Category Archives: Assignments

Countdown to next week’s presentations

Posted on December 16, 2011 by | 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

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Notes from today, and looking to next week

Posted on November 30, 2011 by | 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.

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Notes from today, and questions for Wednesday 11/30

Posted on November 28, 2011 by | 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

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Your blog post on process documentation

Posted on November 22, 2011 by | 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.

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

Posted on November 21, 2011 by | 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

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Notes from today, and reading for Wednesday, November 16

Posted on November 14, 2011 by | Leave a comment

On Wednesday we’ll begin to discuss the rationale for documentation and citation. Please read Hauptman pp. 7-13; if you missed class get the book on reserve in the library (call number PN171 .F56 H38 2008), as well as Howard, Hot Type: A Modern Scholar’s Ailments: Link Rot and Footnote Flight

The research paper draft is due one week from today, on Monday, November 21 at the beginning of class. Please get in touch early if you have questions or issues about the research paper draft — do not wait until the weekend.

Slides from today are available here.

~Prof. Leonard

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Notes for today, reminder about the outline due Friday, and reading and blogging for Monday, November 14

Posted on November 9, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Today we finished crowdsourcing website evaluation criteria and determined that currency, expertise, objectivity, and accuracy were some important criteria on which to evaluate web content. We also played the evaluation game in class. We have a winning team: Randell, Jonathan, and Lukasz scored the most points with the websites they found, a piece on the site TriplePundit and an article from USA Today.

Your outline for the research paper is due by 10 a.m. Friday. Refer to the guidelines or ask me if you have any questions about that assignment. On Monday we’ll discuss the writing of an academic research paper. Please read Badke, chapter 10 and Appendix 1, pp. 196-203 and write a research journal blog post; see prompt below:

You should receive annotated bibliographies with my comments and a grade by the end of the day Thursday. Those of you writing on cyberbullying and teens’ use of social networking sites and social media might be interested in this report, out today from the Pew Internet Project, an authoritative and reliable research center for current research on how the internet affects our lives.

Here is the prompt for your final research journal blog post:

Last week we read about and worked on:
1.advanced internet searching
2.searching library catalogs
3.searching article databases.
•What have you learned in these classes that’s new to you?
•How do you see yourself using your new skills outside of our course?

Slides from today are available here.

Have a good weekend!

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Notes from today, and reading and blogging homework for Wednesday, November 9

Posted on November 7, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Please note that the new due date for the research paper outline is Friday, November 11 by 10 am as an email attachment to me. Send either .doc, .docx, or .rtf formats, please!

On Wednesday, we’ll be discussing evaluation of sources in any format: how to evaluate. We’ll play the evaluation game with some of the criteria we came up with today in class.
You have two short reading assignments and a research blog post for Wednesday. Please read through the following two websites: Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask from UC Berkeley, and Critically Analyzing Information Sources from Cornell University.

Please write one research journal blog post addressing this prompt:

You’ve now written your research proposal and annotated bibliography – the next major step will be to write the first draft of your research paper. What strategies will you use when writing your first draft? What’s worked well for you when you’ve written other research papers? Do you feel uncertain or have any questions about writing the research paper?

Slides for today are available here.

Any questions about the upcoming research paper and related assignments? Feel free to ask by email or bring your questions to class.

~Prof. Leonard

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Notes from today, and readings and homework for Monday, November 7

Posted on November 2, 2011 by | Leave a comment

On Monday 11/7 we’ll move into a discussion of the evaluation of sources in any format and why to evaluate. We’ll also play an evaluation game.
Please read the following two articles:

Fister, B. (2003). The devil in the details: Media representation of ritual abuse and evaluation of sources. SIMILE: Studies in Media and Information Literacy Education, 3(2), 1-14.
Grimmelman, J. (2008/2009). The Google dilemma. New York Law School Law Review, 53, 939-950.

DUE: Annotated bibliography

Please follow the guidelines for the annotated bibliography, and include a more focused research question at the top of the document. I prefer to receive your assignments as email attachments in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format, though you can turn a paper copy in at the beginning of class.

As you search for (and find!) sources for the bibliography and research paper, don’t forget about all of your options via the A-Z list on the library’s website. When you are in any EBSCO database, you can cross-search across several at once by clicking the Choose Databases link at the top of the advanced search screen. Try some other databases, including Science Direct, JSTOR or Project Muse for scholarly articles, and Lexis-Nexis for newspapers. For background information on your topic, try Gale Virtual Reference Library or Oxford Reference Online Premium.

Slides from today are available here.

Have a good weekend!

~Prof. L.

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Notes from today, and reading & blogging homework for Wednesday, November 2

Posted on October 31, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Today we discussed library catalogs, struggled to use CUNY+ and had a bit more success with WorldCat. I hear that the CUNY+ technical difficulties are well on their way to resolution, so try searching from home and report your success in the comments below.
On Wednesday, we’ll continue our discussion on searching (and finding) sources for the annotated bibliography and research paper, moving into a discussion on using library databases to find articles. For Wednesday, please read Badke Ch. 5 (pp. 76-95) and write one research journal blog post. Below is the prompt for the research journal blog post for Wednesday:

Do a search on your research topic in at least one internet search engine and one library resource, like the CUNY+ catalog.
What words or phrases did you use to search?
What are the similarities and differences between the results of your two searches?

Don’t forget that next week you have two written assignments due: the annotated bibliography on Monday 11/7 and the research paper outline on Wednesday 11/9.

Slides for today are available here.

~Prof. Leonard

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