Webzine Project (10%)

People have different online reading habits than print reading habits. As part of the “English” emphasis of this Web writing course, you should learn how to write, in the words of Jonathan and Lisa Price, “sticky,” “attention-grabbing,” “interactive,” “relevant,” “persuasive,” “informative” content.

To gain experience writing for online audiences, for this assignment you’ll write a ~750 word “Webzine” (i.e., online or e-zine) article on a subject related to information technology, like those published in popular online zines like PCWorld, WebMonkey, and Wired magazine.

You can pick the topic, but the it must be related to information technology and the Internet. Possible topics include:

• Web-logs or "blogging"
• Web design (obviously) or online publishing
• intellectual property/copyright and the Internet
• e-commerce
• science and technology (e.g., "nano-" anything)
• entertainment and technology (e.g., music industry and the Internet)
• Internet-related careers (e.g., Web content writer/editor, Web designer, information architect)

Your final Webzine project must:

• Be "published" online
• Adhere to guidelines for writing effective Web text outlined by Price and Price (ch. 5-10, 15) and Web Style Guide, ch. 4-6.
• Use CSS to define at least the text/font styles of your page.
• Include at least 2 visual aids/graphics
• Include links to compelling/relevant external content
• Identify and properly cite any sources referenced/consulted

This project is due: March 9. You must post your article to your 413 Web site and e-mail a copy (and all relevant files) to Dr. J. by noon, March 9.

Relevant Links

• Slate.com http://slate.msn.com/
• PCWorld.com http://www.pcworld.com/
• Wired.com http://www.wired.com/
  • Wired Style http://hotwired.wired.com/hardwired/wiredstyle/
• Salon.com http://www.salon.com/
• The Standard http://www.thestandard.com/

• Issues in Web Content Development http://www.rpi.edu/~hartdw/acd/toc.html
  • This is a student Webzine produced in a colleague's Web writing class. NOTE: You can refer to these sites as models, but not all are excellent.
• Freelance Writing for the Web and New Media About.com resource page
  http://techwriting.miningco.com/cs/newmedia/
• Google's "E-zines" Web directory
  http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Writers_Resources/Publications/E-zines/
• E-Writers Place article index
  http://ewritersplace.com/articleindex.html