Assignment 2 – Report on an information management technology

Length

2500 – 3000 words

Summary

Task 1 (44 marks). You will write a business report outlining the current state of one of the technologies discussed in the course work and examining its current and potential usage in information management. (2000 – 2500 words)

Task 2 (6 marks). You will also describe your processes in carrying out this assignment in a separate reflective document. (300 – 500 words)

Learning outcomes

In this assignment you will:

• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of an aspect of technologies used in information management;
• Identify articles and other sources on a topic using a variety of search facilities;
• Synthesise information about the technology itself with examples of its actual and potential uses in information management;
• Create a document which demonstrates your understanding of principles of document management;
• Reflect on the processes and problems involved in carrying out this task.

Task

Task 1 (2000 – 2500 words). Your manager has asked you to report on current practices and issues using ONE of the technologies outlined under Topics in an information management context.

You will need to:

• Describe the technology, its characteristics and recent developments or trends;
• Find current examples of the usage of that technology in an information context and/or discussions of planned or potential usage;
• Discuss implications of the usage of the technology for an organisation;
• Include diagrams or illustrative examples where appropriate.

It may assist you to assume you are working in a specific organisation or type of organisation.

Task 2 (300 – 500 words). You are to create a separate document that should include:

• How you approached the assignment, sources used, difficulties you had;
• Any comments on referencing, use of referencing guidelines and EndNote etc.;
• Interpretation of your Turnitin report, and reflection on your experience of using Turnitin. (You do not need to submit the Turnitin report with your assignment, as your tutor will access it online.)

Topics

• Managing documents during their life cycle – pick one issue / life cycle stage / environment etc., e.g. digitisation, archiving etc.;
• Open source software in information management environments – advantages, opportunities, dangers, etc.;
• Cloud computing in relation to information centres;
• Metadata, its benefits and problems – choose a specific aspect or situation e.g. interoperability, government documents, art collections, etc.;
• How XML is used to manage documents and collections;
• Current and future directions in the development of the web (e.g. Semantic Web, HTML5, linked data etc.) and their relevance for information centres.

These topics are all quite broad and, once you have done some preliminary reading, you may wish to narrow the topic to a particular aspect or type of organisation. If in doubt, or if you wish to pursue another topic, please discuss it with your tutor first.

However the following topics are generally not suitable as they have already been covered (or will be in other courses): Web 2.0 (as a general topic although specific Web 2.0 technologies may be suitable), e-books, user-generated (folksonomic) tagging. If in doubt, ask.

Requirements

You will present your findings as a business report, which contains:

• Title page and table of contents;
• An executive summary (Unlike an abstract, this should outline your main findings, rather than introduce your topic or summarise your approach, method etc.);
• An introduction which describes the specific topic
• Headings and subheadings;
• Numbered pages and sections;
• Direct and clear language with pertinent points;
• Examples, diagrams and illustrations as appropriate;
• A reference list according to the requirements below.

Note that in a business report you are often required to make recommendations. For this assignment you are NOT required to do so, unless you feel it is appropriate.

For further guidance on creating a business report, see Chapter 5 of the RMIT Business Written reports and essays guidelines.

Referencing and academic integrity

• You need to justify any statements you make and acknowledge any sources you use with RMIT Business (Harvard) referencing.