Guidelines+for+Student+Contributors

Prof. Dan Malachuk
 * Guidelines for Students Contributors: **
 * Researching, Writing, Editing, and Formatting Your BQC Report **

BQC is an ongoing collaborative “prehistory” of the QC on the web at http://bqc.wikispaces.com/ Following some experiments in the spring 2009 semester, BQC has been included regularly as an assignment in my undergraduate classes since fall 2009. BQC’s main purposes are:

(1) to provide students with unique and valuable research, writing, and editing experience; (2) to make available to the general public rarer historical material about the QCA, 1750-1950; (3) to build partnerships with libraries, museum, and other organizations in the QCA.

Details about your BQC assignment will be found in the course syllabus. This handout offers general guidelines for producing successful reports on important local history.

__Researching __ *Define the scope of your project carefully to make sure it is neither too narrow or too broad. *Locate unique sources from 1750 to 1950 to feature in your report. First look on the web, including library catalogs. *When visiting local libraries, museums, and historical societies, be sure to ask the reference librarian for guidance. *Make use of Google Books ([|http://books.google.com]); search key phrases using " ". *Rely on established websites and scholarship to support your original research. *WIU students should make use of the WIU Library for articles: [] If WIU does not have the article, request it through Illiad, following the instructions here: [] *WIU students have free access to one of the largest consortium libraries in the United States through I-Share: [] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Remember that many library services require you to add "21711" before your 9-digit WIU ID. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Retain all information so that you can cite your sources completely.

__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Writing __ <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Write simply, clearly, and objectively: your audience is the world. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Do not refer to yourself. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Include in-text citations following MLA guidelines. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Include a Works Cited section following MLA guidelines.

__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Editing __ <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Copy and paste an existing BQC report into Word or a similar program. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Turn on the "Track Changes" or similar function to document your work. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Revise the report following the "Writing" recommendations above.

__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Formatting __ <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Submit the report in a single-space document using no styles. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Use Arial 12-point type. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Mark new paragraphs with line breaks, not indents or tabs. There should be NO indents or tabs in your document, including for long quotes. *Do not indent long quotes. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Boldface only your title, any subtitles, and "Works Cited." <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Submit all supporting non-text material as separate files. Do not paste photographs or illustrations into your text. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Include these three lines at the head of your document (filling in your name after Original or Revision Author as well as your class, such as ENG206, and your semester, such as FL10 or SP11):

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">Original Author: Your Name, ENG206 SP11 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">Revision Author: Your Name, ENG206 SP11
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">A Concise and Accurate Title without Punctuation **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Include these two lines at the end of your document:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">Return to Subcategory

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">Return to Home //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">--January 13, 2010 //