ARTICLE REVIEW ASSIGNMENTS YOU WILL BE WRITING REVIEWS OF THREE ARTICLES Throughout the term, the student of this course needs to develop an understanding of the personal computing environment. What kind of software and hardware is available, and what is the potential of these tools? To foster your inquiry into these topics, you are assigned to do three reviews of articles on various aspects of personal computing. WHERE TO LOOK FOR ARTICLES Materials for the reviews can be found in our Vasche library, other libraries, and wherever magazines are sold. Consider magazines such as Macworld, MacWEEK, and MacAddict. (If you know how to use a WWW browser, you might look at this list: http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Hardware/Personal_Computers/Macintosh/News_and_Media/Magazines/ You should also examine journals related to your major because it is likely that they will contain articles about computer applications of specific interest to you. If you consider yourself very much a novice, then for your first review you might consider choosing a computer-related article from Consumer Reports magazine or FamilyPC Magazine. ARTICLE SELECTION CRITERIA Here are some examples of the kinds of article that could be appropriate: A. A thorough comparison of personal computing products -- either hardware or software B. A discussion of advances or trends in personal computing C. An article containing advice on how to enhance a personal computer, or how to use one more intelligently. D. A discussion of social or ethical issues that relate to personal computing E. A critique or commentary on the current state of personal computing 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 2000 words. That is approximately two full pages in a typical magazine. THE FORMAT OF YOUR REVIEWS Adhering to the formatting rules below is very important. One reason is that it demonstrates your mastery of the use of your word processor. A. Use double spacing, on standard 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper. B. For the main part of the document, use a font size from 10 to 12 point. C. In a header that appears on all the pages, enter your name, class identifier (CS 4000), the due date, and the serial number of the review (e.g. review #1 or review #3). I will demonstrate in class how to create headers and footers. Space the content of your header so that there is at least 3/8" of vertical space between the last line of the header text and 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 sizes smaller than the size of the main text. D. Center the title of your review at the top of the first page but below your header. There must be at least 3/8" of vertical space between the header and the title, and between the title and 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 sizes larger than the size of the rest of the main text. E. Justify the left margin (only). F. Indent the first line of each paragraph. G. Set left and right margins to 1-1/4 inches. Set top and bottom margins to 1-1/2 inches. H. 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 it and the main document. Make the font style and font size of the footer the same as that of the header. I. 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: A. Cite the title of the periodical, the date of publication of the periodical, the name of the author(s) of the article, and the title of the article. B. Include a short summary of the article. (no more than 3 paragraphs), C. Give an explanation of why you chose the article (e.g. what did you hope to learn?), D. Discuss what you gained and learned from the article, E. State what further questions you now have concerning the subject of the article, F. Explain any new concepts or terminology that you discovered, and G. Report any other interesting outcomes. The length of a review must be more than one page and less than two pages. You must turn in a copy or photocopy of each article along with its corresponding review. Attach 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 desk before class starts. ================================================== ==================================================