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Student Blogs

"Blog" is a term that is short for web log. It is a new genre of writing unique to the web. Blogs represent the practice of self-published, web-based journaling and journalism. Blogs have taken on political importance in the short span of their existence.

In this program, students will use the blog form to develop and maintain online research logs. Students will gather information, links, images, and ideas in their blogs related to their term academic projects. Blog contents will serve as raw materials from which student websites will be developed.

Student Websites

Students are developing individual websites as the keystone of their academic responsibilities in the program. Their website assignments give them the opportunity to integrate their the conceptual and scholarly learning through reading and research seminars with new information technology skills.

In Fall, students are developing individual websites to express their exploration of the state of knowledge for a particular topic or field of inquiry. Students choose a topic or field and then research it on the web and in print resources. Their assignment is to compare and contrast the information they find in both media across a number of criteria. Those criteria include breadth and frequency of coverage, analytical depth, standards of evidence, accessibility and timeliness of information. These websites represent the best of the blog.

In Winter and Spring, students will be developing team websites for library special projects. These projects will give students the opportunity to compare and contrast between individual and institutional sites the parameters and considerations necessary for web design. Those parameters include strategies in writing, graphic design, institutional look and feel, content requirements, information architecture and others.