Entries tagged with “resources” from Dennis G. Jerz

Dennis G. Jerz
I teach new media journalism as an associate professor of English at Seton Hill University. My recent scholarly interests cover weblogs, interactive fiction, technology in literature, and web usability and design.

• Contact Information
• Teaching
• Research Interests
• Curriculum Vitae

My Social Networking Links

• Jerz's Literacy Weblog: http://jerz.setonhill.edu/weblog
      (Winner of the John Lovas Memorial Weblog Award)
  
• blogs.setonhill.edu  http://blogs.setonhill.edu
  
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DGJerz
• Instructional screencasts on using blogs at Seton Hill (Part 1, Part 2)
  
• Educational reviews of computer games (Civilization, TimezAttack, Crazy Machines)
  
• 3D design demos(storybook castle simulation)
  
• Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/dennis.jerz
  
• Twitter:  http://twitter.com/DennisJerz
  

This website began as a resource for my own students, though many of the pages have attracted traffic from search engines and weblogs. Many of the resources on this web site were originally created while I was teaching at the University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire (UWEC). A few pages even date from my grad student days at the University of Toronto.

During my five years in Eau Claire, I constantly expanded and fine-tuned the collection of instructional resources on my website, thanks to the feedback from my own students, students and teachers at other institutions, and random visitors (whose comments are always welcome and often helpful). In my last two months at UWEC, my site was drawing nearly 200,000 hits per month.

I'm very grateful to the administration at Seton Hill University for supplying me with internet service to support my continued online activities. (I used to use Supplehost, but when they stopped answering my e-mails for several months, I switched to RimuHosting. I understand SuppleHost has a new owner now, so it may be that they will change their ways.)

Will Gayther, a UWEC undergraduate majoring in computer science, updated my weblog software as part of an independent study, and for years continued to offer his services in a manner above and beyond the call of duty--even after I gave him an "A" for his project.

Now the blog runs on MovableType, and I am slowly converting the rest of the website from static HTML to pages served via MovableType.

May 2003 -- first posted
Nov 2006 -- changed description of my satisfaction with SuppleHost
Jul 2009 -- minor edits

Don't just tell me your brother is funny... show me what he says and does, and let me decide whether I want to laugh. To convince your readers, show, don't just tell them what you want them to know.

There.  I've just told you something.  Pretty lame, huh? Now, let me show you.

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Most writers know the value of an informative title, but many beginning web authors don't know that each web page needs two kinds of titles. The in-context (IC) title always sits at the top of a page, with the rest of the document immediately beneath it. The out-of-context (OOC) title is frequently displayed by search engines or archive pages, as part of a long sorted list.

When a web author has neglected to provide an out-of-context title, many HTML authoring tools will supply a generic, uninformative title, such as "New Page 1" (see the example below).

• Why Bother with Two Different Titles?
• Creating the In-Context Title
• Creating the Out-of-Context Title

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Blurbs are compressed summaries of what a reader will find on the other end of a hyperlink. Good blurbs don't harangue ("Click here!") or tease ("Learn ten great tips!"). Instead, they encapsulate the contents of the target page, helping the reader decide whether to click. [More]

24 May 2008 -- Dennis G. Jerz

A short story is tight -- there is no room for long exposition, there are no subplots to explore, and by the end of the story there should be no loose ends to tie up.  End right at the climax, so that the reader has to imagine how a life-changing event will affect the protagonist.

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This document is a set of instructions for formatting a paper in MLA style using Word.  (Dennis G. Jerz and David Neis)

1. Setting the Document Attributes
2. Adding a Header
3. Adding the Title Block
4. Saving Your File
5. Indenting Long Quotations
6. Formatting the Works Cited Page

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Some professionals get scores of e-mails a day. Follow these tips in order to give your recipients the information they need in order to act on your message sooner rather than later. (Dennis G. Jerz and Jessica Bauer)
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