hours

Email

Vasilis Vassalos

Professor

KMEC 9-82

998-0843

Fri 5pm-6pm, other times by appt

vassalos@stern.nyu.edu

 

Teaching fellow

 TBD

 

 

 

Yvonne Perez

Secretary

KMEC 9-170

998-0802

N/A

yperez@stern.nyu.edu


AUDIENCE AND PREREQUISITES

Stern students headed for jobs in consulting, marketing, and finance will find that a basic understanding of how computers work will pay subtle and unexpected dividends throughout their careers. Information Technology and Operations Management majors will benefit from a refresher on the basics and exposure to new technology trends such as OLAP, XML technology, security, and search technologies. The course is also suitable for other students who wish to deepen their knowledge of how computer technology works through a single, practically oriented course.

B20.2317 is an introductory course. It is assumed that students know how to use word processors and spreadsheets. It is also assumed that students have access to email and the WWW.  No knowledge of how computers work or are programmed is assumed. Students with a Computer Science background or those who have recently completed courses in computer architecture, operating systems, databases and computer networks will find the first half of the course elementary, since it consists of highlights of those four topics. Student backgrounds vary considerably, however. Students with some background in electrical engineering or programming will breeze through certain topics. Those with no background will have to work harder, but mastery of this material is within reach of every Stern student regardless of background.

Talk to the instructor if you're not sure whether your background is appropriate.


LOGISTICS

1) Lectures. Wednesdays, 6pm-8:50pm. Location KMEC 4-120
2) Recitation. We will run 1 recitation session to review material before the final.
3) Class newsgroup. IIT-S2002@yahoogroups.com. A Yahoo group provides the functionality of both a mailing list and a newsgroup: messages are posted and archived but also delivered to the mailboxes of the group members. Please sign up for the group. The instructions for signup can be found here. Student participation is encouraged; messages should be of general interest to the class.
4) Communication with instructor and TA. Office hours are mentioned above. Other times with appointment. Email is encouraged! The subject of all class-related, non-egroup emails to the instructor and the TA must start with [2317].


LECTURE NOTES AND TEXTBOOKS

Required materials

Lecture notes include slides used by the instructor during lectures. What appears in the notes may or may not reflect what is covered in class, since class interest/discussion may lead the lecture down a different path.  Students should not assume that either the notes or the lectures, alone, are sufficient.  Slides can be downloaded from the class web page 24 hours after each class meeting.

The required texts for the course are the following:

  1. Computer Concepts, 4th Edition, J.J. Parsons and D. Oja, Course Technology/Thomson Learning, 2000
  1. Client/Server Survival Guide, 3rd Edition,  Robert Orfali, Dan Harkey, and Jeri Edwards, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.

Don't be fooled by the second book's title: the authors take an all-encompassing view of "client/server," including most of modern, internetworked information systems.

Recommended materials

  1. Price Waterhouse's Technology Forecast is available at the NYU Professional Bookstore. In addition to a concise technical introduction to the various topics covered, it provides excellent surveys of the marketplace, including pointers to leading vendors and products, as well as assessments of trends and directions.  Students with no previous exposure in IT might find this a bit heavy. On the other hand, students who have had some previous IT exposure and especially MBA students who are interested in connecting the technological principles we will learn in the lectures with the marketplace will find this an excellent reference.
  1. The PC Webopedia (http:// www. pcwebopedia. com) is a Web site that serves as an encyclopedia of Information Technology terms. It provides excellent explanations of Information Technology terms, together with links to additional web pages related to them. For each lecture, the course Web page contains pointers to the relevant category of the PC Webopedia. We strongly encourage you to use this valuable resource to clarify unanswered questions and to go beyond the material covered in class, according to your own personal interests.
  1. The Tech Encyclopedia (http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/) is an on-line version of The Computer Desktop Encyclopedia.  It has (sometimes in-depth) descriptions of many IT concepts and terms.
  1. The Software Technology Review (http://www.sei.cmu.edu/str) at the CMU Software Engineering Institute is a directed guide containing the latest information on approximately 63 software technologies. As with the PC Webopedia and Tech Encyclopedia, we strongly encourage you to use this resource for definitions and explanations of terms mentioned in course lectures and to go beyond the material covered in class if you wish.
  1. Dictionary of PC hardware and Data Communication Terms is the online version of a very well-written, out of print book by Mitchell Shnier. It also provides excellent explanations of several hardware and communication-related terms, from the well-known (BIOS) to the obscure (Speedo). Explanations are often more low level than the PC Webopedia (compare TCP with TCP).
  1. Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing is the online version of a very well-written book on database-backed, collaborative web sites and services. Does it sound like a niche? It's not--almost all the sites and services of any value are database-backed. It can get technical, but the main ideas are excellent and you can always skip the code. Caveat: Philip does not care much for traditional businesses and for many of their executives (but his attitude is not worse than Dilbert's).
  1. Books in the How things work series from MacMillan Computer Pub, especially the following:
    1. How computers work: Millennium Edition, Ron White, Que, 1999.
    2. How the internet works: Millennium Edition, Preston Gralla, Que, 1999.
    3. How networks work, 4h Edition, Frank J. Derfler, Que, 1998.
    4. How intranets work, Preston Gralla, Que, 1996.

Finally, for students who would like to learn Microsoft Access in depth, the following are two recommended books:

  1. In Business with Access, Jeffry Byrne, Prentice Hall Computer Books,1996. Good, concise introduction to Microsoft Access. Students who want to go into more depth, please see next book.
  1. Running Microsoft Access 97, John L. Viescas, Microsoft Press, 1997. One of the best and most detailed "bibles" on Microsoft Access. This is an excellent reference book for students who are interested in becoming Microsoft Access experts. If you are looking for something more concise, you may consider the Byrne book.


COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Grading is based on class participation, homeworks, an examination (after ~2/3 of the class), and a project.
 

Component

Weight

Class participation

5%

Homework

20%

Quizzes

10%

Examination

40%

Project 

25%


Project: Students will pick a company/product/technology that they believe will be important in the near future and make a case for it, by writing a report and giving a class presentation. The class will rate the choices (think ice-skating competition), and the class "vote" will be 25% of the project grade. Find out more about the project in the project handout.


Homework assignments are due in class on the due dates. No late homeworks will be accepted.  However, each student is allowed one extension of at most 48 hours. This amount of time cannot be divided among assignments;  it applies to one assignment only.
 
 

Assignment

Topic

Due Date

Answers

Homework 1

Computing and Security

 

 

Homework 2

Networks and Databases

 

 

Homework 3

Web Technologies and Interoperability

 

 

 Quizzes will be given at the beginning of class, without notice.  They will be brief and can not be made up; the lowest quiz score will be dropped.  The quizzes will cover material from the readings and lectures up to, but not including, the day of the quiz.

Class participation is included in grade computations in order to to encourage students to help make this course more interactive (and thus more effective and fun). One of the primary advantages of being in a program like Stern's is that you have the opportunity to participate in interactive classes with dozens of very bright colleagues, all with different backgrounds and experiences.  In this course, there are several opportunities for students to participate. Students should come to class prepared, ask interesting and relevant questions, and give concise answers. Students, especially those less comfortable speaking up in class, are encouraged to exchange ideas on the class Yahoo group.  For example, students may take the initiative to do follow-up research in order to answer questions left unanswered in class, provide pointers to articles relevant to a discussion topic, or contribute a different perspective to a discussion.  Students should treat the Yahoo group as they would an organizational knowledge-sharing environment at work, and therefore should take initiative and responsibility for increasing "organizational memory," and also should conduct discussions courteously and professionally.


COMPUTER FACILITIES

This is a course about Information Technology and several assignments require use of a PC. Students can use either their own PC or the facilities of the Stern School. Please read the university policies on the use of university computer and network resources. Take them seriously -  we do.


ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

You are encouraged to discuss material from the class with other students, including material related to problem sets. You must, however, write solutions independently. The time to stop collaborating is when you start writing. In addition, you must acknowledge the help you got on your homework assignments.

Any other assistance by another person constitutes a violation of the student code of conduct and will be treated as such.

Do: discuss general concepts and techniques for performing the assignments; compare and discuss answers after you get the assignments back.

Don't: copy or compare answers before you turn them in; sit together while you are writing up your solutions.

Finally, it is strictly forbidden to consult and/ or copy your answers from solution sets of past terms.

If you have any questions about what this policy means, please discuss the matter with the instructor now.


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This course  was designed and implemented in close collaboration with Prof. Foster Provost, with important contributions from Prof. Norm White (of Stern), Prof. Chris Dellarocas (of MIT Sloan), and Prof. Haym Hirsh (of Rutgers).
 

CLASS RESOURCES

CNet.com
The Internet Society
Dictionary of PC hardware and Data Communication Terms
whatis.com
TechEncyclopedia
Hobbes' Internet Timeline
Internet Timeline from BBN
Internet Timeline from PBS
PC webopedia
Software Technology Review
Tasty bits from the technology front (TBTF)
ZDNet
The Industry Standard
Red Herring
Information Week
Datamation
ComputerWorld
The New York Times (registration required)
The WSJ (registration required)
The Economist
The Financial Times
Fortune
Forbes
IPO Express
IPO.com
Byte

MS ACCESS RESOURCES

  1. Microsoft Access tutorials online
  2. Microsoft Access 97 Student online companion
  3. Microsoft Access Getting started (Microsoft resource)
  4. An introductory tutorial created by professor Holowczak at Baruch College.