GEOL316

Geologic Literature and Report Writing

AKA - Geotechnical writing
GEOL 3160

This page will be updated regularly (I hope) and new class information may be added at any time. Check below to see what is available.
I will post many different types of useful information here, as well as adding any contributions you may make. If you have access to anything that you think would benefit other students let me know and I will either reproduce it here or provide a link. Thanks!
P.S. If you want to send e-mail to ALL the other members of the class (myself included), use this link:

- Class Schedule -

Syllabus and Schedule - The syllabus is just a general overview of what to expect in class. The specifics of the weekly assignments aren't in the syllabus. Instead, you can view them by following the link below entitled "Assignments."

- Class Information -

Assignments - A series of links to the class assignments. I will regularly update this page to reflect the latest in-class and homework activities.

Attention: As a standing rule, you should always read the next week's assignment ahead of time (preferably during the previous week's class, if possible) in case there is anything you need to do before class, or so you can get clarification on what to read, etc.

Assignment checklist - I suggest you consult this before you submit each assignment. If you choose not to use it -- expect to miss points.
Term project description - a preview of what's to come. You should read through this ASAP.

Note: For Fall, 2008, we have agreed that (1) the class will be web-based, and (2) our approach to writing will be research-oriented, as opposed to geotechnical. Therefore, you must choose a very narrow research topic for the entire course, with the final project being a brief (1500 word) research paper that is focused on that narrow topic. The final paper will consist of an abstract, the body of your research, and a bibliography.

Advice on picking a research topic - Read this sooner rather than later. The sooner you pick a topic, or at least start looking for one, the better.

- Writing Help -

The #1 rule of geotechnical writing: Don't leave home without it!
The 12 step program: the dozen duties of good geotechnical writing
Improvement guide: simple suggestions for improving your writing
My pet writing peeves and how to fix them: If you turn in work with these problems unattended to, you'll get no sympathy from me
"How to write really bad prose." - My simple "how to" guide on the best and easiest way to write really bad prose.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: See if you don't agree.
Miscellaneous information - (1) proofreading marks
Sample citations - Essential reading. This consists of examples for both in-text and bibliographic citations. There is an example of nearly every simple or problematic reference source you might happen to come across (except web addresses -- see my paper on doing web research [below] for information on how to cite those.)
Instructions for Contributors to the Journal of Geoscience Education - The GSA publications site (below) is much more complicated than it used to be, so I added this link for the sake of simplicity. The citations at the bottom of the page are helpful, but they are not quite the same as GSA format (which is the standard for this class).
Instructions for Contributors to GSA publications - "Huh?" you say! This page contains the original source of the citation formats you will be using for your bibliography and in-text citations. This is also required reading. It contains all kinds of material that may be of interest to you when you write your final paper. You can either peruse this or closely read issues of the GSA Bulletin, Geology, or the like.
"Elements of Style" (Strunk & White, 1999) - Through the wonders of the Internet, this classic text -- a marvelous critique for producing clear, succinct prose -- is available free of charge. If you really, really want to learn to write, this is the place to go.
GSA publication from Geology - So many students make errors on their final project in this class that simply shouldn't occur. That is because they don't follow instructions, don't ask questions, and don't look at published papers. Therefore, I've provided a copy of a paper from Geology in PDF format.
Term paper guide - This is a guide, which I co-authored for publication, designed to help students prepare a geology research paper. It focuses a bit on web research and citations, and may be of help in citing web resources. See the bibliography for examples.

Zetero - a research "engine" for Mozilla's Firefox browser. Helps create reference databases as well as pre-formatted bibliographies (free, which is more than you can say for EndNote, etc.)

- Geology Resources -

Research resources: both local & remote links
Handy geology dictionary - I located this simple, but useful geology glossary on-line. Keep in mind though, I don't vouch for a single one of these definitions. In addition, there are probably more terms missing than accounted for.
Earth Science Web sites - (Please e-mail me with a description & the URL if you find any good earth science web sites or if you find that any of these sites are now "dead." Thanks.)