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Latest revision
02/06/2007
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ARTICLE REVIEW ASSIGNMENTS
YOU WILL BE WRITING REVIEWS OF THREE 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 three
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. )
You must choose objective, quality articles published
within the 12 month period prior to the due date of the review.
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 identifiable
author(s), title, editor(s), and date of publication.
A reputable periodical will publish only articles that have been reviewed and
accepted by the editorial staff.
WHAT IS A PERIODICAL?
DEFINITION: A periodical is a serial publication issued two or more times a
year. Examples would be quarterly, monthly, and weekly publications. (source of this definition:
University of Florida Library Web Page)
ARTICLE SELECTION CRITERIA
Here are some examples of the kinds of article that could be
appropriate:
-
A thorough comparison of networking products -- either hardware or
software,
-
A discussion of advances or trends in networking hardware or software,
-
An article containing advice on how to design a network or how to upgrade
the design of a network,
-
A discussion of social or ethical issues that relate to networking, or
-
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
- Double space the review on standard 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper.
- For the main part of the document use a font size from 10 to 12 point.
- 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.
- 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.
- Justify the left margin (only).
- 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. (Remember
it looks like you skip two lines when you double-space and skip a line.)
- Set the
- left and right margins to 1.25 inches.
- top and bottom margins to 1.5 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.)
- 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.
- 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:
-
Cite the
editor
of the periodical, the
title of the periodical,
the
date of publication
of the periodical, the
name(s) of the author(s)
of the article and the
title of the article.
The article is not acceptable unless you can cite all these items.
-
Include a short summary of the article. (no more than 4 paragraphs);
-
Give an explanation of why you chose the article (e.g. what did you hope to
learn?);
-
Discuss what you gained and learned from the article,
-
State what further questions you now have concerning the subject of the
article;
-
Explain any new concepts or terminology that you discovered; and
-
Report any other interesting outcomes.
-
The length of a review must be more than two pages and less than four 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.