IS 109 - Developing Proofreading and Editing Skills

Welcome

Welcome to IS 109 - Developing Proofreading and Editing Skills

I am very much looking forward to our time together. The online environment can actually be a very friendly, very personal environment, far from the impersonal, machine-like environment you might have been fearing. I sit in a sun-and-plant-filled office reading your homework, answering your e-mails and chatting with you in the class Discussion Boards, and I invite you to imagine you are here with me and the other students, sitting around a beautiful mahogony conference table with coffee or ginger ale (and cookies!), discussing the finer points of office communications. Okay, sometimes it's 2 a.m. and the only glow comes from my desk lamp, and okay, sometimes I'm at my local Wireless Access Point (aka St. Louis BreadCo.), having a latte and grading Applications E and F. But to enjoy this class more, be sure to go to the Discussion Boards often. Besides being required, you'll find people with whom you can commiserate, or pick over the finer points of comma usage (fun, huh)(no?).

PreTest

Before you begin, please take this PreTest. It is a Microsoft Word document. Your grade is not affected by how well you do on it, but your grade is affected by whether you do it or not. I will take 40 points off for not sending in the PreTest, which translates into one entire letter grade.

1. Download the PreTest by right-clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As..."
2. Save the document to your desktop
3. Turn on Track Changes. Click here for instructions on Track Changes (at the bottom of this page). Use your Back button or your scroll bar to return here.
4. With Track Changes turned on, follow the instructions to correct errors in the PreTest
5. Save As "yourname_PreTest_corrected.doc" (Put your name in place of yourname.)
6. Submit your corrected PreTest to the Assignments section on our Blackboard website.

To get into Blackboard

Your official course materials are on Blackboard, though I will reproduce most of them here. I will also put some mini-lectures here for you as we come across subjects that pose particular difficulties for us.

We have a Discussion Board on Blackboard that you are required to participate in, so please take a moment to figure out how to use it. If, after trying the directions below, you are still having problems, write to me at mqinstructor@yahoo.com.

1. Go to http://www.stlcc.edu, the official web site of the St. Louis Community College at Meramec
2. Click on "Student Services"
3. Look under "Other Student Resources" for "Blackboard Portal"
4. Click on "Blackboard Portal" or click here to link directly.
5. Type your student ID into the Username field.
6. Type your 6-digit Banner pin into the Password field. If you have never logged into either Banner or Blackboard, follow the directions on the page for logging in the first time.
7. When you get into Blackboard, look for IS 109 674 Proofreading...(etc.) and click on it.
8. You should see a Welcome announcement and a list of buttons on the left-hand side:
   • Course Information - here will be your Syllabus
   • Staff Information - here is a cup of virtual coffee
   • Course Documents - here is a list of the textbooks you need, and tests.
   • Assignments - here is your homework schedule (it's the same as the one on the Syllabus)
   • Discussion Board - Here are some discussion questions. One of the class requirements is that you participate in the Discussion Board at least twice every week - more often if you feel like it!
   • External Links - As I find good Internet resources for you, I'll post them here. There are some there already. Check them out!
   • Tools - here are things like editing your personal information, and a Digital Drop Box (We're not using the Digital Drop Box, though if you told me it would be easier for you, I could consider using it.)

Your textbooks:

Developing Proofreading and Editing Skills, Fifth Edition
by Sue Camp. Published by McGraw Hill Irwin, 2005

The Gregg Reference Manual
by William A. Sabin, Tenth Edition, Published by McGraw Hill Irwin

How to Turn on Track Changes

• In Microsoft Word (earlier versions) :
• Click Tools>Track Changes>Highlight Changes>make sure all 3 checkboxes are checked
• Be sure that the box "Track changes while editing" is checked.
• Be sure that the box "Highlight changes on screen" is checked.
• Be sure that the box "Highlight changes in printed document " is checked.
• Click "Options" Make sure your edits show up in red (that should be the default).
• In Microsoft Word 2003 (the latest version)
• Click Tools>Track Changes
• Click Tools>Options>Track Changes
• Insertions: Select "Color Only" and the "by Author" color (red and blue)
• Deletions: Select "Strikethrough" and the "by Author" color (red and blue)
• Formatting: Select "None" and the "by Author" color (red and blue)
• Changed Lines: Select "Outside Border" and the color "Auto"
• Comments Color: Blue
• Balloons: Never

How to Turn in Your Homework

• Save your work
• Submit your homework to the Assignments section of our Blackboard website.

Additional Resources

The MIT Library page of links to online writing resources: http://libraries.mit.edu/help/writing.html