SIAT Graduate Program

Library Course and Program Assessment for
Proposal for a Graduate Program in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

Updated: November 28, 2003

Introduction

This is the Library’s assessment of collection needs to support the proposed graduate programs within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at the Surrey campus.  The programs are being planned for a steady state of 90 graduate students in the School at any given time. 

The SFU Library collection now includes over 9000 electronic journals and the Library is committed to moving more of its journal collection to electronic format in the coming years, in part to address the multi-campus reality of the university.  A core collection of journal titles relevant to the subject focus of the proposed program already exists at SFU Surrey, in either print and/or electronic form.  The journal collection of Tech BC was pared down and de-duplicated from SFU holdings at the time of the transfer to SFU, but when taken together with the overall electronic holdings of the SFU Library, is suitable as a core collection to support the proposed courses.  The adequacy of the collection is substantiated by the fact that the vast majority of journal articles on course reading lists are available at the SFU Library, and most online.  With only a few exceptions, noted below, additional needs can be met by delivering articles from the Bennett Library print journal collection as required. 

Therefore, the primary focus of this assessment is the monograph collection at the Surrey campus.  Where substantial reading lists were included in the proposed course outline, the assessment focuses on ensuring that these titles are held at Surrey.  In some cases there are multiple copies in the Bennett Library collection and one copy can be permanently transferred to Surrey without cost.  Newer titles, and titles not held at the SFU Library have been prioritized for purchase.  Not all titles on each reading list have been listed for purchase; where the reading lists were exhaustive, a core collection at Surrey can be adequately supplemented by delivery from the Bennett Library.

For courses without substantial reading lists in the course outlines, the assessment is based on an evaluation of the Surrey and SFU holdings on the relevant subjects, as well as any changes to our present collection development activities required to continue building appropriate holdings at Surrey.  The book approval profile with our principal book wholesaler, Blackwell Books, is used as an indicator of current collecting activities for Surrey.  However, the Surrey collections budget is not adequate to allow the Library to order all core new publications in the subject areas of this program.  Therefore, a general assessment at the end of the report addresses the need for deeper book collections.  Few modifications to the profile will be needed, but more funding to order the material identified by the profile is required.


Required Courses

Foundations of Computation in Computing Arts and Design Sciences

This is a graduate level introduction to concepts of and skills in computing.  It was successfully offered as a Special Topics course in September 2002, and covers discrete mathematics, computability, and applications such as artificial intelligence and symbolic computation such as Lindenmayer systems. 

There are two books listed on the course outline for this course, both of which are held at SFU Surrey.

LC Subject heading

Surrey holdings

SFU holdings

Algorithms

1

301

Artificial intelligence

17

729

Combinatorial analysis

1

143

Computer algorithms

9

176

Computer programming

15

657

Computer science-Mathematics

10

98

Data structures-computer science

4

210

Functional programming-computer science

0

19

Graph theory

2

239

L systems

0

6

Logic programming

1

76

Logic-Symbolic and mathematical

3

519

Machine learning

1

112

Mathematics

13

669

Object oriented programming-computer science

23

416

Set theory

1

199

System analysis

14

670

TOTAL

115

5239

Headings covering the topics of this course are included on the Blackwell forms profile for Surrey.

Research Methods and Strategies

A graduate level course in research methodology.  There are 17 books on the reading list for this course.  All but one are held in the SFU Library, but only 9 of them are at the Surrey campus.  Those that are still in print should be added to the Surrey collection.

$93 / P. Alasuutari, 1995. Sage 0803978308 Researching culture : qualitative method and cultural studies

Who owns history? : rethinking the past in a changing world / E. Foner, 2002. Hill & Wang.  0809097044 $32

Design and analysis : a researcher’s handbook / G. Keppel, 1991.  Prentice Hall. 0132007754 $162 (also on the list for Methods for Research into Technological Systems)

Reliable knowledge / H. Larrabee, 1991.  Houghton Mifflin.  0521406706  $32

The ideological octopus / J. Lewis, 1991.  Routledge.  0415902878.  $62

One of the four Bennett Libray copies of Kreps investigating communication should be moved to the Surrey collection.  Two titles on the list are not in print.

One-time cost:  $381

As evidenced by the lack of Surrey holdings, this subject is not covered in Surrey’s current collection development activity.  The Blackwell subject heading Social Science Research should be added to profile and set to forms so that a small selection of new material on this topic can be added to the Surrey collection each year.  This heading will also bring in useful current material for one of the elective courses in the program, Methods for Research into Technological Systems.

Core Courses

New Media

Of the 36 books on the reading list for this course, 21 are held at Surrey and an additional 14 are in the Bennett Library. One title is forthcoming and will fall under Surrey’s current collecting activities.  Copies of the following recent books should be added to the Surrey collection.

Handbook of new media : social shaping and consequences of ICTs / Lievrouw & Livingstone, eds., 2002. Sage. 0761965106. $187

The new media book / D.Harries, ed., 2002 British Film Institute. 0851709249. $110

One-time cost: $297

Knowledge Visualization & Communication

Headings covering the topics of this course are included on the Blackwell forms profile for Surrey. In addition, three books from the reading list should be added to the collection.

Diagrammatic reasoning : cognitive and computational perspectives / B.Chandrasekaran, ed., 1995.. AAAI Pr/M I T Pr. 0262571129. $89

The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception  / J.Gibson,1979. Lawrence Erlbaum.

0-89859-959-8 $60
 

Vision / D.Marr, 1983. W. H. Freeman 0-7167-1567-8 $56

One-time cost: $205

Cognition, Learning and Collaboration

Of the 18 books on the course reading list, twelve are held at SFU, but only five at Surrey.  Many are now out of print and will be difficult to acquire, but the following should be added to the Surrey collection.

Adaptive learning environments: foundations and frontiers / ed. by M. Jones, ed.  (NATO ASI Series. Series F, v.85), 1992. NATO Scientific Aff. Div. 0387554599  $164

Computers as cognitive tools / S. Lajoie, ed., 1993. Lawrence Erlbaum 0-8058-1082-X $48  

Computers as cognitive tools, v.2: No more walls : theory change, paradigm shifts, and their influence on the use of computers for instructional purposes / S. Lajoie, ed., 2000. Lawrence Erlbaum.  080582930X  $153

Constructivism and the technology of instruction : a conversation / T. Duffy, ed., 1992. Lawrence Erlbaum. 0805812725. $44

Learning and awareness / Marton & Booth, 1997. (Educational psychology series) Lawrence Erlbaum. 0805824545  $66

Mental models / D. Gentner, Dedre et al., 1983. Lawrence Erlbaum. 0-89859-242-9 $72

Mental models / P. Johnson-Laird, 1983. Harvard Univ. Press.  0-674-56881-8 $51

Self-regulated learning and academic achievement : theoretical perspectives / edited by Zimmerman & Schunk, eds., 2nd ed. 2001. Lawrence Erlbaum. 0805835601 $106

One-time cost: $704


Artificial Intelligence in Computing Arts and Design

The Blackwell subject heading Artificial Intelligence is in the Surrey profile.  The Surrey collection includes 17 books with the corresponding LC subject heading.  The text for this course is in the Surrey collection.  In addition, the Library provides access to several online collections that will be useful for this course: Lecture Notes in Computer Science; IEEE/IEE Electronic Library, including not only journals but conference proceedings; and the ACM Digital Library.

Computational Poetics

Of the 24 books on the course reading list, only seven are held at Surrey, with an additional twelve titles in the Bennett Library collection.  The following titles should be added to the Surrey collection.

Art and technics / L.Mumford, 2000. (Bampton lectures in America) Columbia Univ. Press. 0231121059. $20

Basic writings / M. Heidegger, 1993. Harpercollins. 0060637633. $24

Before and after the I-Bomb: An Artist in the Information Environment / T.Sherman et al., 2002. Banff Centre Press. 0-920159-94-X $30  (also on list for Encoding Media Practice)

The Cambridge companion to John Cage / edited by D.Nicholls, ed., 2002. (Cambridge companions to music) Cambridge Univ. Press. 0521783488. $103

Fluid concepts and creative analogies / D. Hofstadter, 1995. Basic Books 0465024750. $32

The poetics of space / G. Bachelard, Gaston, 1994.  Beacon Press. 0807064734  $20

The logic of practice / P.Bourdieu, 1990. Stanford Univ, Press  0804720118 $29

Metamagical themas : questing for the essence of mind and pattern / D.Hofstadter, 1985.
0465045669 $42

Multiple meaning : techno : an artistic and political laboratory of the present / M.Gaillot, 1998.  (Plastic arts) Editions Dis Voir, FR/Dist Art Pub Consortium. 2906571768  $31

Olafur Eliasson : surroundings surrounded : essays on space and science / P. Weibel, ed., 2001. Neue Galerie/Z K M Ctr Art & Media/M I T Pr. 0262731487. $50

Otto Laske : navigating new musical horizons / J.Tabor, ed., 1999 (Contributions to the study of music & dance, no.53) Greenwood Pr/Greenwood Publ Grp Inc. 031330632X. $86

A shock to thought : expression after Deleuze and Guattari / B.Massumi, ed., 2002. Routledge/ ITP Services. 041523803X. $121 (also on list for Encoding Media Practice)

Snap to grid : a user's guide to digital arts, media, and cultures / P.Lunenfeld. M I T Press. 026212226X. $66  (also on list for Encoding Media Practice)

The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World / D. Abram, 1997. Random House Canada. 0-679-77639-7 $23  (also on list for Embodiment and Electronic Performance)

One-time cost: $677

The reading list for this course also indicates that an SFU Surrey faculty member has an article in press in Computer Art Journal, which is on the reading list for this course.  The Library does not currently subscribe, and will need to add this title to the collection.

Elective Courses

Learning Design and Media

Headings covering the topics of this course are included on the Blackwell forms profile for Surrey.

Models of Networked Practice

Headings covering the topics of this course are covered on the Blackwell forms profile for Surrey.   The majority of the titles on the course reading list are available at the SFU Library, and several are already in the Surrey collection.  However, four titles should be acquired for Surrey.

Perspectives on activity theory / Y.Engestrom et al., eds., 1999. (Learning in doing : social, cognitive and computational perspectives) Cambridge Univ.Press. 0521431271. $165

Managing industrial knowledge : creation, transfer and utilization /  I.Nonaka & D.Teece, eds., 2001. Sage Publs.. 0761954988. $132

Knowledge management foundations / S.Fuller, 2002. Butterworth-Heinemann. 0750673656. $33

Social Structures: A Network Approach / Wellman & Berkowitz, 1997. JAI Press/Elsevier. 0762302917. 1997 $52

One-time cost: $382

Encoding Media Practice

All the in-print books on the reading list for this course are either already held at Surrey or on the list of acquisitions for other courses.  Headings covering the topics of this course are included on the Blackwell forms profile for Surrey.

Multi-Agent Systems

This course is very well supported by Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, an online resource that is accessible to Surrey students and faculty.  The SFU Library holds 70 titles under the LC subject heading Intelligent Agents (computer software), including 11 at Surrey. Headings covering the topics of this course are included on the Blackwell forms profile for Surrey.

Theory and Design of Games

Headings covering the topics of this course are included on the Blackwell forms profile for Surrey.

Exploring Interactivity

Headings covering the topics of this course are included on the Blackwell forms profile for Surrey, but two additional titles should be acquired.

Bringing design to software / T.Winograd, ed., 1996.  ACM Press/Addison-Wesley. 0201854910. $46

New Thinking in Design: Conversations on Theory and Practice / C.Mitchell, 1996.

0-471-28604-4 $105  

One-time cost:  $151

Algorithmic Problem Solving

Three books from the course reading list should be acquired for the Surrey collection.

How to solve it : modern heuristics / Michalewicz & Zbigniew, 2000. Springer Verlag. 3540660615.  $73

Distributed algorithms / Nancy A. Lynch, 1996.  (Morgan Kaufmann Series in data management systems). Morgan Kaufmann.  558603484.  $119

Randomized algorithms / R. Motwani, 1995.  Cambridge Univ. Press. 0521474655  $77

One time cost: $269

Embodiment and Electronic Performance

Of the 24 books on the course reading list, eleven are held at the Surrey Library, with another nine available at the Bennett or Belzberg libraries.  The following titles should be acquired for Surrey.

Absent body  / D.Leder, 1990. Univ. of Chicago Press   0-226-46999-9 $61

Cybersexualities : a reader on feminist theory, cyborgs and cyberspace / J.Wolmark, ed., 1999. Edinburgh Univ. Press. 0748611185. $110

Feminist theory and the body : a reader / Price & Shildrick, eds. Routledge. 0415925665. $44

Flesh and machines : how robots will change us / R.Brooks, 2002. Pantheon/Random House. 0375420797. $34

The Future of the body / M. Murphy, 2002.  Putnam 0-87477-730-5 $33

Instrumental Realism : Interface Between Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Technology / D.Ihde, 1991. Indiana Univ. Press. 025320626X $64

Naked to the bone : medical imaging in the twentieth century / B.H.Kevles, 1997. (Sloan technology series) Rutgers Univ. Press. 0813523583  $79

The Routledge reader in gender and performance / edited by L.Goodman, ed., 1998. 0415165822. $119

This sex which is not one / L.Irigaray, 1985.  Cornell Univ. Press.  0801493315 $24

One-time cost: $568

Spatial Computing

Headings covering the topics of this course are included on the Blackwell forms profile for Surrey, but two titles from the course reading list should be added to the Surrey collection.

Curves and surfaces for computer-aided geometric design : a practical guide / G.Farin, 4th ed.,  1997. (Computer science & scientific computing) Academic Press. 0122490541. 4th. (Book + CD) $91

Geometric concepts for geometric design / W.Boehm, 1994. AK Peters. 1568810040. $78

One-time cost: $169

Methods for Research into Technological Systems

Many of the books on the course reading list are now out of print, or are older works, and the majority of these are available in the Bennett Library.  As the course reading list is meant to be “suggestive only,” the addition of the Blackwell subject heading Social Science Research to the Surrey forms profile will bring in new titles useful for this course as described under the Research Methods and Strategies course.  One recent title should be acquired for the Surrey collection.

Cross-National Research Methods in the Social Sciences / L.Hantrais, et al., 2000. Pinter Publishers 1-85567-344-4 $165

One-time cost: $165

Other courses

There are no library costs associated with the remaining courses in the program:

  • Special Topics in Computing Arts and Design Sciences (12 courses)
  • Directed Readings in Computing Arts and Design Sciences  (3 courses)
  • MA Thesis
  • MSc Thesis
  • PhD Candidacy
  • PhD Dissertation

Total library costs

The sum of all one-time costs outlined above is $3968 The Library therefore assesses a one-time cost of $4000 to acquire the items listed above.

Total one-time cost:  $4000

The ongoing costs to support this program are calculated as follows:

Addition of Social Science Research heading to Blackwell’s profile, and selection of approximately 10 new books per year:  $1000

New journal acquisitions:  Computer Art Journal  $230 (print + online)

The one-time acquisitions outlined above will ensure that the majority of items on the course reading lists will be available to students and faculty.  However, more depth will be required to properly support a graduate program.  The size of the Surrey Library’s acquisitions budget has meant that even recent imprints (2000 and onward) central to graduate studies at SIAT have not been acquired in the year of their publication.  Without an additional allocation, the SFU Surrey Library will be unable to keep up even a core collection of new publications in this field.  An additional $8,000 per year will be required to allow the Surrey library to collect deeply enough to acquire relevant new imprints in the subject areas of this program at a level suitable for graduate studies. 

The program proposal identifies the uniqueness of the research to be undertaken within the School.  Adequate library holdings will be essential to making this the world-class program it aspires to be.

Total ongoing costs: $9,230/year