English 680D: Rhetoric and Digital Publishing

Spring 2003

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Section 0101
Heavilon 227
Fridays, 11:30 - 2:20
Dr. David Blakesley
Office: Heavilon 302c
Hours: W 1-3 p.m.;
F 9:30-11:30 a.m.
Ph: 765.494.3772
Fax: 765.494.3780
blakesle@purdue.edu

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The omnipresence of new media poses new opportunities and challenges for publishing. This seminar will focus on the implications and possibilities of digital multimedia for the dissemination and archiving of knowledge, the problems multimedia poses for traditional disciplinary and discursive formations, and the means of production that are transforming literate practice in the humanities.

Bolter, Jay David, and Richard Grusin. Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2001.

Levy, David M. Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age. New York: Arcade, 2001.

Lupton, Ellen, and Abbott and Miller. Design Writing Research: Writing on Graphic Design. Phaidon Press, 1999.

Lynch, Patrick, and Sarah Horton. Web Style Guide (2nd; free Web version). Yale UP, 2002.

Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2001.

Packer, Randall, and Ken Jordan. Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality (Expanded Edition). Norton, 2002.

Wurman, Richard Saul. Information Anxiety 2. Indianapolis, IN: Que, 2001.

Digital Packet: Additional course readings and materials will be available in electronic format via the course calendar as PDF files or as articles on the WWW. In addition, larger multimedia files will be available in the course's 680darchive folder, which each student can access when logged into an ICS machine using your Purdue Login ID.

Course readings will cover a broad range of issues, including theories and histories of multimedia, digitality, graphic design, and information architecture, as well as the production of printed and digital books and other media. Course projects include the following:

A collaborative project in digital or multimedia publishing; possible projects include WPA and TWI archiving; preparation of distance learning multimedia course materials (for a C&W conference-linked course); video essay on campus sculpture; an edited book in a new series.
Preparation of multimedia materials for dissemination and presentation at a full-day, pre-conference workshop at Computers and Writing 2003 on "Digital Publishing and Archiving";
An individual multimedia project targeted for digital publication;
Weekly written responses to the course readings. These 250-500 word responses should be posted as PDF documents to our WWWThreads forum (or another site to be announced later).

In order to participate fully in the course, you should already be able to use the technology platform and applications listed below. You will have opportunities to learn others as we go.

Mac OS System or Windows (preferably both)
Microsoft Office (Word and PowerPoint)
Web Browser (Netscape Communicator or Internet Explorer)
Email Program (Netscape Mail, Outlook, Eudora, etc.)

Because the exchange of information and materials in this class will be almost entirely electronic, familiarity with certain technologies is crucial for participation and success. If you need any assistance now or at any point during the semester, please do not hesitate to ask. During the semester, you'll need frequent access to the Internet (for email, FTP, and WWW). If you have a computer at home, you'll be responsible for configuring your system to access course materials, to participate in online discussions, and to complete other work. (Your Internet Service Provider should be able to help you configure your system.).

Here are some of your responsibilities:

Have access to your Career Account
Set up your @purdue.edu email address and regularly check your email
Become proficient sending and receiving e-mail attachments, resolving file compatibility issues, and following e-mail decorum
Check the course calendar before the beginning of each class
Be willing to learn and become more proficient with unfamiliar multimedia technologies, processes, and software, such as digital still cameras, digital video, scanners, Web design (Dreamweaver, Flash), desktop publishing (Pagemaker, InDesign, Quark), document cycling and review (Acrobat), graphic design (Fireworks, Photoshop), presentation media (Powerpoint), CD-Rom and DVD Design (MacImage, other), screen capture (Hypersnap, Pictify).
Maintain back-up copies of all assignments via your home directory, disks, USB pens, and/or e-mail attachments to yourself.

Technology Resources. Our class will have access to the Professional Writing Program's Instructional Multimedia Preparation Lab (IMP) in Heavilon 402. A key may be checked out from 8-5 from Julie Knoeller in Heavilon 302 or you may check out a key for off-hour use from Lisa Hartman in the main English Dept. office. This lab is equipped with everything we'll need to produce multimedia materials, including digital video, document archives, and more. Follow the link above to learn more about what's available. A key to the Center for Digtial Publication (Heav 411) is available for check-out from Julie Knoeller. That office has one machine useful for scanning archival material.

In addition to the equipment in IMP, you will have access to the PW Program's excellent Sony Mavica digital still camera and the Sony TRV340 Digital Handycam.

Purdue's new Digital Learning Collaboratory also has many resources.

Collaborative work is a required component of the course and critical to its success and the quality of your learning experience. You and your project team members are responsible for updating one another and me about project development and progress. In addition, you also are responsible for negotiating together all aspects of your work, including planning, drafting, revising, file managing, and scheduling of assignments. We will discuss explicit guidelines for successful collaboration. I will also ask individual group members to complete Collaborative Evaluation Forms. The principles of collaboration I encourage students to follow are contained in the brochure, Group Work and Collaborative Writing <http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/vohs/index.html>. I will ask groups to keep a weekly Web log on WWWThreads.

Attendance is required at all scheduled electronic and face-to-face (F2F) meetings. You also will be required to attend any scheduled out-of-class meetings with your team to complete course assignments and research.

Weekly reading responses should not be submitted late. If a serious and unavoidable problem arises, you should contact me in writing prior to the deadline to determine whether or not an extension for the work will or will not be granted.