Overview
This page provides information on some of the resources available for students in COP 4910.
This page is organized as follows:
1. Course Resources
Information about this course including instructor contact information, grading policy, and class schedule is accessible from this course's index page.
2. IT Resources
UCF Library Resources
The UCF Library has an online database Gartner Campus Access that gives you Access to over 100,000 IT and business research documents, including Gartner Hype Cycles and Magic Quadrants. Access is via NID sign-in; so, to access it, log in to the library portal with your NID and NID password.
A general guide to the literature in EE and Computer Science is found at:
Social Media Resources
Many IT professionals post content on LinkedIn. LinkedIn also has groups including: "Cloud Computing, Big Data, Databases and Analytics", "Information Security Leadership Forum", "IT Specialist Group", as well as others.
Medium.com's ideachain is "a hub for ideas, discussion and collaboration; the global network of innovators."
Professional Societies
There are two main professional societies in computing, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The UCF Library gives access to all publications of these professional societies. Both the ACM and IEEE Computer Society have student memberships and student chapters at UCF.
Another professional society is the (ISC)2, which is "an international, nonprofit membership association for information security leaders." The (ISC)2 focuses on cybersecurity and has certifications.
ACM
The ACM has several resources for members, including a learning center. The ACM publishes several magazines that are relevant for IT including:
- Communications of the ACM (CACM) "ACM's flagship magazine, Communications of the ACM, is the premier chronicler of computing technologies, covering the latest discoveries, innovations, and research that inspire and influence the field. Each month, Communications brings readers in-depth stories of emerging areas of computer science, new trends in IT, and practical research applications. Industry leaders choose Communications to debate technology implications, public policies, engineering challenges, and market trends."
- interactions "is a magazine intended for professionals interested in the connections between experiences, people and technology."
- Ubiquity is "ACM's weekly Web-based publication, dedicated to fostering critical analysis and in-depth commentary on issues relating to the nature, constitution, structure, science, engineering, technology, practices and paradigms of the IT profession."
- XRDS " is the official ACM magazine for student members. Each issue features a theme, such as 'Wearable Computing' or 'Health Informatics,' and XRDS brings exciting research trends, interviews, columns, and even career advice articles" (although the latter are geared towards Computer Science students).
The ACM also has various special interest groups (SIGs) that focus on particular areas of computing. Some SIGs that are relevant for IT include:
- SIGAPP, which focuses on "the development of new computing applications and application areas and the transfer of computing technology to new problem domains."
- SIGCAS, which focuses on "the social and ethical consequences of widespread computer usage."
- SIGCHI, which focuses on "computer-human interaction." This SIG has a "shared understanding that designing useful and usable technology is an interdisciplinary process, and when done properly it has the power to transform persons' lives."
- SIGDOC, which focuses on "the design of communication," including "information architecture, information design, user assistance, help, and documentation (traditional and user-contributed) as well as technology that supports and enhances communication, including blogs, forums, chat, and wikis."
- SIGIR, which focuses on "information storage, retrieval, and dissemination" including: "a variety of search-related research topics applied to a broad range of unstructured data including text, images, video, audio, and recorded speech."
- SIGITE, which focuses on "articulation, promotion, and dissemination of the computing discipline of Information Technology."
- SIGMIS, which focuses on "the applications of computers in a business environment; techniques and methods for analysis, design testing, maintenance, and management of computer-based business information systems."
- SIGMM, which focuses on "multimedia computing, communication, storage, and applications."
- SIGSAC, which focuses on "information and system security, encompassing security technologies, secure systems, security applications, and security policies."
IEEE Computer Society
The IEEE's Computer Society "advances the theory, practice, and application of computer and information-processing science and technology, as well as the professional standing of its members." Its educational resources include:
- The Enterprise Information Technology Body of Knowledge (EITBOK), with content found in the EITBOK Wiki. Its "goal is to serve as a compendium and guide to the body of knowledge that has been developing and evolving since the 1960s."
- Tech News, which features "Relevant news, analysis, and blogs to keep you best informed, based on world-class research and thought leadership." You can subscribe to the Computing Edge newsletter there.
- IT Professional magazine.
- IEEE Cloud Computing magazine, which although no longer actively published, has archives online.
- IEEE Security & Privacy magazine.
- Various online courses including certifications and courses about cloud computing.
Other Resources
Journals
The following journals give examples of professional writing in IT and related fields. In many cases access to these is free from the UCF library.
- The Journal of Information Technology.
- The Journal of Cases on Information Technology.
- MIS Quarterly Executive
- The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
- IT Professional
- ACM transactions on information systems
- Journal of Information Technology & Politics
- Journal of Applied Computing and Information Technology
- Frontiers in ICT
Online Resources
The following are some other useful resources.
- The Enterprisers Project from Harvard Business Review, which offers resources for CIOs.
- EDUCAUSE
- Forbes Technology Council posts
- IBM's IT Biz Advisor
- TechImpact that aims to help "nonprofits and communities thrive" by improving their IT infrastructure and knowledge.
- TechGenix.com's Tech News. TechGenix also offers various tutorials.
- The Consumer Electronis Show is an annual conference that focuses on technology; it may be a source for some trending ideas in hardware and consumer devices.
- CNET.com also focuses on consumer technology and likewise may be a source for some ideas.
- CompTIA
3. Presentation and Writing Resources
Presentation Resources
- Tips for making effective PowerPoint presentations.
- 10 Tips for More Effective PowerPoint Presentations by Dustin Wax.
- 43 Effective PowerPoint Presentation Tips (To Improve Your Skills) by Brad Smith.
- How to Give a Killer Presentation by Chris Anderson
- TED talk on How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint by David J.P. Phillips.
- Death by PowerPoint: A Crash Course in Slide Design
- Life After Death by PowerPoint (Corporate Comedy Video) by Don McMillan
- Unsplash.com for free, reusable images
Writing Resources
- Purdue's Online Writing Lab
- Justin Zobel's page on Technical Writing and Research Ethics
- How to Get a Paper Accepted at OOPSLA (from a panel at OOPSLA '93, pages 429-436 of the proceedings). Point 4 of Kent Beck's remarks (at the end, page 435) has the bit about the four-sentence abstract.
- The guide to Grammar and Writing at Capital Community College of Hartford, Connecticut.
- William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. The Elements of Style (Third Edition). MacMillian, New York, 1979. (There is also an on-line version of the 1918 version by William Strunk Jr.)
- Donald E. Knuth and Tracy Larrabee and Paul M. Roberts. Mathematical Writing. Volume 14 of MAA Notes, The Mathematical Association of America, 1989.
- Mary-Claire van Leunen. A handbook for scholars (revised edition). Oxford University Press, New York, 1992.
- George D. Gopen and Judith A. Swan. The Science of Scientific Writing. American Scientist 78:550-558, (November-December, 1990). (The link will work if you are logged in to the UCF library from off campus or are on campus.)
- Joseph M. Williams. Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1995.
- Donald C. Woolston, Patricia A. Robinson, and Gisela Kutzbach. Effective writing strategies for engineers and scientists. (Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, Mich., 1988)
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Last modified Friday, March 6, 2020.
This web page is for COP 4910 at the University of Central Florida. The details of this course are subject to change as experience dictates. You will be informed of any changes. Please direct any comments or questions to Gary T. Leavens at Leavens@ucf.edu. Some of the policies and web pages for this course are quoted or adapted from other courses I have taught, in partciular, COP 4020.