Information Science

Faculty

J. Birnholtz, L. Blume, C. Cardie, D. Cosley, D. Easley, S. Fussell, G. Gay, T. Gillespie, P. Ginsparg, C. Gomes, F. Guimbretiere, J. Hancock, T. Joachims, J. Kleinberg, C. Lagoze, L. Lee, M. Macy, P. Sengers, E. Tardos, D. Williamson

Information Science, Systems, and Technology:

Offered jointly by the Department of Information Science and the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering

Contact: 303 Upson Hall, (607) 255-9837, www.infosci.cornell.edu, or 202 Rhodes Hall, (607) 255-5088, www.orie.cornell.edu

Digital information technologies have become pervasive in science, engineering, manufacturing, business, finance, culture, law, and government, dramatically changing the way people work and live. The proliferation and significance of these new technologies demands a new focus in engineering education—one that remains rigorous and technically oriented but is simultaneously devoted to integrating engineering design, theory, and practice within the social and organizational contexts in which these complex digital information systems are employed.

The information science, systems, and technology (ISST) major studies the design and management of complex information systems. Just as structural engineers and nanofabricators use physics at radically different scales, so also there is a scale difference between the focus of the ISST major and the more traditional, look-under-the-hood majors in computer science and operations research and industrial engineering. Rather than focusing on the computing and communication technologies that underlie digital information systems, the ISST major emphasizes information systems engineering in broad application contexts, where issues at the confluence of information science, technology, and management are the primary concerns.

The ISST major has two options. The management science option educates students in methods for quantitative decision making and their application to information technology as well as the broader role that information technology plays in making these methods effective. Students in the information science option will obtain advanced training in methods for the creation, representation, organization, access, and analysis of information in digital form.

Note: Students may not double major in both CS and ISST or ORIE and ISST.

Engineering distribution courses:

Majors are required to take ENGRD 2700 - Basic Engineering Probability and Statistics as an engineering distribution course. ENGRD 2110 - Object-Oriented Programming and Data Structures is required for the major and is recommended as the second engineering distribution course.

Major program:

Core courses:

Probability, Statistics, and Optimization:

Information Systems:

One of the following:

INFO 3300 - Data-Driven Web Applications (crosslisted)
INFO 4300 - Information Retrieval (crosslisted)
INFO 4302 - Web Information Systems (crosslisted)

Economic, Organizational, and Social Context:

INFO 2040 - Networks (crosslisted)

One of the following:

Requirements for the information science option:

Three courses from Information Systems (Area II).
One course from Mathematical Modeling in IT (Area III).
Three electives, all from either Human-Centered Systems (Area V) or Social Systems (Area VI).
Two electives from any of the six areas totaling at least 6 credits (INFO 4900 may be used to fulfill one of these electives).

Requirements for the management science option:

Four courses from Mathematical Models in Management Science (Area I).
Three electives, one from Information Systems (Area II) and two from the union of Mathematical Modeling in IT (Area III) and Information Technology Management Solutions (Area IV).
Two electives from any of the six areas totaling at least 6 credits (INFO 4900 may be used to fulfill one of these electives).

Area I. Mathematical Models in Management Science:

Area II. Information Systems:

INFO 3300 - Data-Driven Web Applications (crosslisted) *
INFO 4300 - Information Retrieval (crosslisted) *
INFO 4302 - Web Information Systems (crosslisted) *
INFO 4307 - [Learning From Web Data]
CS 4320 - Introduction to Database Systems
INFO 4320 - Introduction to Rapid Prototyping and Physical Computing †
CS 4620 - Introduction to Computer Graphics (crosslisted)
CS 4700 - Foundations of Artificial Intelligence
CS 4740 - Introduction to Natural Language Processing (crosslisted)
CS 5150 - Software Engineering
CS 5430 - System Security
INFO 5300 - The Architecture of Large - Scale Information Systems (crosslisted)
CS 5780 - Machine Learning

Note:

*INFO 3300 , INFO 4300 , and INFO 4302 may be used toward the core requirements or Area III but not both.

†INFO 4320 may count toward Area II or Area V but not both.

Area III. Mathematical Modeling in IT:

Area IV. IT Management Solutions:

Area V. Human-Centered Systems:

INFO 3400 - Online Relationships (crosslisted)
PSYCH 3420 - Human Perception: Application to Computer Graphics, Art, and Visual Display (crosslisted) *
INFO 3450 - Human-Computer Interaction Design (crosslisted)
INFO 3460 - Online Communities (crosslisted)
PSYCH 3470 - [Psychology of Visual Communications]
INFO 3650 - Technology in Collaboration (crosslisted)
PSYCH 3800 - Social Cognition *
PSYCH 4160 - Modeling Perception and Cognition *
INFO 4320 - Introduction to Rapid Prototyping and Physical Computing †
INFO 4400 - Advanced Human-Computer Interaction Design (crosslisted)
INFO 4450 - Computer-Mediated Communication (crosslisted)
INFO 4500 - Language and Technology (crosslisted)
DEA 4700 - Applied Ergonomic Methods

Note:

*Students who take PSYCH 3420 may also count their prerequisite, PSYCH 2050 or PSYCH 2140 . Students who take PSYCH 3800 may also count PSYCH 2800 . At most one of these 2000-level prerequisites can be counted.

†INFO 4320 may count toward Area II or Area V but not both.

Area VI. Social Systems:

Note:

*Only one of ECON 3680 and ORIE 4350 may be taken for ISST credit.

†Students who take ECON 3680 may also count its prerequisite, ECON 3130 , toward Area VI.

Information Science, Systems, and Technology Honors Program:

The B.S. degree with honors is granted to engineering students who satisfy the requirements given on the “Undergraduate Study and Graduation Requirements ” page as well as the following requirements.

3 credit hours of ISST course work at or above the 5000-level (no S–U courses; no seminars or 2 credit courses)
6 credit hours of INFO 4900 - Independent Reading and Research with an ISST faculty member, spread over at least two semesters, with at least A– each semester

or

3 credit hours of INFO 4900 - Independent Reading and Research with an ISST faculty member and 3 credit hours of INFO 4910 - Teaching in Information Science, Systems, and Technology , both with grades of at least A–.

The ISST research is expected to result in a programming project or a written report (or both).

The 9 credits required for honors are in addition to the minimum requirements for the major.

Procedures:

Each program must be approved by the appropriate co-director of the ISST major, and any changes to the student’s program must also be approved.