Research Assignment
Due on the server by midnight Friday, September 22.
This assignment has three parts. Part I is an annotated source list. Part II is a brief report (minimum 3-4 paragraphs) summarizing what you have gleaned from your sources. Part III is an analysis of your sources, ranking them for value and reliability.
Part I: Annotated Source List
Choose a topic from the list below. Search the Web and library reference resources for six sources. A source is defined as any addressable presentation, such as a chapter in a book, a journal article, an item in a trade paper or national newspaper, or a posting in a Weblog, discussion forum, or other Web site.
For this assignment, national newspapers (sometimes also called "newspapers of record") include the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times.
Each entry in your annotated source list should begin with a citation. Use the following format:
"Title of item". Name of author or authors, last name first (e.g., Smith, Stanley J.). Type of source (book, article, Web posting, etc.). Date of access (e.g., September 12, 2006). Title of larger context (title of book, journal, newspaper, Web site, etc.). Page numbers (if print) or URL (if online).
Here are two examples:
- "Videogames Cause Tumors in Rats." Fubar, Moby M. Newspaper article. September 12, 2006. Wall Street Journal. A26, A32-33.
- "Wii Will Rock You." Thumbwheel, Myron C. Blog posting. September 12, 2006, 8:42 AM EDT. iGotWayTooMuchGame. www.igotwaytoomuchgame.com/091206/0842.html .
After your citation, include 2-3 sentences summarizing the source and presenting its most important information.
Part II: Report
Write a very brief digest of what you have learned about your topic from all your sources. Draw some conclusion.
Part III: Source Analysis
Rank your six sources for value (what you could learn from them) and likely reliability (how much you know about the author or authors, and so how much you trust what they say).
Topics
Choose one of the following topics for your research:
- Does playing massively multiplayer videogames improve or harm players' ability to relate to other people?
- What will be the likely impact on the computer game market (or game design) of the Nintendo "Wii" system?
- Does Will Wright's work-in-progress "Spore" deserve its considerable hype?
Specifications
Present your work as a single Microsoft Word document. (If you don't own Word, it is available on the PCs in the lab.) Name this document research.doc. Upload it to the COSC320 folder of your account on student-iat.ubalt.edu.
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