UMCP: iSchool: LBSC 708X/INFM 718X: Spring 12: Section 0101: Course Description

LBSC 708X/INFM 718X - Seminar on E-Discovery
Spring 2012 - Section 0101
Course Description

Official Catalog Description

Information retrieval concepts in the applied context of litigation, investigations and review of electronically stored information for public release. Discussion of legal requirements, professional standards, best practices, technical capabilities for automated support, evaluation, and risk management. Intended for students interested in legal, corporate or institutional settings involving provision of responsive controlled access to large collections of electronic records.

Goals

Understand the legal frameworks by which access to sensitive information is managed in civil discovery, regulatory and legislative investigations, and FOIA requests in the USA and in comparable settings in some other parts of the world.
Develop an analytical framework for e-discovery and related problems that integrates organizational, technical, legal, and procedural perspectives.
Explore current issues in e-discovery.

Approach

E-discovery (along with related issues such as E-FOIA) is a remarkably broad topic. We will use a mix of formats in order to give every student a broad and rich exposure to the major issues, while giving each student an opportunity to choose additional topics that they wish to master in additional depth. Our breadth objectives will generally be achieved through readings (for background), through discussion (and occasionally other activities) in class (to help build a mental framework into which the myriad of details can be placed, through one assignment that all students will complete, and through a mock conference of the parties. Our depth objective will be met through preparation by each student to serve as a "discussant" (reacting to a presentation by one of the faculty (and sometimes also by a guest speaker), through additional reading and/or interaction with experts at each student's initiative, and through completion of a term paper by each student.

Instructional Staff

	Instructor	Instructor
Name	Jason Baron	Doug Oard
Email	jason.baron@nara.gov	oard@umd.edu
Office	Archives II	HBK 2881F
Office Phone	(301)837-1499	(301)405-7590

We will meet once a week on Thursday evenings from 6:00 PM to 8:45 PM in HBK 2119, which is to te left as you leave the elevators on the second floor of the classroom section of Hornbake. A syllabus that summarizes what we will cover each week and gives a preview of the homework assignments, and a reading list showing the reading for each week, can be found on the class Web page. You may bring food and drinks to this room, but please keep the room clean so that we don't lose that privilege.

We are always happy to meet with students before or after class, or at any other mutually convenient time by appointment. If meeting in person is inconvenient for you, we can also set up a time to talk by phone. Email by far is the best way to reach us to set up an appointment or a phone call, and it is also a good way to get a quick answer to a simple question.

Course Materials

The course Web site at http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/~oard/teaching/708x/spring12/ contains the most recent copies of all material produced for this course. This course description, the syllabus, slides and other resources used in class, and (eventually) a range of other materials can be found there.

The textbook is Michael D. Berman, et al., eds., Managing E-Discovery and ESI: From Pre-Litigation Through Trial, ABA, 2011. Other will be available online, either directly, through ELMS, or through the libraries' subscription.

All students registered as of January 21, 2012 were automatically signed up for the course mailing list using the email address that is on record for them with the university. If you did not receive email on that list, please contact Doug Oard to confirm that your email address on the mailing list is correct. Students are encouraged to post to the list (you'll get the address the first time you receive an email) when you have something that you believe that your classmates might wish to see. Questions sent to either professor by email may be answered using the mailing list when the answers might be of general interest (unless you specifically request otherwise).

Grading

Course grades will be computed as follows:

Component	Percentage
Term paper	60%
Other assignments	20%
Thought leadership	20%

You will need a TerpConnect account in order to post materials to the Web (this will be the normal way of submitting assignments). Assignments are due before the start of class on the date indicated in the syllabus (or by midnight for dates on which we do not have class). Late assignments will receive reduced credit.

Thought leadership includes contributions during class, material and commentary that you post to the email discussion list, contributions of blog posts or other Internet resources, and service as a discussant (which each student will do once during the semester). Each student is expected to enrich the course in several of these ways.

Students will be expected to write a publishable term paper that adds substantially to the present body of knowledge on some aspect of e-discovery, and prepare a full proposal by the date indicated in the syllabus. Each student will give a presentation on their term paper during the last class of the semester.

Students will work in teams with law students from the e-discovery course at the University of Baltimore to prepare for and conduct a mock conference of the parties. University of Maryland students will serve as technical advisors to the law students in this process.

Students may work together on the homework assignment, but all of the material that is turned in for grading must be produced individually. For example, students may form study groups and work out solutions together on a whiteboard, but it would not be permissible for one student to create a computer file containing the answers and then for other students to copy that file and submit it as their own work. The goal of this policy is to encourage the use of homework as a learning aid.

The University of Maryland has a nationally recognized Code of Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student, you are responsible for upholding these standards. More information is available at http://www.shc.umd.edu/code.html.

Students wishing to discuss accommodations for unusual circumstances should meet with one of the professors, and should do so no later than the third week of classes.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1065250. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Doug Oard

and

Jason Baron

Last modified: Sat May 12 22:51:17 2012