Topic outline

  • About the Course: Organizing and Accessing Information

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    • Hello and welcome to Organizing and Accessing Information.

      This is a short course designed to get students active in thinking about search and organization. We want you all to be aware of the particular aspects of searching physically organized items (think shopping for groceries at the store), digitally organized items (think finding a show to watch on Netflix or a game to play on Steam), and finally to be able to put this awareness to practical use in a real-world search.

      To achieve this, the course is organized into three topics. Each topic contains some content (readings, videos, etc.) and an assignment.

    •  Please view this brief course introduction video. 

       Video transcription

    • Course Information:

      Organizing and Accessing Information.

      Instructor: Nicholas Schiller nicholas@informationgames.info 


      Welcome!


      This is a short course designed to get students active in thinking about search and organization. We want you all to be aware of the particular aspects of searching physically organized items (think shopping for groceries at the store), digitally organized items (think finding a show to watch on Netflix or a game to play on Steam), and finally to be able to put this awareness to practical use in a real-world search.

      To achieve this, the course is organized into three topics. Each topic contains some content (readings, videos, etc.) and an assignment. By completing the readings and assignments for each topic, you will demonstrate the skills necessary to pass the course.


      The course is organized so that successful students will demonstrate the following skills

      • Topic: Physical Organization

        • Articulate the affordances and constraints of physical organization and search

        • Organize physical items with clear intent and purpose

      • Topic: Digital Organization

        • Articulate the affordances and constraints of digital organization and search

        • Organize digital items with clear intent and purpose

      • Topic: Search Strategy

        • Develop a complex search strategy

        • Carry out a complex search strategy


      All content and assignments will be delivered through the following Moodle site: https://informationgames.info/moodle/course/view.php?id=2 





    • File
      Course Infomation(PDF) File

    • Optional Viewing

      This is an hour long lecture that provides the background for this short course, plus a lot more. If you'd like to deeply understand our course, I suggest your watch this video or read Weinberger's book Everything is Miscellaneous.

       


       

  • Topic: Physical Organization

    • Overview of Physical Organization

      The goal of this section is to familiarize you all with the specific affordances of physical organization and search. In other words, to make clear the specific aspects of searching for and organizing physical objects that may not be shared with their digital counterparts.

      To achieve this, there are a pair of short readings from David Weinberger's book Everything is Miscellaneous and an assignment where you will take concepts from the readings and put them into practice.

      Weinberger's rules may be useful to you:

      • In physical space, some things are nearer than others.
      • Physical objects can be in only one spot at any one time
      • Physical space is shared, so there can be only one layout, even though we all have different needs.
      • Human physical abilities are limited, so the amount of information provided to us is constrained by our ability to see;
      • The organization of the store needs to be orderly and neat.


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      Transcription

    • URL
      Link to Reading One: Information in Space URL
    • URL
      Link to Reading Two: The New Order of Order URL

    • Optional Reading: Information R/evolution. This is an early web video describing some of the organizational concepts from the readings.

        

       

    • Assignment
      Physical Organization Project Assignment

      Assignment Information:

      • Save your work as a PDF, do not submit a word document.

      • Use a 12pt typeface and double space

      • Upload your PDF file to

      About the Project:
      For this project, start with something that you have personally organized or something organized by someone else that you are very familiar with and use frequently. Any kind of collection of physical objects will do so long as you can describe it in some detail. For example: your vinyl record collection would work, but your digital music collection would not. 50-75 physical items is a good size for this project. examples of successful past topics include: 

      • Clothes/closets

      • video games

      • books

      • garage/tools

      • food/pantry

      • dishes/kitchen

      • comics

      • photographs (physical)

      • art or crafting supplies

      • makeup supplies

      • garden or landscaping

      • other collections of physical items

      You are not limited to these, but you will want to choose something that has an intentional organization structure. It also helps to pick something you know and care about. If most people you know just keep their makeup in a drawer, but you have separate storage for makeup that works in natural light and makeup that looks best under fluorescent lights, then makeup would be an excellent choice for this assignment.



    • File
      Physical Organization Assignment Instructions File

  • Topic: Digital Organization

  • Topic: Search Projects