CS 152 Spring 2003 Paper Assignment – Making Use of Information Literacy

Purpose: To practice applying information literacy to a task. You will search for, evaluate, and use information from various sources to create something new – in this case a paper.

Assigned: 02/11/2003

Due: 04/30/2003 at the start of class. (the only class times that will be available to work on this will be in Feb – 2 or 3 days)

Preliminary Hand In: On 3/28, hand in what you have then for initial review. This might include some of the following: sources and explanations; outline; introduction; partial text …

Course Significance:

10% of course grade.

Assignment:

Write a 3-5 page paper on one of the topics listed below. Use at least 5 sources, at least 1 of which must be available via “traditional” media (journals, books) and at least one of which must be an on-line source. Append after the paper a short explanation of why each source you used was appropriate for your research, include a copy/print of the first page of each source.

Your paper should be coherently written. While I am primarily interested in the ideas, and the sources, the presentation of the ideas should not distract from reading. Sentences that do not follow from one another, major grammatical errors, spelling mistakes etc could distract from the ideas being presented.

Format should be fairly normal – font 10-12 pt, margins 1.0-1.25 inches, single space, …

We will be using turnitin.com to fight plagiarism. You may not duplicate even a sentence from other sources.

Topics (Some of these may require narrowing):

§ The Internet is a world-wide entity. This presents issues for countries wishing to control content deemed unacceptable – such as pornography, gambling, etc. What’s a country to do?

§ For some people, the WWW and e-mail is a distraction that makes them less productive at work. What monitoring of employees’ computer activities is acceptable in a free society?

§ As more and more information is computerized, the linking of different sources could be a means of surveillance (e.g. knowing where somebody was at different times). What limitations should there be on linking information from different systems?

§ Some corporations say that gathering information about customers is a way of serving them better. For instance, a store can send promotions related to products to people that might be interested in those products (“target marketing”). Some people are concerned about the privacy implications of companies keeping tabs on what they buy. Where should the line be drawn?

§ The government wants to defend the nation (“homeland security”) through means including greater surveillance of on-line activities (e-mail, and other). What is an acceptable trade-off between security and privacy?

§ The explosion and availability of information seems to have driven an increase in “identity theft” where somebody pretends to be somebody else in order to defraud. How should this trend be stemmed?

§ With greater information stored on computers, there appears to be a trend of law enforcement seeking access to that information. For instance, purchase records have been sought for search. What should be the “new economy” balance between privacy and law enforcement?

§ Digital information can be changed. For instance, pictures can be digitally altered to show something that wasn’t there. Has the legal system adapted to this capability? How is “actual photographic evidence” treated?

§ Has access to computers and information become a great division between haves and have nots?

§ Hackers have used “denial of service” attacks on some prominent WWW sites. How does such an attack work? And how can a site defend against it?

§ Computers have gotten more and more powerful, able to do more and more tasks. Are there some decisions a computer should never make?

§ What is the future of computerized voting? Is the 2000 election a blow or a blessing?

§ Many workers are now telecommuting – working at home while connected to the work place via computers, electronic devices, and telephones. Is this beneficial to the individual, organization, and society?

§ Should schools and libraries be required to implement software filters on Internet use?

§ There is substantial temptation to use medical records for reasons other than treatment. For example, employers may prefer to hire employees that are low medical risks in order to cut insurance and absenteeism costs. At least one law has been passed to protect the privacy of medical records. Is it enough?

§ Unlike doctors, lawyers, accountants and engineers, there is no method of certifying the competency of software developers (outside of company specific designations such as Microsoft Certified Software Engineer). Should computer professionals be required to be licensed?

§ There have been advances in “biometric” technology – the identification of people via unique biological features – such as retina scans, finger print scans, etc. Should there be limits on the use of biological identification?

§ Do violent computer games desensitize people towards real violence?

§ Companies such as DoubleClick make money by keeping track of people’s behavior on the WWW. For instance, DoubleClick uses “cookies” to keep track of pages visited in order to target ads to a person’s interests. What limits should there be on such collection of WWW clicks?

§ OR Another topic related to computers and society, approved by the instructor. For instance, a topic involving the impact of computers on your favorite branch of math or science.