As part of this project, you will publish the research paper on the web and will include graphics and links to related information. Information on your web site must have incorporated instructors’ feedback on research paper and is carefully proofread, spell checked and verified for information accuracy. In addition, your site must not infringe copyrights by using media (e.g. video, images) or text without appropriate permissions.
Project Objectives
- Demonstrate your ability to use web based technologies to communicate your understanding of a selected technology related topic
- Make obvious your ability to seek permission from the originator for the copyrighted material and cite references appropriately
Project Requirements
In this project, you will use XHTML to publish your research paper on the mason web site. Every page of your research paper is a webpage (title page, content pages, and reference page). There will be a menu on each page of your paper to easily navigate to each webpage of your research paper.
Note: Use of HTML/XHTML editors (MS Word, Netscape Composer, Dreamweaver, FrontPage, etc.) is NOT permitted.
Prior to creating your website, you MUST CORRECT your research paper based on the instructor’s comments on your research paper.
- Title Page.
- Your website’s homepage ) will contain a link to your research paper’s title page. The title page CANNOT be your homepage. Your homepage is NOT considered part of your project. The homepage is the one that you created for the lab assignment. The title page content will be same as the title page of your research paper – title of your project, your name, date, and GMU Honor Code Statement with active links to GMU Honor Code and GMU Responsible Use of Computing Policy.
- Additional requirements on the title page:
- Provide a link to the PDF document of your research paper.
- Provide a link to your research paper blog.
- Provide a link to your research paper wiki.
2. Content Pages.
- Cite all references in the body of research paper including those that are paraphrased, in accordance with APA style/format
- Additional requirements for content pages: XHTML ordered or unordered list and a YouTube video
- XHTML ordered or unordered list on any one of the content pages
- Ordered or unordered list can be used in listing small amounts of project relevant information as is done in paper formats. Do not eliminate text in order to create an ordered or unordered list. The use of a list for your project’s menu or the references does not satisfy this requirement.
- Find a YouTube video related to your research paper and embed it in the first content page.
Note: As with any media (video, clip art/image, etc.), you need to obtain permission by the copyright owner to use the media. This is accomplished by checking the site’s documents (e.g. Terms of Use, Terms of Service, Copyright, Legal, etc.) or by obtaining permission directly from owner. You must then follow the directions given for use or non-use.
- Have at least one of the following additional requirements on at least one if not on all of the content pages: Original artwork, Digital photograph and Public domain Clip art
- Original artwork
- Original artwork created by you in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, MS Paint or other graphics software. A single colored or plain gif or jpeg image does not satisfy this requirement. Using this gif or jpeg image as a background image will not satisfy this requirement.
- Digital photograph relevant to the chosen topic
- Digital photograph (you have taken yourself) and is relevant to the topic. The digital photograph file must be in a gif or jpeg image format.
- Clip art (e.g. gif image). If not stated on the web that the media is free, you must consider the media to be copyrighted, and therefore you must have permission to use the media (video, clip art/image, etc.) in your website.
4. Reference page
- Cite all references in accordance with APA style/format on a separate webpage.
- In addition to content reference listed in the research paper, include video references (for all videos used), clipart/image references (for all clip art/images used) and original artwork references (for all original artwork used) on the reference webpage.
- Media (video, clip art/image, etc.) reference:
- Video and clip art/image reference will include the following. Description of the media (video, clip art/image), how it is related to your topic, name of artist/copyright holder, date that you obtained the media (video, clip art/image, etc.), a link to the source URL and a link to the source site’s page granting you permission to use and the conditions of use.
- The page granting permission may have the following names but is not limited to these names: Terms of Use, Terms of Service, Copyright or Legal.
- If you have obtained specific permission (paper mail, email or verbal) to use the item, use this statement “permission obtained from the artist/copyright holder”.
- If you are using Microsoft Clip Art, indicate that you used Microsoft Office (e.g. retrieved from Microsoft Office 2010 Clip Art collection).
- Original artwork reference and digital photograph will include the following. Description of the artwork or digital photograph, name of the software used to create the artwork, date the artwork or photograph was created/taken, and the statement “artwork is original and created by me” or the statement “digital photograph was taken by me”.
- Each type of media (video/original artwork/digital photograph/clip art) will include an annotation – a sentence or two explaining how the media is related to your research paper.
- Each web reference/source will have an active link to the source/database URL including information requested in the research paper instructions.
Note: This project must be your own work. If you get help from someone else (e.g. The Media Center), you must state this on your references page (be specific).
5. Menu Insert a table at the top of each page of your research paper that contains links to every page of your project. The borders of the cells must be visible. Use of FRAMES is not permitted
Submission
The project must be in your mason UNIX account. There must be a link from your index.html file (i.e., homepage) to your project. Thus, when the instructor goes to , the instructor will see a link to your project. All projects must be stored in your mason UNIX account to receive credit. Your pages should include appropriate formatting and graphics, and should be linked to other relevant pages. All links must be active links to navigate the reader to respective webpages.
Remember, it is a violation of the GMU Responsible Use of Computer Policy to use a Mason account for commercial purposes. Your project must not be commercial in nature.
Help
Scanning and Web Page Help: STAR, Student Technology Assistance and Resources, 311 Johnson Center. Visit for more information and Volgenau School of Engineering Peer Advisors,
Web Development Guide by George Mason University –
Infoguides for XHTML tutorial websites – http://infoguides.gmu.edu
KEEP CURRENT BACKUPS AT ALL TIMES. “The computer ate my project” will get you sympathy, but no points.
Testing
Test your project on campus computers. If it does not load in a reasonable amount of time, your instructor may not be able to view it. If we can’t view it, we can’t grade it. So, it is a good idea to test your website from different location (library, lab, your friend’s machine, etc.).
