Guidelines for Course Blogging | pdf

In this course you are required to write a minimum of 20 posts of at least 100 words each for our class blog (though of course you’re encouraged to write more!). Our blog will allow us to continue discussions outside of class, and I will participate along with you. You can also use your blog posts to explore ideas that you may wish to develop more fully in your research paper or documentation project.

You will write several types of blog posts during this course:

1. Reading response (posts from 9/9 – 11/18; see syllabus for details):

Write a blog post discussing one of the readings assigned for the class. Identify a topic or theme from the reading, briefly summarize it, and analyze it in relation to other readings and themes in the course. Does this reading raise any questions in your mind?

1. Research journal (posts from 10/23 – 11/13; see syllabus for details):

Write a blog post discussing and documenting your process and progress on the research paper for this course. You may write about any aspect of this process, for example: deciding on a research topic, finding sources, writing the proposal/annotated bibliography/paper, etc. What have you found difficult or frustrating about this process? What successful strategies have you used?

1. Blog comment (throughout the semester; see syllabus for details):

Select a blog post by one of your classmates and write a response to her/his post OR comment on 2 different posts totaling at least 100 words. What other perspectives on this topic can you offer? How does the blog post connect to the course readings and themes? Comments must also be a minimum of 100 words.

If you include or discuss text, images, or multimedia in your blog posts that are not from the assigned readings, please cite your source. Source title, author, date, and URL (if it’s a website) is sufficient for these posts. We will discuss citation styles in more detail as the course progresses.

Also, please give each of your blog posts one or more tags. We’ll talk more about tags in class, but for now you can think of them as keywords. Try to pick a few words that describe the topic of your post. Do not assign Categories; use tags instead.

Blog posts need not be written in the formal academic style you will use for your research paper, but please use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation when you blog.

How to Post on the Course Blog:

1. Go to https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu and log in. Go to My OpenLab > My Courses > LIB 1201: Research & Documentation for the Information Age Fall 2013.
2. Mouse over LIB 1201 Research and Documentation for the Information Age at the top of the page and select Dashboard from the dropdown menu. Once you are in the Dashboard, click “Add New” under the “Posts” menu on the left navigation bar to create a new post
3. On Add New Post, enter a title for your post and then paste or type your blog post into the large field in the middle of the screen.
4. There are two ways to format posts: Visual or HTML. If you know HTML feel free to use it. Otherwise you may want to select Visual and use the buttons along the top of the field to add bold, italics, etc.
5. Give your post one or more tags by entering them into the field under “Post Tags” on the right side of the Add New Post page.
6. If you’d like to take a look at your post before publishing it on the course blog, click the “Preview” button on the upper right side of the Add New Post page.
7. When you’re ready to publish your post to the blog for all to see, click the blue “Publish” button on the right side of the Add New Post page. Be sure to publish each post!
8. To view the blog after publishing your post, click “Visit Site” under the name of the blog at the top of the Add New Post page.

To post a comment on the blog, click the “Leave a Comment” link on any blog post. Be sure to log in to the OpenLab before commenting.

For both blog posts and comments, I strongly suggest that you write in a word processor or text editor and paste the finished and spell-checked text into the Add New Post page or comment box.

Please let me know if you have any questions or run into any problems: message me through the OpenLab or email me at aleonard@citytech.cuny.edu

Grading:

Blog posts are worth 20% of your total course grade; that could be the difference between a C and an A. Each post is worth one point. Each blogging assignment is due BEFORE THE START OF CLASS for which it is assigned.

Each blog post will be graded as follows:[1]

Points	Rating	Characteristics of the Blog Post
1	Excellent	The blog post is focused and relevant to the topic. Post provides examples and explanations or analysis, and reflects in-depth engagement with the topic. Sources are cited (if not from course readings). Post is at least 100 words and has been given at least one tag. ·         Post is submitted by the beginning of class (on time).
0.5	Competent	The post is mostly description or summary, without consideration of alternative perspectives, and few connections are made between ideas. Post reflects passing engagement with the topic. Sources (if not from course readings) are not cited. Post is at least 100 words, but has not been given any tags. ·         Post is submitted after the beginning of class, but less than 48 hours late.
0	Insufficient	The blog post consists of one or two disconnected sentences, or no post was written for the assignment. Post is less than 100 words and has not been given any tags. ·         Post is more than two days late (48 hours after start of class for which it was assigned).