PRO5001 is an elective unit introduced as part of the Master of Business Information Systems, capable of being taught both at Caulfield and at the Monash Centre in Prato, Italy from Semester 2, 2015.

PRO5001 Community Informatics is designed as an elective unit in the MBIS. It is particularly relevant for students in the library, recordkeeping and archiving streams who wish to understand how their professional knowledge can be used to assist cultural institutions in engaging with communities or more directly in community settings. Its key objectives are to prepare students so that they will:

• Understand the theoretical frameworks within which Community Informatics operates
• Understand the key technologies and the ways in which they can be used within community settings
• Understand how to design and implement participatory informatics projects with communities
• Understand the principles and ethics underlying Community Informatics

On successful completion of this unit students should be able to:

• describe and critically evaluate the main theoretical frameworks within which Community Informatics operates
• explain the nature and purpose of participatory methods in Community Informatics projects
• critically evaluate and apply understandings of the values and ethical issues that arise in the design and implementation of Community Informatics projects
• design and deliver Community Informatics projects across a broad spectrum of IKM practise and systems, including community archiving, data archiving, data management, information systems and knowledge management
• evaluate Community Informatics projects

029900

This unit introduces students to the field of Community Informatics and provides them with the theoretical and practical foundations required to understand, assess and implement digital and information technologies, IKM, recordkeeping and archival systems, and social media in community settings. Students will learn how to assist communities to develop information and IT policy and strategy frameworks, to build community IT and IKM capacity, and to engage with processes that determine policy development and service delivery. The unit will focus on how community informatics expertise can support communities to achieve better and more sustainable health, education and environmental outcomes, make more effective use of community and government services, and overcome physical, mental, cultural, or social disadvantage. Topics include: theoretical frameworks; community knowledge production and sharing; information access; and the use of information technologies and IKM systems in community settings; community archiving; participatory methods and working with communities; underlying values of projects, ethical approaches and ethical dilemmas; and project design and development.

Gurstein, M. (2007) What is community informatics (and why does it matter)? Milan, Italy: Polimetrica.

on-campus, off-campus, block mode

The unit will be offered in lecture/tutorial mode and OCL mode at Caulfield campus, but will also be designed in modular fashion to enable intensive/block mode delivery, e.g. at the Monash Prato Centre.

In-semester assessment: 100% (Individual assignments 50% / Group assignment 50%).

It is preferred to have the assessment based on practical work rather than on an exam. As a discipline Community Informatics is based on a strong relationship with practice and evaluation of a student's knowledge and understanding must be based on being able to apply conceptual knowledge in concrete examples and to evaluate specific projects. For instance, understanding the nature of participatory research, the ethics involved of working with communities in specific situations and the consequences for project design can only be tested superficially in an examination, and is best done via closely supervised project work and detailed case studies.

FIT

Tom Denison