Courses and Curriculum

Please click on course titles below to see course descriptions.

• IKNS K4100. Campus Practicum I. 1 pt.
• IKNS K4300. Information and Knowledge in the 21st Century Economy. 3 pts.
• IKNS K4301. Management and Leadership in the Knowledge Domain. 3 pts.
• IKNS K4302. Organizing and Accessing Information and Knowledge: Practice and Methods. 3 pts.

Spring

• IKNS K4100. Campus Practicum II. 1 pt.
• IKNS K4303. Enterprise-Wide Applications and Project Management. 3 pts.
• IKNS K4304. Business Analytics and Strategic Intelligence. 3 pts.
• IKNS K4305. Networks and Collaboration: Issues and Methods. 3 pts.

Summer

The summer sequence includes Part 1 of the Capstone Project Seminar (2 pts.) and two online electives chosen from this list:

• IKNS K4335. Visualization of Information. 3 pts.
• IKNS K4336. Social Media in the Organization. 3 pts.
• IKNS K4337. Building Successful Knowledge Services for Organizations. 3 pts.

Fall

• IKNS K4100. Campus Practicum III. 1 pt.
• IKNS K4306. Information Policy and Regulatory Issues. 3 pts.

Capstone Project Seminar

Note: The Capstone Project Seminar starts during the second residency in April and continues through the following December.

Note: Students register for the Part 1 of the Seminar (2 pts.) during the summer term and the Part 2 (4 pts.) during the fall term.

• IKNS K4350. Capstone Project Seminar. 6 pts.
  
  

IKNS K4100. Campus Practicum I. 3 points total (1 point per residency)

Description

Scheduled during the first, eighth, and thirteenth months of the program, the practicum brings students together in New York City for an intensive series of lectures, seminars, workshops, coaching and career advisement sessions, and networking events facilitated by Columbia faculty, administrators, and industry professionals. Students are required to attend and actively participate in all practicum events.

IKNS K4300. Information and Knowledge in the 21st Century Economy. 3 pts.

Description

(Has both an online and face-to-face component)

How do decision makers identify strategic options, debate the pros and cons of competing choices and determine the specifics of their organizations’ knowledge strategy? This course tackles these questions, providing students with an understanding of the issues that encompass the field of information management, and knowledge sharing, including the models, methods, processes, and organizational culture required to facilitate innovation and change in organizations. Case studies and other approaches are used to familiarize students with issues such as managing intellectual capital, knowledge asset management, the information/knowledge audit, customer service, and measurement and evaluation of knowledge services.

IKNS K4301. Management and Leadership in the Knowledge Domain. 3 pts. (Offered Online)

Description

What are the management issues facing leaders in an increasingly complex information and knowledge environment, and how do we address them? In this course students learn the basic principles of management and leadership, specifically as they relate to enterprise-wide information and knowledge services management. Attention is given to such topics as planning, financial management, human resources, change management, and the corporate culture. Classroom discussions focus on leadership skills and knowledge sharing in the promotion of innovation and change. The course covers the “aspirational “elements of knowledge strategy, and includes extended discussion of the practical aspects of implementation.

IKNS K4302. Organizing and Accessing Information and Knowledge: Practice and Methods. 3 pts. (Offered Online)

Description

How do we organize and insure quick and effective access to a wide range of information in the digital age? In this course students learn the basic principles of categorization and classification of information through an understanding of metadata and taxonomies. Metadata is an essential component of making knowledge and information in computer-readable systems accessible. Metadata standards, creation of user-focused metadata schemas, the use and importance of controlled vocabularies, taxonomy development, elements of search and retrieval, ontologies and semantic web are examined and discussed in depth.

IKNS K4100. Campus Practicum II. 3 points total (1 point per residency)

Description

Scheduled during the first, eighth, and thirteenth months of the program, the practicum brings students together in New York City for an intensive series of lectures, seminars, workshops, coaching and career advisement sessions, and networking events facilitated by Columbia faculty, administrators, and industry professionals. Students are required to attend and actively participate in all practicum events.

IKNS K4303. Enterprise-Wide Applications and Project Management. 3 pts. (Offered Online)

Description

How do information professionals ensure that investment in enterprise wide business systems meet strategic objectives in a timely and cost-effective manner? This course provides an introduction to enterprise-wide applications such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems. Classroom discussions focus on what these systems encompass, examining case studies on actual project implementation and their impact, project management as well as current and emerging trends in search technology.

IKNS K4304. Business Analytics and Strategic Intelligence. 3 pts. (Offered Online)

Description

How do organizations leverage their own data and information and what are the most effective approaches to tracking and analyzing the competition? Emphasizing the need to continually innovate and understand the competitive environment, this course explores business and strategic intelligence, focusing on methods and tools for gathering, storing, analyzing and providing access to data to facilitate effective decision making.

IKNS K4305. Networks and Collaboration: Issues and Methods. 3 pts.

Description

(Has both an online and face-to-face component)

How do we effectively use team and network collaboration for impact? Collaboration, networks and teamwork are essential components of organizational life. While the need for collaboration is widely recognized, we sometimes take the view that "all collaboration is good," without assessing the costs and benefits. This course looks at what it takes to convene effective collaborations across individuals and organizations. Through classroom and online dynamics, students learn how to better facilitate collaborative knowledge-sharing, innovation and change. We examine techniques and tools for defining, diagnosing and driving effective knowledge networks (also called "communities of practice") within and across organizations. Students will learn to measure, diagnose, and improve their individual network's as a resource for insight, career development and problem-solving.

IKNS K4335. Visualization of Information (Online). 3 pts.

Description

In this course students will study techniques for creating effective visualizations based on principles and techniques from graphic design, visual art, perceptual psychology, and cognitive science. The amount and complexity of data and information produced in business, scientific fields and everyday life is increasing exponentially. This course provides a background on visual representation methods and techniques that increase the understanding of complex data. The objective of good visual interpretation of data is to improve comprehension, communication, and decision making.The course is targeted both towards students interested in using visualization in their own work, as well as those interested in understanding the process of building better visualization tools and systems. It will focus on fundamental strategies of analytical design, evaluating evidence used in presentations; statistical data: tables, graphics, and semi-graphics business, scientific, research, and financial presentations; and complexity and clarity in effective presentations. Elective

IKNS K4336. Social Media in the Organization (Online). 3 pts.

Description

Executives see the energy, engagement and sheer scale of the social web and ask how it applies to their organizations. This course concentrates on how organizations use social media technologies to tap into the collective genius of customers, associates, and other interested parties to create business results. While most organizations continue to invest in social media based marketing, leaders are creating collaborative communities to execute their strategy, co-ordinate complex customer service, and collaborate across knowledge workers to reach new levels of performance. This course looks at the following issues: How are organizations creating new forms of collaboration via social media? Where are the best opportunities for applying social media in an organization and with customers? How do you launch and manage social media based on a collaborative community? How do you measure, manage and learn via mass collaboration? What knowledge assets are being created and how are they leveraged? Elective

IKNS K4337. Building Successful Knowledge Services for Organizations (Online). 3 pts.

Description

Drawing on examples from a variety of organizations, this course will focus directly on strategies for building a successful knowledge service within an organization or institution. Topics will include ways to talk to management about knowledge services, building sustainable stakeholders, knowledge services that work, communicating knowledge services, ways to measure success, building communities of practice, and creating a reflective practitioner environment through the use of stories. Elective

IKNS K4100. Campus Practicum III. 3 points total (1 point per residency)

Description

Scheduled during the first, eighth, and thirteenth months of the program, the practicum brings students together in New York City for an intensive series of lectures, seminars, workshops, coaching and career advisement sessions, and networking events facilitated by Columbia faculty, administrators, and industry professionals. Students are required to attend and actively participate in all practicum events.

IKNS K4306. Information Policy and Regulatory Issues. 3 pts.

Description

(Has both an online and face-to-face component)

How do decision makers deal with the constantly evolving legal issues generated by the growing importance and value of information and knowledge? This course uses the Socratic Method to stimulate rational thinking and illuminate ideas, while introducing the fundamental principles and practical consequences of recent developments in legislation and case law, including legal issues with respect to labor and employment litigation, intellectual property, privacy regulations, and electronic discovery in investigations and commercial litigation. Governance, security, and regulatory issues relating to information and knowledge management are also covered in this course.

IKNS K4350. Capstone Project Seminar. 6 pts.

Description

The IKNS Capstone project is the culmination of the students’ immersion in this executive-level program, and an opportunity to demonstrate mastery of the cross-disciplinary curriculum. Working individually and in small teams, students do a consulting project for an organization seeking to initiate or improve its information and knowledge processes, or to expand revenue opportunities from intelligent, knowledge-enabled products. Clients benefit from applied and scholarly research, analysis, and insight from students, who, guided by faculty, bring considerable professional and academic credentials. Students benefit from applying their learning in a environment that is at the same time realistic and supported by IKNS faculty and sponsors, and from getting exposure to a new industry, KM function, and network of practitioners . Capstone projects showcase IKNS student learning, are well-articulated, are moderately complex, and can be conducted virtually (outside of New York, and/or in New York with remote students). Industry and nonprofit “sponsors” are curious, motivated, well-networked professionals who can help the students bring to light the insights and vision of their organization. Student projects might include:

• Improving knowledge-sharing patterns and incentives
• Designing a business analytics competency for decision-making
• Improving or introducing knowledge networks or communities
• Improving or introducing social media and other collaboration processes
• Redefining information architectures, taxonomies and tagging for maximum engagement
• Expanding the repertoire of tacit knowledge sharing approaches
• Introducing knowledge-based products as incremental revenue streams
• Defining a knowledge and information governance model, and expanding the capacity to act
• Defining a KM vision from the ground up, with roadmap, program, and technology evolution

Students begin doing independent work on the Capstone during their second Residency in April, and then step into the team component at the third Residency in August-September. Independent work could entail secondary research, expert interviews, and model development. Team work could entail employee interviews; joint design of processes, operations, and technology; analysis and improvements to content or technology, and client training and presentations. Students work alongside their industry “clients” to strive for not just lofty strategies, but practical action.

*Note: Some students have opportunities from their organizations, and have been funded by those organizations on the condition that they do independent, confidential projects. We will convene these types of students as a group so that they get the benefits of the collaboration and social learning.

The University reserves the right to withdraw or modify the courses of instruction or the instructors as may become necessary.