Author Archives: Anne Leonard

Countdown to next week’s presentations

Posted on December 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

Just a few notes before we wrap things up for the semester:

Don’t forget that each student is responsible for a self evaluation and a group evaluation. See step #7 in the online documentation guidelines:

Evaluate your work on this project and the work of the other students in your group.
Self evaluation (minimum 200 words):
Group evaluation (minimum 200 words):
Each student in your group is responsible for writing an evaluation of her/his own work on this project and the work of others in her/his group. Please answer all of the following questions in your evaluations:
What project tasks did you complete on your own? How would you describe the amount of effort you put into your work on this project? What do you think your strengths were in your work on this project? How could you improve your work on this project?
What project tasks did you complete as a group? Was the work shared evenly between group members? How effectively did your group work together? What do you think the strengths were of the group’s work on this project? How could the group improve its work on this project?
Please type your evaluations and email them to me in a word processing document (not in the body of an email).

You must use presentation software, such as PowerPoint, to present the online documentation project. You can also demonstrate the site you built, or show screenshots from the site in your powerpoint slides. Refer to the presentation guidelines or contact me with any questions.

If your group wants to rehearse the presentation in A543, please contact me soon and we’ll figure out a time that works for everyone.

A few of you still have some late work to turn in. I’ll accept late papers, etc. until the end of the day next Wednesday, 12/21.

Good luck, everyone! As always, if you have any questions about the documentation and presentation assignments, get in touch with me by email, and please do not wait until Sunday night. Be sure that one group member posts a link to your group’s project on the course blog by 10 am on Wednesday, 12/21.

~Prof. Leonard

Leave a comment

Posted in Assignments, Class Notes

Tagged ,

Presentations next week

Posted on December 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

Groups will present their online documentation projects next Monday, 12/19 and Wednesday, 12/21 .  Refer to the guidelines or ask me if you have any questions about the presentations. If your group wants to rehearse the presentation using the Smartboard in A543, please let me know and we’ll find a time that works for all.

The order of presentations will be as follows:

Monday, December 19

Nityah, Wale, Randell

Marc, Lukasz, Chris

Wednesday, December 21

Carla, Yan, Sebastian

Manish, Rudolf, Lissette

Tarik, Wendy, Jonathan

 

~Prof. L

Leave a comment

Posted in Class Notes

Tagged ,

Notes about the online documentation project

Posted on December 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

By Wednesday, 12/7 each group should have a clear idea of the project: either an information resource, a research-oriented educational game, or a research tool. Refer to the guidelines or ask me if you have questions about your proposed topic. Groups will probably find that they need to schedule time outside of class to work on the project; be sure that you have exchanged contact information in order to arrange this. Group members should find ways to divide up tasks fairly, so that the groups can make progress on the project outside of class. You might want to use BuddyPress docs (built into the OpenLab) or Google Docs to collaborate.

Soon we’ll determine an order for the group presentations, which will take place on Monday, December 19 and Wednesday, December 21. Presentations are 10 minutes with 5 minutes allowed for questions.

If your group wants to schedule time in A543 to rehearse the presentation, please let me know and we’ll work something out.

We’ll meet in A540 on Wednesday and both days next week. Please get in touch if you have any questions about the project or presentation.

~Prof. L.

Leave a comment

Posted in Class Notes

Tagged

Notes from today, and looking to next week

Posted on November 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

Next week your groups will meet in A540. The next four class meetings will be devoted to group work. Your groups might be able to complete the project in class, but it is possible that you may need to meet to work outside of class. Be sure to exchange contact information and schedules with other members of your group. If you haven’t already, please review the guidelines for the documentation project and presentation. At some point next week I’ll check in with each group to find out what your project will be. As always, you can contact me with questions, either during my office hours (M/W 11:15-12:15) or by email.

Slides for today are available here.

Leave a comment

Posted in Assignments, Class Notes

Tagged

Notes from today, and questions for Wednesday 11/30

Posted on November 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

The final version of the research paper is due by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, November 30. To prepare the final version, please review the drafts I distributed and be sure you delete all comments and changes using Comments and Track Changes in the Review ribbon in MS Word. For formatting and other questions, please refer to the guidelines as well as the template and the checklist I distributed by email last week. If you have questions not answered by these documents please get in touch early; do not wait until Tuesday night.

There is no reading assignment for Wednesday. We will be talking about the future of information, and to prepare for class discussion, please consider how you would answer the following questions:

•Has the way that you think about information changed over the course of this semester?
•Has the way that you use information changed over the course of this semester?
•How?
•What do you see as the future of information?
•What challenges will this future bring?
•What opportunities?
•Are you ready?

BE PREPARED to discuss your answers in class.

Groups for the online documentation project were established:

Rudolf, Lissette, and Manish

Marc, Chris, and Lukasz

Wale, Randell, and Nityah

Carla, Yan, and Sebastian

Jonathan, Wendy, and Tarik

Slides from today are available here.

~Prof. Leonard

Leave a comment

Posted in Assignments, Class Notes

Tagged , ,

Notes from today, and reading/discussion for Monday, 11/28

Posted on November 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

Today we spent some time discussing the nature of process documentation, and we looked at a few blog posts that demonstrate process documentation. If you want to post your example, I’ll give you until the end of today to do so with full credit. On Monday we’ll discuss more practical applications for documentation,  and we’ll establish groups for the online documentation project. For Monday, please re-read the Edge and Robinson articles about documentation (assigned for today).

If you have questions about the research paper final, please get in touch by email. If you handed me a late draft, I’ll get it back to you with comments as soon as I can; if not later on today, then I’ll aim for Friday or Saturday. Your final papers are due on Wednesday, November 30 by 10 a.m.

Slides from today are available here.

Enjoy the long weekend!
~Prof. L.

Leave a comment

Posted in Class Notes

Tagged

Your blog post on process documentation

Posted on November 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

For Monday, your (final!) blogging assignment is to find one example of process documentation and share it with the class. Your example of process documentation can take any form: a video, a web page, or even a printed manual or document. It should document how something is done thoroughly enough so that any viewer or reader fully understands how to do the process successfully and arrive at the same results that are demonstrated. Documentation of a process helps standardize the process of doing, making, or building something. Process documentation is often performed in the field of software development. Software writers document how they accomplish specific tasks, and in what order, so that other teams can replicate the process without “reinventing the wheel” each time. Good process documentation also starts by stating the goal or purpose of the process and lists all equipment and skills that are necessary to the completion of all tasks.

Here is an example of a video that documents the process of medicating a pet cat:

This blog post from the University of Virginia Scholars Lab documents the process of geocoding places on a map using ArcGIS software; that is, how to match a list of street addresses to points on a digital map that can then be edited or shared in a variety of ways.

Leave a comment

Posted in Assignments, Blog

Tagged

Notes from today, and reading/blogging for Wednesday, November 23

Posted on November 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

On Wednesday, we’ll discuss the practical applications of documentation and come up with a definition of process documentation. Your assignment is to find one example of process documentation in any format, read it, and write one blog post in which you describe, summarize and critique it. Be prepared to discuss your example in class! If you use a video or other media as an example, embed it into the course blog. Please read the following 2 articles that discuss issues in process documentation:

Edge, “Write it down! The importance of documentation”
Robinson, “Documentation Dilemmas”

By the end of class on Wednesday I would like to establish groups for the documentation project. Each group will consist of three students and will propose an information resource, an educational game, or a media outlet and document the process of research. I will post guidelines for this project later this week.

Continue to work on your research paper; you should get a graded draft back by the end of the day Wednesday. The final version of your research paper is due Wednesday, November 30. A few people still have not turned in the outline or annotated bibliography; remember that you must submit all parts of the research paper to get credit for the project.

~Prof. Leonard

Leave a comment

Posted in Assignments, Blog, Class Notes

Tagged

News Flash – anti-piracy bill in the Senate could censor the internet

Posted on November 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

Those of you writing papers on topics related to intellectual property, freedom of online communications, and the government’s role in monitoring the use of the internet would do well to keep up with this bill, “Preventing Real Online
5 Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual
6 Property Act of 2011,” or the Protect IP Act. See current news articles for analysis, opinion, and more (and let me know if that link is broken).

Enjoy~
~Prof. L.

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Notes from today, and reading for Monday, 11/21

Posted on November 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

Today we talked about the rationale for documentation and citation. Your questions about the Hauptman reading brought up some issues that may never really be answered, which to me is evidence of careful thinking. In some cases, as for the question about common knowledge, any answer depends on the audience and context.

Remember, your research paper draft is due by 10 a.m. on Monday, November 21, either as a print copy handed in at the beginning of class, or as an attachment to an email to me sent by 10 a.m. Monday. You must submit each part of the research paper (proposal, annotated bibliography, outline, draft, final) to get credit for the paper. If you have questions about the assignment, please get in touch, and please do not wait until Sunday night.

On Monday, we’ll continue our discussion on documentation and address standards, methods and styles for citing text and non-text media. Please read chapter 9 of Badke and  browse the Purdue OWL’s APA and MLA Style sections. We will also talk a little bit about the final documentation project & presentation.

Slides from today are available here.

Have a productive weekend!
~Prof. Leonard

Leave a comment

Posted in Class Notes, Readings

Tagged , ,