(Latest revision 10/03/2002)
ARTICLE REVIEW ASSIGNMENTS
YOU WILL BE WRITING REVIEWS OF FOUR ARTICLES
You need to independently develop an understanding of the hardware and
software issues important to networking. To foster your inquiry into these
topics, I am assigning you to do four reviews of articles on various
aspects of networking.
WHERE TO LOOK FOR ARTICLES
You can find materials for the reviews in our Vasche library and in other
libraries. Consider magazines and journals such as
(You may be able to get on-line articles using the links above, but you
should also go to the library and search through the "paper and ink"
journals and magazines. ) Be careful to choose objective, quality articles.
If you bring a candidate article to class, I'll be glad to look it over.
The magazine or journal you choose must be a reputable periodical. It must
have an identifiable title, editor, and date of publication. A reputable
periodical will publish only articles that have been reviewed and accepted
by the editorial staff.
ARTICLE SELECTION CRITERIA
Here are some examples of the kinds of article that could be appropriate:
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A thorough comparison of networking products -- either hardware or
software,
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A discussion of advances or trends in networking hardware or software,
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An article containing advice on how to design a network or how to upgrade
the design of a network,
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A discussion of social or ethical issues that relate to networking, or
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A critique or commentary on the current state of networking.
The items above are just examples. Other possibilities exist, of course.
The main idea is to select an objective, high-quality article that is
likely to teach you something valuable.
Choose material that you can understand. It is alright if you don't
understand a few parts of an article, but you must understand most of it.
Substantial credit will be withheld if the choice of article is
inappropriate for this assignment. Newspaper articles, mere product
announcements, and "hype" or "sales talk" are examples of inappropriate
articles.
ARTICLE LENGTH
The length of an article must be no less than two thousand words. One
thousand words will completely fill a page in a typical magazine, leaving
no room for headlines or illustrations. Therefore you will almost
certainly need to choose an article that spans at least three pages.
Substantial credit will be withheld if your article is too short. (If you
like, ask me how I estimate the length of an article.)
THE FORMAT OF YOUR REVIEWS
Use a word processor
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Double space the review on standard 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper.
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For the main part of the document use a font size from 10 to 12
point.
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In a header that appears on all the pages, enter your name, class
identifier (CS 3000), the due date, and the serial number of the review
(e.g. review #1 or review #3). If you ask, I will demonstrate in class how
to create headers and footers using MS word and/or AppleWorks. Space the
content of your header so that there is at least 3/8" of vertical space
between the bottom of the last line of the header text and the top of the
first line of text on any page of the main document. Make the font *style*
(e.g. courier or helvetica) of the header the same as that of the main
text. Make the font *size* of the header two point sizes smaller than the
size of the main text.
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Center the title of your review at the top of the first page but below your
header. The title of the review must be different than the title of the
article, but must reflect the content of the article. There must be at
least 3/8" of vertical space between the bottom of the title and the top of
the first line of the rest of the main document. Make the font *style*
(e.g. courier or helvetica) of the title the same as that of the rest of
the main text. Make the font *size* of the title two point sizes larger
than the size of the rest of the main text.
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Justify the left margin (only).
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Indent the first line of each paragraph and skip a line between the last
line of a paragraph and the first line of the next paragraph.
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Set the left and right margins to 1-1/4 inches. Set the top and bottom
margins to 1-1/2 inches. (Here, by "top margin" I mean the distance from
the edge of the paper to the top of the first line of the text body. Thus
I view the header as being *inside* the top margin. The bottom margin is
the distance from the edge to the bottom of the last line of the text body,
and the footer is *inside* the bottom margin.)
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Number all the pages. Put the page numbers in a footer that appears on all
pages. Space the content of your footer so that there is at least 3/8"
between the bottom of the last line of text in the main document and the
top of the first line of text in the footer. Make the font style and font
size of the footer the same as that of the header.
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Start each review on a new page, even if you will be turning in two or more
reviews at the same time.
THE CONTENT OF YOUR REVIEWS
In your reviews:
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Cite the editor of the periodical, the title of the periodical, the date of
publication of the periodical, the name of the author(s) of the article (if
available), and the title of the article. (The *only* optional item is the
name of the author of the article. The article is not acceptable unless
you can cite the other items.),
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Include a short summary of the article. (no more than 3 paragraphs),
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Give an explanation of why you chose the article (e.g. what did you hope to
learn?),
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Discuss what you gained and learned from the article,
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State what further questions you now have concerning the subject of the
article,
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Explain any new concepts or terminology that you discovered, and
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Report any other interesting outcomes.
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The length of a review must be more than one page and less than two pages.
You must turn in a high-quality copy or photocopy of each article along
with its corresponding review. Staple the article copy in back of of the
review. Do not staple together multiple reviews.
THE DUE DATES OF YOUR REVIEWS
Check the class schedule for due dates.
HOW TO TURN IN AN ASSIGNMENT
Turn in the assignment in class on the due date or on any class day before
the due date. Put your paper on the podium before class starts.