University of North Carolina Writing Center--Hand-Out's

The Writing Center Hand-Outs web page of UNC is an excellent writing tool.  It is divided into four sections; "Writing the Paper", "Citation, Style, and Sentence Level concerns", "Specific Writing Assignments/ Contexts", and "Writing for a Specific Field." (University of North Carolina)  These main sections are divided into several sub-sections which address specific issues and concerns a student writer may have.

The information in the sub-sections is organized in note-style-format, utilizing bolded or colored font, indenting to make different points, etc.  The information is straight forward and easy to read, as is the website's design.  On each sub-section page the other categories of information are still available in a small columned list on the right hand side of the page.  There aren't any advertisements, graphics or pictures on the page, making for a distractionless navigation.

The content addresses everything from "writing anxiety" to "citation resources," and offers it's own answers, as well as consultation from other resources within the UNC library's database. (University of North Carolina)

A possibly negative aspect of the site, however, is that it's only copyrighted up to 2007 and claims to have been last updated in October of that year, though it hosts a link to the 2010 calendars.

Link #1
http://www.lib.unc.edu/house/citationbuilder/
  This page offers a citation style similiar to the easybib.com website.  It uses a plug-in method, saving time by cutting out formatting. It creates MLA, APA, Chicago Style CSE and, CBE style citations, for a variety of sources.

Link #2
Fall 2010 
  This link downloads a copy of the UNC academic year calendar in Microsoft Word, a useful tool when  considering paper deadlines, as well as writing down appointments that may be scheduled on another section of the UNC website. The calendar is in a printer-friendly format, and condenses the fall semester on one grid/page, which may be more or less helpful depending on it's use.


Link #3
email us
This link opens whatever is the default e-mail program on a users computer, and (depending on computer settings) will bring up an option box for g-mail, hotmail, etc.  It gives the user an option to provide "feedback" and "suggestions." (University of North Carolina) 


Overall the site lacks a bias and has a wealth of well organized, in depth information. It is clearly divided into specific groups of information, all on the home page.  There are help/assistance links at the top that are easily visible, and the content anticipates questions and issues.


                                                                      Works Cited:
Writing Center Handouts." Home | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Web. 28 Sept.
2010. <http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/>.