One of the biggest problems with keeping information systems running is that they are constantly developing major and minor operating problems.  Sometimes we can fix these ourselves by reading the manuals or maybe just kicking the machine.  On the other hand, learning to ask for help effectively is one of the big Survival Skills in the new internet Age.  Fortunately, one of the best things that the internet has spawned is a widespread community of help and support sites, many volunteer-staffed and free to users, where a remarkably high level of quality support is available.

As your project assignment for this final module, you’ll have a chance to sample this network and maybe even get something fixed.  You must have some technical question or questions about your information system, tools, practices, or features – something not working, something that you’ve never been quite able to figure out, or just a question about how something might be done.  It could be serious or it could be small in scope – but if you don’t have something bugging you about your system, you obviously aren’t using it much.

• So your first step is to figure out what your problem is.

• Then you need to look for help.  Gizmo’s has put together a list of the best free technical support sites; it’s available at http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_free_tech_support_sites.htm.  Look over this list and pick one that you think could be helpful in addressing your problem, whatever it might be.  Or you might find another site entirely – you’re not required to use only the ones on this list.  You may need to log onto some of the sites and get a sense of what questions are being asked and how they’re being dealt with in order to make your selection.

• The next step is simple – ask your question, and see what sort of answers you get.  It might take a few iterations, or you might get an answer immediately.  Try not to make your question too simple-minded; you’ll get more out of the exercise if it’s a bit challenging, after all.  See if things get solved to your satisfaction.

• Finally, you need to prepare a short report describing your problem, where you went for help, how effective the interaction was, and your overall assessment of the whole exercise.

• Please conclude with a few sentences summarizing your sense of the Internet as a problem-solving, as opposed to a problem-generating, system, along with the usual attention to what you've learned and how you may be able to apply that understanding.

This could be fun, as well as helpful and illuminating!

SLP Assignment Expectations

LENGTH: 2-3 pages typed and double-spaced

The following items will be assessed in particular:

• The degree to which you have carried out the assignment completely, or clarified why you could not and investigated alternatives

• Your ability to describe your experiences clearly and draw conclusions from them, not just narrate events

• Your ability to focus on the overall purposes of the assignment, not just its specific steps

• Your use of some in-text references to what you have read, where appropriate; please cite all sources properly