Due October 19, 2007 by noon central time

For your first paper, select a topic that deals with how the Internet has impacted your life in the past five years.  For ideas, you might want to look at the weekly topics that we are covering in PAC 442, or any of the topics included in the Pew Internet Life project.  Or you just might want to think creatively about some way that your life is impacted on a daily basis by the Internet and the World Wide Web.  The paper, then, is to be a description how personally your life is affected by the Internet in this area.

You will write your paper in two phases.  In Phase 1 - the research and discussion phase - you select a topic (your choice), propose the topic to the class, and locate several Internet resources that are related to this topic.  Other students are then required to assist you by suggesting additional ideas, organizational strategies, web resources, etc.  You will not receive full credit for your paper if you do not assist at least three other students with their papers.  In Phase 2 - the submission phase - you write your paper and submit it to a plagiarism detection website (turnitin.com), to me (for evaluation), and to the class (for class discussion.)

In order to receive full credit for your paper, you must follow all of these instructions carefully.

1. For your paper, you are to use a minimum of 5 Internet-based resources relevant to your chosen topic.  In addition to these 5 sources, you must incorporate and cite specific student comments from the Phase 1 Discussions with your classmates.  Citations from the other students must include the author's name and the date the comment was made.

2.  Write a paper in which you describe how your chosen topic impacts your life, by using material from the Internet websites you and your colleagues locate, as well as comments made by your classmates in the various class discussions.  It must be very clear to me that you have incorporated the resources and ideas contributed by your classmates into your paper.  You are required to cite them by name and date in your "References" page.

3. The minimum length of your paper is 2000 words of original content plus a References list. Important note: direct quotes from other sources are not counted in determining the "word-count" length of your paper.  The web resources must be cited properly (see instructions on the web) and should be listed on a numbered References list;  a parenthetical reference [e.g. (4)] should  be made in the text of your paper whenever information from that source is used.  Remember, your References list must also include the names and dates of the individuals whose discussion comments you use in your paper.

4.  UIS has a strict policy against plagiarism (go to that page and search on the word "plagiarism").  Plagiarism of any form will not be tolerated in PAC 442. You should understand the basic definitions of plagiarism (including improper paraphrasing) and how to avoid it.

Instructions for discussing and submitting your paper will be forthcoming.