We live in an age where we are surrounded by digital information. Yet in spite of that (or because of that) we have great difficulty utilizing this information.
Informatics is about making sense out of digital information. Following is a list of informatics topic areas. If you would like to work with me in these areas,
stop by to chat or send me an email at steve.zilora@rit.edu.
- Information Collection: How do we gather information? Where does it come from? What does it look like? There are both technical and non-technical aspects to this topic.
- Information Storage The relational model has served us well for the past 30 years as a means of storing data. Unfortunately, it does not lend itself to storing information.
- Threaded Engram Database Model: This model represents a dramatically diferent way of thinking about data storage. In this model, "chunks" of information, called engrams,
are linked together by threads that establish context. This project is in its earliest stages and involves literature research, creative thinking, extensive discussions,
and writing of articles.
- Information Analysis: While there are general principles to consider in information analysis, the nature of informatics requires these
principles to be applied to some specific domain. There are many domains to choose from. Following are two domains that I am involved with.
- Accounting Informatics: What are the numbers that small business owners need to watch to determine the health of their business? How should existing information be transformed to be most effective? Initial work has been done in this area, but needs to be further developed and disseminated.
- Education Informatics: At all levels--primary, secondary, and higher ed--teaching is becoming a data-driven process. Unprecedented quantities and details of data are now available
to instructors and administrators. Is this data being used properly?. How much time and money is being spent analzing this data? This project is in its earliest stages but will ramp up very quickly.
- Information Presentation: The field of Human Computer Interfaces provides the principles, but we need to consider the specifc demands of the domain in which we are working. Is a dashboard approach appropriate? Is a virtual reality world appropriate? The following projects examine the best way to present information for specifc domains that I am involved with.
- Accounting Informatics:Assuming we have the right factors to present, how do we present them in the most useful way? How do business owners think? What format would work best for them? How should the information be presented? Initial work has been done in this area, but needs to be further developed and disseminated.
- Education Informatics: Assuming we have the right factors to present, how do we present them in the most useful way? How do educators think? What format would work best for them? How should the information be presented? Initial work will focus on determining the needs of educators and surveying existing tools.
- Dissemination and Education: Part of any research effort is the dissemination of ideas for the purpose of education and feedback. These projects address the education side.
- High School Curriculum: Working with digital information is something EVERYONE will be doing regardless of their profession. We can teach them techniques in college, but if we were to teach them some of these techniques in high school, then they could apply the techniques during their college studies. This project looks at developing an Intro to Informatics course for upper level high school students. Initial thoughts on this project have been developed, but much more eeds to be done. If you're interested in teaching or curriculum development, you will enjoy this project.
- Instructor Education: While we can train young people to be proficient in the digital world, we already have a large workforce that lacks skills and confidence. This project targets high school instructors. It develops a workshop that these instructors can take to become better versed in the use of digital information for their lesson preparation and delivery.
Past Research
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Questions / Comments: sjz@it.rit.edu