Online Source Review (Spring 2004)

Rough draft due: Monday, Feb. 2
Final draft due: Wednesday, Feb. 4

Two pages, 12-pt font, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, stapled. The font should be or be similar to Times New Roman. It should not be or be a font similar to either Courier or Ariel.

This introductory assignment follows the library research orientation, and requires students to submit a two page review of at least 3 online sources of related scientific information in short article format, suitable for publication in a newspaper. The article should be written for a general but knowledgeable audience, for instance, those who would read the Science Times section of The New York Times every Tuesday.

Sample topics:

  • The student does some online research and finds three book reviews on a certain science book. [Ideally, the book is on a topic this student knows about.] He writes an article about the three reviews and comes to some conclusion worth presenting to the members of his audience.

  • The student finds abstracts of three articles on the topic of bioremediation and decides to write a short article making the general public aware of where they can find information about the topic.

  • The student finds a great Web site explaining how homeowners can make their homes safe from radon contamination. She decides to write an article summarizing the Web site and including information from two other sources in order to inform her readers about this issue.

  • A student wants people to know the latest information on a certain food additive and finds three different online sources of information about it. [It would be best if the three sources were written from a variety of perspectives.] She writes an article reviewing these sources in order to let the public know how to find information.
    • One goal in writing source reviews is to keep your own opinions out of the review as much as possible. Science writing and reporting is not necessarily the same as expository writing. All you need to do is identify the perspectives guiding the research or sources you have found, and make the public aware of them. Your own opinion should be well-hidden. You should inform, discuss, and let your readers make up their own minds.