9(1), November 1992, pages 25-35
An Annotated Bibliography of Representative
Software for Writers
James Strickland
Software to Help Writers Collaborate over
a Network
ASPECTS (Macintosh only)
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ASPECTS provides a shared workspace for collaborative groups of
2 to 16 students to brainstorm, record, and edit ideas into a
common document. ASPECTS allows students to look at the same
screen together or scroll independently through the document.
It also allows the instructor to set the protocol for contributing
ideas--simultaneous contribution or a more formal turn-taking
protocol.
Group Technologies, 1408 N. Fillmore St., Suite 10, Arlington,
VA 22201; (800) 476-8781.
COLLABORATIVE WRITER (Macintosh only)
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COLLABORATIVE WRITER teaches writers how to approach projects
and work together with other writers on workplace tasks such as
memos, progress reports, final reports, feasibility studies, and
proposals. Developed by Ann Hill Duin of the University of Minnesota,
COLLABORATIVE WRITER provides on-line tutorials to model analysis
of audience, purpose, and content.
RDA/Mind Builders, 10 Boulevard Ave., Greenlawn, NY 11740; (800)
654-8715. Also offered through St. Martin's Software.
CONFERENCE WRITER (Macintosh only)
-
CONFERENCE WRITER links up to 12 groups of writers on a network,
allowing individual writers to compose, share their writing with
members of their group, and read and comment upon what others
have shared. Written by David Roberts and John Sudderth of Samford
University, CONFERENCE WRITER includes a full-screen editor and
built-in word-processing program.
RDA/Mind Builders, 10 Boulevard Ave., Greenlawn, NY 11740; (800)
654-8715. Also offered through St. Martin's Software.
DAEDALUS MAIL
-
DAEDALUS MAIL is an electronic mail (e-mail) program designed
for networked classrooms which offers features such as unlimited
message length, private or public posting, windows that allow
the user to view one message while composing a reply, and full
search capability. (Available separately or as part of the DAEDALUS
INTEGRATED WRITING ENVIRONMENT software package).
The Daedalus Group, 1160 Clayton Ln., Suite 248-W, Austin, TX
78723; (800) 879-2144.
DAEDALUS INTERCHANGE
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DAEDALUS INTERCHANGE offers real-time (synchronous) conferencing
to facilitate text-based simultaneous discussion by providing
private windows for composing messages on a common topic and windows
for public posting of those messages on all the workstations participating
in the discussion. The bulletin board can be searched chronologically,
textually, and by writer-defined links. (Available separately
or as part of the DAEDALUS INTEGRATED WRITING ENVIRONMENT software
package).
The Daedalus Group, 1160 Clayton Ln., Suite 248-W, Austin, TX
78723; (800) 879-2144.
LIVE WRITER (Macintosh only)
-
LIVE WRITER offers the student writer the option of allowing the
student's instructor to communicate in an interactive editing
conference while the student is engaged in composing. Developed
by Robert Oakman, Robert Cannon, and Carolyn Matalene of the University
of South Carolina, LIVE WRITER lets the instructor observe work
in progress and send messages to offer immediate editing help.
RDA/Mind Builders, 10 Boulevard Ave., Greenlawn, NY 11740;
(800) 654-8715. Also offered through St. Martin's Software.
DAEDALUS NETMANAGER (IBM/MS-DOS only)
-
DAEDALUS NETMANAGER is a shell that controls the entry of users
onto a network system, provides password protection, security
traces, message handling between users, and access to DOS functions.
(Available separately or as part of the DAEDALUS INTEGRATED WRITING
ENVIRONMENT software package).
The Daedalus Group, 1160 Clayton Ln., Suite 248-W, Austin,
TX 78723; (800) 879-2144.
REALTIME WRITER 2.0
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REALTIME WRITER provides up to 40 separate discussion channels
for interactive discussion. REALTIME WRITER includes a window
for composition and a window for users on an individual channel
to read all the comments that have been sent as part of the ongoing
dialogue. A third window is provided for the teacher to post
notices to any or all of the channels. The software behind the
ENFI Project (Electronic Networks for Interaction), REALTIME WRITER
includes password security, class roster, and activity tracking
features.
Realtime Learning Systems, 2700 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Washington,
DC 20008-5330; (800) 832-2472.
Software to Help Writers Invent
FINE LINES
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FINE LINES is subtitled "Planning, Drafting, and Revising
on the Computer." Its seven modules reflect a recursive
model of writing, allowing users to move from invention strategies
(freewriting, focusing, and listing) to outlining, drafting,
and revising strategies. FINE LINES includes a journal module,
using single- or double-column format.
Houghton Mifflin, One Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108; (800) 323-5663.
DAEDALUS INVENT
-
DAEDALUS INVENT evolved from the original computer invention programs,
TOPOI, TAGI, and BURKE, written in 1979 by Hugh Burns at The University
of Texas. The program offers three sets of prompts--based on
Aristotle's topoi; Kenneth Burke's pentad; and Richard
Young's, Alton Becker's, and Kenneth Pike's tagamemic matrix and
is designed to help writers systematically explore their topic.
(Available separately or as part of the DAEDALUS INTEGRATED WRITING
ENVIRONMENT software package.)
The Daedalus Group, 1160 Clayton Ln., Suite 248-W, Austin,
TX 78723; (800) 879-2144.
ORGANIZE
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ORGANIZE, written by Helen Schwartz, features four modules for
prewriting: "Development," containing seven tutorials
to generate ideas; "Audience," containing a tutorial
to assess audience needs and attitudes; "Argument,"
containing four tutorials to create an argument for debate; and
"Approaches," containing three tutorials to begin drafting.
Wadsworth Publishing, 10 Davis Dr., Belmont, CA 94002.
RHIZOME PROJECT (Macintosh only)
-
RHIZOME (Research on HYPERCARD as an Interactive Zone for the
Open, Mediated Essay) PROJECT is an interconnected sequence of
heuristic prompts for writing an argument. RHIZOME fosters idea
generation and critical analysis of the ideas produced through
a series of six stacks: jazzwriting, brainstorming, arguprompt,
enthymemes, transitions, and style reference.
Dr. Martin Rosenberg, Department of English, Arizona State University,
Tempe, AZ 85282-0302; (602) 965-3168. E-mail: <<atner@asuacad.bitnet>>.
STORYSPACE (Macintosh only)
-
STORYSPACE is a hypertext program for writing that facilitates
invention, drafting, arrangement, presentation, outlining, mapping,
and linking of text. STORYSPACE was developed by Jay David Bolter,
Michael Joyce, and John B. Smith.
Eastgate Systems, Civilized Software, P. O. Box 1307, Cambridge,
MA 02238; (800) 562-1638.
SUCCESS WITH WRITING
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SUCCESS WITH WRITING is a comprehensive writing process package,
using the PACE system: "Prewrite," "Arrange,"
"Compose," and "Evaluate." Its "Prewriting"
module, in addition to freewriting and brainstorming, contains
an invisible writing module that blanks the screen. The "Compose"
module lets users draft either with or without the notes and outlines
from the first two modules.
Scholastic, P. O. Box 7502, 2931 E. McCarty St., Jefferson
City, MO 65102; (800) 541-5513.
THOUGHTLINE (IBM/MS-DOS only)
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THOUGHTLINE generates ideas by asking questions and uses the answers
to prompt further responses, mimicking open-ended nondirective
dialogue with the user, much the way Joseph Weizenbaum's ELIZA
program did.
XPERCOM, 3605 Luallen St., Carrolltown, TX 75007; (214) 492-8530.
WRITER'S HELPER: PREWRITING AND REVISING SOFTWARE
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WRITER'S HELPER is an integrated software package for writers,
offering 19 prewriting activities (six to find a topic, five to
examine the topic from different perspectives, and eight to help
organize the ideas generated) and 20 revising tools (nine to examine
the structure of a document, eight to look at audience considerations,
and three to check for problem words). Developed by William Wresch,
the WINDOWS version of WRITER'S HELPER includes even more prewriting
activities and revising tools and an export link with the word-processing
program being used.
Conduit, University of Iowa, Oakdale Campus, Iowa City, IA
52242; (800) 365-9774.
Software to Allow Comment after Critical
Reading
COMMENT 2.0 (Macintosh only)
-
COMMENT allows editorial comments to be placed inside a text without
altering the original document. The presence of comments, each
of which may be up to 32K, is indicated by buttons which may then
be opened either manually or automatically when the file itself
is opened.
Deneba Software, 3305 N. W. 74th Ave., Miami, FL 33122; (305)
594-6965.
DAEDALUS RESPOND
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DAEDALUS RESPOND is an evaluation program that prompts users to
read and respond to a text by dividing the screen into three windows,
one displaying the text, another displaying an heuristic prompt,
and the third providing a notepad for critical response. (Available
separately or as part of the DAEDALUS INTEGRATED WRITING ENVIRONMENT
software package.)
The Daedalus Group, 1160 Clayton Ln., Suite 248-W, Austin,
TX 78723; (800) 879-2144.
MARKUP (Macintosh only)
-
MARKUP allows a group to either exchange texts or edit the same
document simultaneously without seeing one another's suggestions.
MARKUP merges the group comments into a single annotated text
while saving each editor's individual comments for later review.
Mainstay, 5311-B Derry Ave., Agoura Hills, CA 91303; (818)
991-6540.
PREP EDITOR (Macintosh only)
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PREP EDITOR is designed to facilitate marginal commenting by coauthors
and editors, the type of contributions associated with works in
preparation. The authors and commenters create marginal columns
of text that can be manipulated much the same way as spreadsheet
columns. The prototype is under development at Carnegie Mellon
and is supported by grants from NSF (IRI-8902891) and Apple External
Research.
Inquire through Carnegie Mellon (412) 268-2468. E-mail: <<prep-project@andrew.cmu.edu>>.
SEEN: tutorials for critical reading
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SEEN: TUTORIALS FOR CRITICAL READING features six authorable tutorials
for examining a particular subject--character analysis, plotting
in literature, essay analysis, exploratory essays, art exploration,
and historical conflicts--in order to develop and support a thesis.
Developed by Helen Schwartz, SEEN includes bulletin boards that
accompany the tutorials. Through the bulletin boards, students
can read and comment on the work of their peers and receive reactions
to their own work, comments that are necessary to revise for a
real audience.
Conduit, University of Iowa, Oakdale Campus, Iowa City, IA
52242; (800) 365-9774.
Software to Help Writers Write Research Papers
DISCOURSE DETECTIVE (IBM/MS-DOS only)
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DISCOURSE DETECTIVE: A HYPERTEXT INTRODUCTION TO EXPERT DISCOURSE
is an application of TOOLBOOK developed by Helen Schwartz and
Paul Nicholas. A hypertext tutorial, DISCOURSE DETECTIVE guides
novice scholars in the reading of expert discourse. Its features
include tasks such as getting to the gist of a scholarly article,
understanding the text in depth, and entering the scholarly community.
The program also explains aspects peculiar to the scholarly journal
or the discipline. The tutorial provides a notepad for interactive
commenting.
Helen Schwartz, Department of English, Indiana University-Purdue
University at Indianapolis, 425 University Blvd., Indianapolis,
IN 46202; (317) 274-0083, E-mail: <<IBGL100@INDYCMS>>.
DOCUPOP (IBM/MS-DOS only)
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DOCUPOP, a companion program to on-line handbook GRAMPOP, is a
memory resident program that guides users in questions of documentation
and handles both APA and MLA formats.
Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 301 Commerce St., Suite 3700,
Fort Worth, TX 76102; (800) 237-2665.
LEARNING TOOL (Macintosh only)
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LEARNING TOOL is a hypertext program developed by Robert Kozma
and John Van Roekel of Arborworks. LEARNING TOOL, described as
an electronic notebook, allows writers to make notecards and build
relationships between concepts at various levels of abstraction.
The screen actually looks as though it has notecards spread out
on it, and the writer has the option of searching and organizing
the notes, picking one up to read, and/or continuing to write.
Distributed by Intellimation, P. O. Box 1922, Santa Barbara,
CA 93116-1922; (800) 626-6266.
NOTA BENE (IBM/MS-DOS only)
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NOTA BENE is a word-processing program designed for scholarly
writing, including automatic footnoting, page numbering, generation
of tables of contents, lists of illustrations, bibliographies,
and indexes. NOTA BENE features keyboard adaptions for all major
Western European languages and special supplements for non-Western
European languages.
Dragonfly Software, distributed by Modern Language Association,
10 Astor Pl., New York, NY 10003-6981; (212) 614-6383.
PRO-CITE
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PRO-CITE is a utility program for creating bibliographies that
offers a wide variety of formats for record types and style sheets
and provides sorting, searching, and indexing capabilities.
Personal Bibliographic Software, Distributed by Modern Language
Association, 10 Astor Pl., New York, NY 10003-6981; (212) 614-6383.
THE RESEARCH HELPER
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THE RESEARCH HELPER contains two programs: NOTEFILER, designed
to store and sort information collected and compiled for a research
paper; and DOCUMENTOR, a guide for writing bibliographic entries
in MLA or APA format.
Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 301 Commerce St., Suite 3700,
Fort Worth, TX 76102; (800) 237-2665.
THE ST. MARTIN'S HOTLINE
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THE ST. MARTIN'S HOTLINE is an on-line pop-up guide to styles
of referencing. For each of the four major styles of documentation,
including MLA and APA, the HOTLINE explains listings of works
cited, parenthetical and endnote in-text documentation, and appropriate
page layouts.
St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010; (800)
446-8923.
SWIFTNOTES (Macintosh only)
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SWIFTNOTES is a utility program that provides notecards to aid
researchers in entering bibliographic information, taking notes,
and making hypertext links between key words. Some of its features
include the ability to export one or all notes on a topic into
a text document, a running reminder list of references to be consulted,
and the ability to sort by author or key word.
Sterling Swift Software, 8901 Granada Hills Dr., Austin, TX
78737-1450.
Software to Help Writers Analyze Style/Mechanics/Usage
EDIT!
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EDIT! checks documents written with its own internal word-processing
program and documents generated by other programs. EDIT! has
four levels: word, sentence, and paragraph levels and an overall
level, checking topic and concluding statements for sentence length,
variety, and idea development, asking "post-write" questions,
and displaying statistics.
McGraw-Hill, 11 West 19th St., New York, NY 10011; (800) 262-4729.
EDITOR (IBM/MS-DOS only)
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EDITOR is the Modern Language Association's stand-alone, menu-driven
style and usage checker. Developed by Elaine and John Thiesmeyer,
EDITOR reads and analyzes errors in punctuation, mechanics, and
spelling (nonstandard spellings and colloquialisms not caught
by most spell checkers), using four separate usage dictionaries--FIX,
TIGHTEN, POLISH, and CONSIDER.
TASL, Box 8202, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
27695-8202; (800) 955-8275.
GRAMMATIK IV
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GRAMMATIK IV 2.0 reads text, comparing each word against its collection
of rules for grammar, style, punctuation, and spelling, offering
advice and suggestions for revision. The writing styles can be
adjusted from business and technical to general and informal.
GRAMMATIK IV works by hot key within most of the popular word-processing
programs.
Reference Software, 333 Townsend St., San Francisco, CA 94107;
(800) 872- 9933.
RIGHTWRITER 4.0
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RIGHTWRITER flags errors in punctuation, grammar, usage and style
by producing a copy of the original document, analyzing the text,
and displaying the copy marked with explanations. RIGHTWRITER
4.0 has a hot key interface with nine popular word-processing
programs to simplify the process of moving from original to copy,
marking the copy, editing the marked copy, and exiting with a
clean copy. An electronic edition of Strunk and White's Elements
of Style is included as a bonus.
QUE Software, Prentice-Hall, 11711 N. College Ave., Carmel,
IN 46032; (800) 428-5331.
WRITER'S WORKBENCH (IBM/MS-DOS only)
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The AT&T WRITER'S WORKBENCH is a Collegiate Edition of the
style-checking program developed by AT&T Bell Laboratories
and tested at Colorado State University. WRITER'S WORKBENCH includes
13 programs whose names indicate their focus-- "Organization,"
"Development," "Findbe," "Diction &
Suggest," "Vagueness," "Spell," "Check"
(for troublesome pairs such as affect and effect), "Punctuation,"
"Grammar," "Prose" (comparisons), "Style"
(analysis), and "Abstract" (words or phrases).
AT&T, P. O. Box 19901, Indianapolis, IN 46219; (800) 432-6600.
Software to Offer On-Line Reference Guides
AMERICAN ENGLISH WRITING GUIDE
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AMERICAN ENGLISH WRITING GUIDE is an on-line reference handbook
with pop-up, pull-down menus and search capability.
Nova Development, 23801 Calabasas Rd., Suite 2005, Calabasas,
CA 91302; (800) 950-6682.
BORZOI ON-LINE HANDBOOK FOR WRITERS (IBM/MS-DOS only)
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BORZOI ON-LINE HANDBOOK FOR WRITERS is a memory-resident program
that provides access to information contained in the printed version
of the Borzoi Handbook. Designed by David Roberts, the
main menus offer selections based on the types of writing errors
that first-year college students make most often, while the secondary
menu selections are headings from the printed handbook and contain
page references should further explanation be required.
McGraw-Hill, 11 W. 19th St., New York, NY 10011; (800) 262-4729.
EDITORIAL ADVISOR (Macintosh only)
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EDITORIAL ADVISOR is a fully indexed and hierarchically linked
on-line reference handbook that can be customized to include notes
and editorial policies to establish individual style sheets.
Petroglyph, 123 Townsend, Suite 345, San Francisco, CA 94107;
(415) 979-0588.
GRAMPOP (IBM/MS-DOS only)
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GRAMPOP is a memory-resident program designed to provide answer
questions of grammar and usage. The program is modeled upon and
contains specific references to the Harbrace College Handbook.
Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 301 Commerce St., Suite 3700,
Fort Worth, TX 76102; (800) 237-2665.
RESIDENT EXPERT FOR EFFECTIVE WRITING
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RESIDENT EXPERT FOR EFFECTIVE WRITING is a memory-resident program
containing advice on matters of punctuation, grammar, organization,
and style. Its main menus offer a list of key words, from which
hypertext links allow users to navigate through a series of highlighted
key words to find explanations and examples. RESIDENT EXPERT
includes an on-line almanac of facts and statistics gathered from
geography, history, math, science, language, and technology.
Parsons Technology, One Parsons Dr., P. O. Box 100, Hiawatha,
IA 52233-0100; (800) 223-6925.
Software to Author Multimedia Courseware
AUTHORWARE PROFESSIONAL
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AUTHORWARE PROFESSIONAL is a program providing multimedia capabilities
for interactive teaching--such asdigitized sound, data-driven
animation, and video interface. The authoring system uses a graphics-based,
visual tool kit and depicts the branching alternatives with flow
charts.
Telespectrum, Inc., 190 Admiral Cochrane Dr., Suite 100, Annapolis,
MD 21401; (800) 828-6067.
GUIDE 2.0 (Macintosh only)
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GUIDE is an authoring system that creates courseware using text,
graphics, and images to present computer-based instruction, including
drivers for videodisc and CD ROM.
Owl International, 2800 156th Ave. S. E., Bellevue, WA 98007;
(206) 747-3203.
HYPERCARD (Macintosh only)
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HYPERCARD is the Macintosh hypertext authoring program that creates
stacks of cards that can be read by another in much the same way
that index cards can be read and sorted into stacks. Once stacks
are created users can manipulate them in any fashion imaginable,
including adding comments to the cards and creating links between
items on the cards or in the stacks. The authoring program includes
HYPERTALK, an English-like scripting language.
Apple Computer,
20525 Mariani Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014; (800) 538-9696.
LINKWAY LIVE! (IBM/MS-DOS only)
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LINKWAY LIVE! is IBM's multimedia authoring program that creates
linked files which can be selected by on-screen buttons and pop-up
and pull-down menus. LINKWAY LIVE! includes features found in
other LINKWAY versions (paint program, text editor, font editor,
and demonstration folders) and also supports both analog and digital
full-motion video with device-independent digital sound support.
IBM, Multimedia & Education Division, 4111 Northside Pkwy.,
Atlanta, GA 30327; (800) 426-9402.
MULTIMEDIA TOOLBOOK (IBM/MS-DOS only)
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TOOLBOOK AND MULTIMEDIA RESOURCE KIT, collectively referred to
as MULTIMEDIA TOOLBOOK, is an authoring package for developing
multimedia software that uses OPENSCRIPT, an English-like scripting
language similar to HYPERTALK. MULTIMEDIA TOOLBOOK supports a
variety of formats for the importing and exporting of text and
data.
Asymetrix, One-Ten 110th Ave. N. E., Suite 717, Bellevue, WA
98004; (800) 624-8999, x299, and (206) 637-1500.
QUEST 3.0 (IBM/MS-DOS only)
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QUEST AUTHORING SYSTEM is a program to create courseware using
video, audio, and graphics to present computer-based learning
and interactive video.
Allen Communication, 5225 Wiley Post Way, Salt Lake City, UT
84116; (800) 325-7850.
Software to Help Assess Writers
GRADY PROFILE--portfolio assessment (Macintosh only)
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GRADY PROFILE creates a portfolio for assessment of individual
students, storing text, sound, and image data in hypertext stacks.
Scanners and microphone peripherals allow the GRADY PROFILE to
include oral readings and handwritten samples as part of the portfolio.
Although the assessment checklist included in the package was
developed for grades pre-K to 8, the rest of the features in the
GRADY PROFILE could be used at any level and could be adapted
to allow students to assemble their own portfolios.
Aurbach & Associates, 8233 Tulane Ave., St. Louis, MO
63132-5019; (314) 726-5933.
James Strickland is a Professor of English at
Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania.