Annotated Bibliography
Title : Writing on the Web
Author : Susan Barth
Website : http://www.pint.com/Workshop/SBarth/index.htm
Summary
This article by Susan Barth talks about the rethinking of the whole writing process. Some of the points she brought up include:
1.new modes of audience
2.intergrating new technology
3.introducing new conventions
These include making use of hypertext linking ,the embedding of complete references into the hypertext, as well as using multimedia to enhance one's writing .
Barth also mentions how writers must learn to adapt to this new dynamic global environment of audience ,and keeping up with their preferences.
In the article, she talks about the need to update an author's work , keeping it current for its readers.
This is because editing on the web can be done in a short time as compared to editing a book.
The limitations of the writer is also highlighted, where the text displayed on the screen is due to the reader's own set of computer configuration, such as resolution ,which the writer has no control over.
In the last part of the article, she identifies the future of the electronic and the speculates about the direction of which it take.
Review
This is a very user friendly sites where an index is put side by side with the introductory paragraph. Each point is bulleted with a clear heading , so that audience can specifically select what they want .
The article is well written, and substantiated with quotations from different authors writing on the same topic. At the same time ,hyperlinks are provided to the sites.
Overall, I find that the author is very knowledgeable, giving many examples of additional factors ,(mostly on the technical site ) that authors must consider. This includes the speed of the computers each individual have and the browsers that they used.
To appreciate the article better, you must have a basic understanding of new web terminology such as what is WAVS, RA, PDF etc, as these terms were not explained in the article.
This article will be particularly useful, in our understanding of the kinds of expectations, a web audience has.
