Princeton University Computer Science Dept.

Computer Science 291 Computers, Ethics, and Social Responsibility Helen Nissenbaum Paper 1

Spring 1999

If you are doing a web page, you should look over the sample web page here. You are free, but not obliged, to use this template as the basis of your own web page. You can also present a discussion of the issues first, and then an annoted list of web pages, or take a more narrative approach that includes web links within it, or do something entirely different of your own creation. However, in some form or another, your web page(s) should do the following:

• Present a good, concise overview of the issue. This overview might include things like history of the issue, significant events that pertain to this issue, and key ideas that make this issue problematic or of significant interest.
• Links to other resources on the web regarding this issue. These links should have some sort of description attached, and this description should NOT be superficial. I.e. saying "The Electronic Privacy Information Center: a good place to go to find out about electronic privacy issues" is not going to hack it. Your descriptions of a site should certainly have an impartial description of the kind of information found there, along with an optional subjective description of your opinions as to the site's quality.
• Your opinion on this issue and a concise but thorough explanation why. It is even okay to say that you are undecided, but again you must explain why.

If you have never done a web page before, it is more than fine to save a copy of the sample web page to your own machine, simply cut and paste the text so that your content replaces mine, and then place the new-and-improved version of the web page somewhere I can read it. You can also use the "Save as html" options on Microsoft Word and Wordperfect to create a web page or use a freely available web editor like NetObject's Fusion. No matter how you create your web page, please make sure, BEFORE NOON April 30, that your web page is posted somewhere I can read it. If you don't know how to do this, send me (Allison) e-mail. Also, if something else above is confusing to you, send me e-mail.