The outline for your project is due no later than 5:00 pm on Friday, April 2. Each project group should submit one (1) outline. Your outline should be in html (webpage) format and contain between one and two standard pages of written material.
Your outline webpage need not be fancy, but it must be readable. Please proofread your outline from a web browser before submitting. If you are using Windows, you need to be careful about preserving the formatting when you save/transfer your file to your acpub account. Make sure your file has the proper .html extension -- not .doc, .rtf, .txt, etc. If you use images, be sure to save the image in your directory and use relative paths for the URLs. For example, if you have an image named "picture.jpg", you should reference the image by "picture.jpg". If you have problems, post a message in the project discussion forum and someone will help you out.
Please don't wait until the last minute to proofread your html file and submit your outline! There are lots of computing facilities on the Duke campus, so this shouldn't be a problem. A list of the Duke computer labs, schedules, and locations is available on the OIT website: http://www.oit.duke.edu/labs. Instructions for submission are at the bottom of the page.
Include the following information in your outline:
Your topic assignment and thesis statement. Remember, your thesis statement should clearly express your stand on the topic.
The main sections to be written. This should be in outline form, such as an enumerated list. Each section should have a heading, expressing the general content, followed by a paragraph describing the information you intend to include in your final essay. You may use subsections headed by descriptive sentences instead of a paragraph, if appropriate. You must have a basic idea of (and include in your outline) supporting and dissenting arguments for your thesis -- you should have at least four of each. You may also include under a separate heading potential work beyond what you described above; present a list and discussion of interesting ideas you may incorporate into your final work.
What specific technologies you will investigate in developing your project. For example, you might talk about various Internet conenction protocols for a project on Digital Divide or software development environments and programming languages for a project on Software Design.
A list of references. Include ones you have used already and describe any further references you may need. Please document your references in the appropriate style. The Duke Library Guide to Library Research contains information on assembling citations and references. Remember that Internet sites are also considered references and must be cited as such.
A diagram of webpages you plan to create and how they will be linked together. For example, the following diagram has a front page named index.html, which contains links to part1.html, part2.html, part3.html, and references.html, all of which link to the previous and next page. Also included are links to outside webpages and various figures and graphs. Of course, your diagram and page titles should relate to your topic and you should have actual websites for most entries, so please don't cut and paste the example!
index.html
part-1.html
www.website-about-topic-1.com
www.website-about-topic-2.com
figure-1.jpg
figure-2.jpg
index.html
part-2.html
part-2.html
www.supporting-argument-website-1.com
www.supporting-argument-website-2.com
www.supporting-argument-website-3.com
www.supporting-argument-website-4.com
part-1.html
part-2.html
part-3.html
www.dissenting-argument-website-1.com
www.dissenting-argument-website-2.com
www.dissenting-argument-website-3.com
www.dissenting-argument-website-4.com
part-2.html
references.html
references.html
www.reference-1.com
www.reference-2.com
www.reference-3.com
index.html
Important! Your essay should be focused on a debatable topic and you should clearly state your opinion on the issue. You must argue for your opinion and use factual references to justify your argument. You must also consider dissenting arguments, cite them, and tell us why you think they are wrong. The content of your essays must refer to specific technologies that are available. If you have chosen to write an essay on the Digital Divide or file sharing, you need to select one specific issue within these areas on which to base your essay - contact Professor Forbes or Siddhesh if you are not clear about this. Essays that give a general overview (i.e. reiterate the content of digital-divide.org) of these topics will be considered as C-grade work, at best.
Name your file outline.html. You need to copy your file to your acpub account (if you didn't create it there) in order to submit. Go to the directory where you saved your file, and submit your outline as follows:
submit_cps001 projectoutline outline.html