Final Reflections
For Final Seminarians
Draft Advice
Annotated Bibliography
Article Assignments
Position Paper 2
Possible Article Topics
Position Paper 1
Reading Responses
Syllabus
Class List
Course Overview

Annotated Bibliography Assignment

Due Thursday, October 25

This assignment substitutes for Position Paper 3, which was originally due November 1. There is no work due on 11/1.

Objective: Collect useful background information for your major assignment, the scan360 article.

Assignment: Find at least six published items that illuminate or help define the topic area you chose for your final article. List these items by author, date, and source. Accompany each listing with a note consisting of at least four sentences. The note should offer some qualifying information about the source, explain its major claims or significance, and discuss its likely relevance to your article.

Advice: Look for thoughtful, substantial, reputable sources. If you are unsure about the editorial process or professional quality of a source, do not use it. National newspapers of record (New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal) are preferable to local papers. In the case of books, see if you can find qualifying information about the author. If your source is based on a research study, determine its scope and methods.

Certain specifications and constraints apply:

• Transcripts of interviews or in-depth documentaries are allowed; however, general television and radio news broadcasts may not be used.
  
  
• USA Today may not be used.
  
  
• Tabloid newspapers (e.g., the New York Post) may not be used.
  
  
• You may include only two items from a daily newspaper.
  
  
• You must give a complete and accurate URL for any on-line sources, and the source must be a continuing publication. E-mail and postings to news groups are not allowed.
  
  
• Books and articles assigned for this course may not be used.

Sample entry:

Alderman, John. Sonic Boom: Napster, MP3, and the New Pioneers of Music. Perseus Books, 2001.

Written by a former Wired editor, this book offers a concise history of the digital music and music-trading boom. Alderman also speculates about the economic and legal issues raised by the Napster phenomenon and what they might mean for the future of popular music. This book has helped me understand the major events and players in the digital music boom. The chapter on "Big Breaks and Windfalls" (chapter 4) is particular useful in its emphasis on unforeseen consequences as a general principle behind emergent technologies.

Bibliographic format: Follow the form used in the sample above: author (last name first), title, publisher and date. End each element with a period. Add page numbers for periodical articles and URL for on-line items.