Many times, writing for the web is a collaborative process, where pages are constantly updated, revised, and enhanced. This assignment will introduce you to collaborative writing and enhancing and improving historical writing and scholarship.
Step One: Write a 1,000 word essay on an event that took place in Greenwich Village or about a topic related to your digital archive and post it to the wiki. Cite whatever sources you used to gather the information. Make the text as informative and readable as you can. Use the wiki command "module Comments" inside double square brackets at the bottom of your essay (see example at the bottom of this page) Due Week 8
Step Two: Enhance the essay assigned to you. Look for sections that might be expanded, clarify sections that are confusing or unclear, add background information or meaning of the event if not clear from the essay. Comment on what you did to the article. Due Week 9
Step Three: Add links to the essay assigned to you. Look for substantive websites that can add depth and background to the essay. Look for relevant images to add to the essay,making sure that you credit the source of the images and make certain that you are making fair use of them. Comment on what you did to the article. Due Week 10
Step Four: Spend some time with the essay assigned to you to improve the writing style. Again, consult any writing for the web guide for tips and examples. Comment what you did to the article Due Week 11
Step Five: Fact-check your original essay. Check dates, spellings of names, interpretations, captions, and citations to make sure that everything is complete and accurate. Change things that you believe make the essay worse or confusing. //Comment on the process, what you think worked and what didn't? Have you learned something about how to improve your writing by looking at what people have done to it? Have you learned something about how to improve your writing by editing the work of others? Due Week 12
Grading Criteria
First Draft |
Is it around 1,000 words? Is it informative? Interesting? On a topic related to Greenwich Village History? Are sources cited? Is it well written? Are there typographical or spelling errors? |
Enhancing edit |
Has the editor added content where needed? Has the editor identified and fixed problems in the essay? Is the added text well written? Is it informative? |
Links and Images edit |
Have informative links been added to the essay? Have illustrations been added that enhance the essay? Has the editor made any changes to the essay based on the additions? |
Style edit |
Has the editor made the essay better? More understandable? Clearer in tone and more interesting in style? |
Fact checking edit |
Has the original author caught any errors that came in during the editing process? Has the author commented on the process? |
