120158 AR Fan-base(d) documentation of popular TV series (2007W)

While in the past the TV networks and publishing houses took advantage of fans' dedication to their favourite TV series by releasing episode guides, companion volumes, behind-the-scenes documentations, reference books and tie-ins, such commercial endeavours have in recent years been dwarfed by the material published on the Internet by the fans themselves. What started with the advent of UseNet in the 1970s as discussions in small circles has grown to massive proportions thanks to new web technologies such as weblogs and wikis.
In the course of this radical shift in who documents what for the fan base, there has not just been a growth in quantity of available resources on any given TV series, but also several developments concerning the quality of the material; what is deemed relevant for publication has changed just as much as what professional or semi-professional rules are applied (if any) to make the data accessible and searchable.
In the course of this class, we will take a look at several examples of how popular TV series have been documented for fans and by fans during recent years, in print and on the Internet, including an overview and analysis of the various types of Internet technologies that have been applied for this purpose, and how the fans' documentation compares to the professional documentation guidelines that are used in information science.
TV series under consideration will include Lost, The Simpsons, Star Trek, Gilmore Girls, and others. Participants may also suggest a TV series of their own choice provided that sufficient resources are available online.
Spoiler alert: Participants should be warned that in the course of their research they may come across crucial plot information of episodes that they have not seen yet.
Requirements: o Students participating in this class will first and foremost require access to a reliable computer with a stable Internet connection. There will be several homework assignments that require research on the Internet, and "my computer died on me" will not be accepted as an excuse for a failure to meet a deadline.
o You are required to attend the class regularly (Anwesenheitspflicht!) and contribute to the discussion by sharing what you know and what you found out during your assignments.
o You are to prepare a 20-minute group presentation on a topic that you choose to research in a group of up to three students; a summary of the presentation (one per group; max. 5 pages of text plus a list of all the resources that you consulted) is to be submitted one week before the presentation.
o A final test.