Citation and Annotation
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When students author on the web, they invariably encounter other writers, which raises questions about the ways we learn to acknowledge and attribute other people’s ideas. In “Web Writing and Citation: The Authority of Communities,” Elizabeth Switaj explains how educators can draw on the logic of social referencing in online communities to help students recognize citation as a community practice. Laura Lisabeth explores how her students critiqued The Elements of Style writing guide in her essay, “Empowering Education with Social Annotation and Wikis.” Christopher Hager recounts how students responded to a web assignment that required them to cite work by their peers in his essay, “The Secondary Source Sitting Next to You.” Despite everything the software industry has led us to believe, Jason B. Jones argues that “There Are No New Directions in Annotations,” which explains why new tools of the trade should feel “radically familiar” in the liberal arts. Finally, Jack Dougherty offers his suggestions on teaching students (and colleagues) about “Capturing, Citing, and Sharing Scholarship Online.” (Not done)
I often integrate primary (peer-reviewed), scientific literature into the courses I teach, both for its topical relevance but also to get students familiar with scientific writing – which particularly for undergraduates can be very unapproachable. I have really struggled though with having students feel comfortable analyzing and critiquing peer-reviewed literature because they look at research papers as being perfect or flawless. As I read these essays, but in particular Laura’s piece, it amazed me how comfortable the students portrayed seemed to be critiquing published works. I wonder if other instructors have struggled with students perceiving works of literature as being authoritative and unassailable, and how you can help students work through this.
I think the pieces in this section work well together. I do think an introductory overview about citation and annotation as writing practice could be helpful to frame them.