Compose Yourself

Although the spring semester has just gotten under way, first papers are right around the corner. Whether you're a student writing papers or an instructor assigning them, the UB online composition site http://icarus.ubetc.buffalo.edu/engcomp/composition_home.htm has something valuable for you. Created through the joint efforts of the University Libraries, the English department, and the Educational Technology Center, UB's online composition site offers advice on a variety of topics, including tips on grammar, the writing process, research and editing.

The Student Resources section http://icarus.ubetc.buffalo.edu/engcomp/student_resources.htm provides students with resources they need to become better writers. It includes online grammar and style guides with advice about prose style and the documentation of sources, including how to cite Internet resources in a bibliography; a virtual reference shelf of such writer's tools as online encyclopedias, quotation books and almanacs; links to other online writing sites and much more.

Particularly useful for students are the subsections on writing and research strategies. "Writing Strategies" includes links to material such as prewriting prompts to get started, writing effective introductions, major steps in writing a research paper and revising checklists. "Research Strategies" offers tips on beginning research, including sound advice about navigating the Internet and assessing Web sites.

The Instructor Resources section http://icarus.ubetc.buffalo.edu/engcomp/instructor_resources.htm links to a wide range of printable handouts and tutorials that can be used as assignments or to focus and organize classroom activities. It also contains links to metasites about pedagogy and innovative uses of the Internet in instruction, online journals about teaching composition with a focus on computer-mediated instruction, syllabi from UB and other schools, companion sites to composition and rhetoric textbooks that offer useful tips for instructors, as well as additional exercises and Web sites for students and more.

There also are links to other exemplary sites, including Purdue's Online Writing Workshop, with more than 140 handouts and tutorials geared to helping students develop repertoires of effective writing strategies; Dave's ESL metasite, which contains links to games, grammar exercises, quizzes and editing activities; the UB Library Skills Workbook, which introduces students to BISON and the Internet, and the Internet Detective, which is an interactive tutorial on evaluating the quality of Internet resources.

For help with connecting to the World Wide Web, contact the CIT Help Desk at 645-3542.

- Austin Booth and Nina Cascio, University Libraries