Assignment 3

Article Abstracting 10% graded.

Due March 7

Write two abstracts -- one informative and one indicative -- for the following article:

Acrobat PDF

1. Read the article carefully. Reading it will not only serve the purposes of writing the abstract, but will also be critical for indexing the article (Assignment 4). You will accomplish this task with greater accuracy if you outline the article, using a combination of headings found in the article and your own subheadings.

2. Compile a list of statements that fills out Cleveland & Cleveland's "four essential points" for an informative abstract (p. 57 and p. 114) to which a fifth convenient point for other information may be attached:

These four points are also listed in the ANSI/NISO Z39.14, Guidelines for Abstracts, p. 3 (Sect. 6.3). This publication should also be used for style considerations and for it very fine list of examples of abstract kinds.

3. Write the informative abstract first. It is to be limited to 1 and 1/2 pages, double spaced, but do not worry about its length at the start. One can always condense an abstract that is too long, but it is difficult to expand an abstract that has been made too brief. The 1 and 1/2 pages is not the goal, by the way, but rather an abstract that indicates the objectives, methods, results and conclusions & their details in as succinct a manner as possible. If you can accomplish this in 3/4 of a page, then so much the better. In no case, however, should go beyond 1 and 1/2 pages. (Margins should be set at 1" on all sides; typeface should be 12pt.)

4. Write the indicate abstract second. This can be done by paring down and changing the language of the informative abstract. Remember, the chief difference between the two kinds of abstracts is that the informative provides answers to all four of the above, including statements of actual results and conclusions, whereas the indicative abstract reports mainly the skeletal or structural properties of the item. Thus, where one might say in the former, "According to this article, a billion seventy-five onions were grown in California," in the latter this statement would be changed to read something like, "The number of onions grown in California was determined and reported."

5. Begin each abstract on a fresh sheet of paper, no matter how long it goes (i.e., whether it laps over to a second sheet). Be sure your name and the kind of abstract are placed at the top of the page. Precede the abstract with the following citation: Heilemann, John. 2000. "The Truth the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth: The Untold Story of the Microsoft Antitrust Case" (Wired 8 (no. 11, Nov.): 261-311.

6. Include your initials (in boldface type) as the very last element of the abstract, immediately following the end of the abstract text (but do not begin a new paragraph for it).

7. Write a single page (double spaced) commentary in which you reflect on lessons you learned in the exercise, difficulties you encountered, etc.

8. Hand in:

Staple these together in the foregoing order.

9. Due, at beginning of class, March 7th.