In the final exam you will be given four of
these questions and asked to answer two of those four. You will also find
some of these questions in an altered form in the short essay question section.
1.
What is a graphical user interface? How does it differ from a command-line
interface? Describe the key differences between a GUI and a command-line
interface. How do these differences correlate to user preferences?
2.
What is an electronic text and how can a computer assist scholars in the
study of an electronic text? Describe the tools scholars would use, the
process they would go through, and the types of results they might obtain.
3.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of CD-ROM as a storage medium compared to a hard drive?
How will the spread of streaming technologies effect the use and
distribution of CD-ROM?
4.
How would you judge a multimedia work if you were a teacher? List and discuss a few of the criteria you would use.
5.
Describe a WWW site for humanities research. What sort of information would be on it and how would it be organized?
6.
Draw a diagram showing the major parts of a microcomputer. Label the parts and describe how they function together as an information processing device. In your description use terms such as input, output, memory,
processor, and storage.
7.
Identify two key moments in the history of computing and discuss their significance for Humanists.
8.
All information has to be digitized to be processed by a computer. Describe how images, sound, and text are digitized and discuss the implications of digitization to the distribution, maintenance, and manipulation of information.
9.
Outline the history of the Internet. What were the key moments in this
history and who were some of the key figures? What is the difference between the Internet, the WWW and Cyberspace?
10.
What is the difference between the visual markup of information and
logical markup? Comment on the significance of this difference.
11.
What are some of the ethical issues raised by networked information? Discuss at least two issues and propose ways to resolve them.
12.
How can computers and communications technology like video-conferencing be used in teaching and learning? How does technology change what is taught and how it is taught and to whom?
IHC - 1A03E
Humanities Computing Centre 
Faculty of Humanities