Information Policies

I. COURSE NUMBER AND CREDIT:


ISC 380 - 3 S. H.

II. COURSE TITLE:


Information Policies

III. COURSE DESCRIPTION:


This course focuses on the study of policy in relation to national and international information issues. It examines the policies regarding the production, dissemination, and use of information and stresses the role of participants in international information markets.

IV. PREREQUISITES:


ISC 300 or ISC 330 or BRC 319, or permission
of instructor.

V. JUSTIFICATION:


This course will be an elective in the Information Science Program. The study of information policies will complement other areas offered in the Information Science curriculum, such as telecommunications, information retrieval systems, and problems in information sciences. This course will instill in students an awareness of the policies governing the production, transmission, and use of information. It will be taught once a year and a class size of 35 students is anticipated. This course is being submitted for General Education certification in diversity.

VI. COURSE OBJECTIVES:


As a result of this course, students will be able to:

1. Identify the major policy issues related to
information as resource in economic and social
life.
2. Define information communication, knowledge
production, knowledge utilization, technology
transfer, etc. as policy targets.
3. Understand the major factors affecting the
development of information policies.
4. Understand and identify the relationships
between domestic and international information
and telecommunication policies.
5. Review major federal law and regulations affecting
information production, ownership, transmission,
and application.

VII. COURSE OUTLINE:


A. The Information Policy Process
1. Models: classical, incremental, others
2. Policy instruments: Tradition, norms,
cultural pattern
Economic measures
Laws, regulations, consent decrees
Treaties and international agreements
Judicial decisions
B. Trends Affecting the Development of Information
Policies
1. Growth of the service sector of the
industrial economies and its dependence
on information resources and processes
2. Changes in the domestic telecommunication
regulatory system
3. Expansion in the number and size of computer
networks in the national and at the
international level
4. The need to determine the value and ownership
of information as a commodity in terms of its
public, private, and commercial use
C. National Information Policies Issues
1. Government regulations vs. competitive
markets
2. Current policies for security of information
systems
3. Privacy of personal information in federal
records
4. Access to governmental records: Freedom
of information laws and regulations
5. Public/private interface in database
marketing and pricing policies
6. Funding of scientific and technical
research
7. Copyrights, patents, trade laws, and
international agreements
D. Transnational Information Policies
1. Transborder data flow and the conflicting
attitudes of various nations towards the
transnational transfer of data
2. Technology transfer
3. International regulations, tariffs, and
standards
4. The New Information International Information
Order
5. Access to satellite communications

VIII. METHODS OF INSTRUCTION:


The primary mode of instruction will be lectures, class discussions, and case studies.

IX. COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Assigned readings, discussion of case studies, writing of paper, and projects.

X. MEANS OF EVALUATION:


Grades will be determined based upon periodic examinations, projects, and papers.

XI. RESOURCES:


No additional resources are necessary.

XII. BIBLIOGRAPHY:


Bartlett, Christopher & Sumantra Ghosal.
"Managing across borders: New strategic
requirements," Sloan Management Review
28:4 (1987) pp. 7-17.
Bartlett, Christopher & Sumantra Ghosal.
"Managing across borders: New organizational
responses," Sloan Management Review 29:1
(1987) pp. 43-53.
Burger, R. H. ed. "privacy, secrecy, and
national information policy," Library Trends.
Summer 1986.
Bushkin, Arthur A. & Jane H. Yurow. The
Foundations of United States Information
Policy, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1980.
Coplin, William D. & Michael K. O'Leary. Basic
Policy Studies Skills. New York: Croton on
Hudson, Policy Studies Associates, 1981.
Eres, Beth Krevitt. "International information
issues," Annual Review of Information Science
and Technology, v. 24, 1989, pp. 3-32.
Ghosh, P. K. ed. Appropriate Technology in Third
World Development. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
1984.
Gray, John. National Information Policies: Problems
and Program. London: Mansell, 1988.

Guile, B. R. ed. Information Technologies and Social
Transformation. Washington, DC: National Academy
Press, 1985.
Hernon, Peter & C. R. McClure. Federal Information
Policies in the 1980's Conflicts and Issues.
Norwood, NJ, Ablex, 1987.
Holm, B. E. "National Issues and Problems," in
Annual Review of Information Science and
Technology (ARIST), 1976, v. 11, pp. 5-26.
Kochen, Manfred. "Information and Society," in
Annual Review of Information Science and
Technology, v. 18, White Plains, NY: Knowledge
Industry Publications, 1983, pp. 277-304.
Lindbloom, Charles. The Policy Making Process.
New York, Prentice Hall, 1968.
Masmoudi, M. "The New World Information Order,"
Journal of Communication, v. 29:2, 1979, pp. 172-
192.
Matley, Ben G. & Thomas A Mcdannold. National
Computer Policies, IEEE Computer Society Policy,
1987.
McClure, Charles R., Hernon, Peter, & Harold C.
Relyea. United States Government Information
Policies: Views and Perspectives. Norwood, NJ:
Ablex, 1989.
Moore, Nick. "Policies for an Information-intensive
Bulletin of the American Society for Information
Science, v. 17:4 (1991), pp. 10-11.
Moore, Nick & Jane Steele. Information-intensive
Britain: a Critical Review of the Policy Issues.
London, Policy Studies Institute, 1990.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development. Guidelines on the Protection of
Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data.
Paris, 1981.
Rosenberg, Victor. "National Information Policies,"
ARIST, 19892, v. 17, pp. 3-31.
Sauvant, Karl P. "Transborder Data Flows and the
Development Countries," International
Organization, 37:2, (Spring 1983), 359-371.
Schiller, Herbert I. Information and the Crisis
Economy, New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1986.
Snow, Marcellus S. Marketplace for
Telecommunications in Industrialized Democracies,
New York, Longman, Inc., 1986.
Suprenant, Thomas T. "Problems and Trends in
International Information and Communication
Policy." Information Processing and
Management, 23:1 (1987), pp. 47-64.
Tunstall, Brook W. Disconnecting Parties.
Managing the Bell System Break-Up: An Inside
View, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1985.

U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Government
Operation. Government Provision of Information
Services in Competition with the Private Sector,
hearings, February 25, 1982.
U.S. National Telecommunication and Information
Administration. Issues in Information Policy,
Washington, DC, Government Printing Office, 1981.