A timely survey that addresses the relationship between art and electronic technology, including mechanics, light, graphics, robots, virtual reality and the web
Look. This is a good reference. You don't exactly "read" it. It has lots of excerpts from primary texts and covers a range of media art (historical and contemporary!). This is going to be a great help in putting together lectures. I wish people would stop recalling it from me at the library. Or that the local inter-library loan let us renew books rather than having to request them from a new library. Maybe I should get a copy ; )
Shanken's book stands out as THE referential point about how to look at new media from an aesthetics and a process perspective. The sections of the book deftly guide the reader through the major "categories" (or perhaps "manifestations") of new media art in the last century. After reading this, both artists and regular readers will have a better appreciation for any and all art they encounter nowadays.