REU 2009 Web Stuff

Contents

  1. Daily Research Log (virtual lab notes)
  2. Your REU Web Page
  3. Final Research Presentation

1. Daily Research Log (Virtual Lab Notes)

Purpose

Online documentation of your research methods and results serves multiple purposes:

Approach

The best web page editor for our purposes is available from the Mozilla project, which is the group that has developed the  Firefox web browser.  Information on this editor is available on line at http://www.mozilla.org/editor.  This software has been installed for your use on the solar-group server filament.     Alternatively, you can download it and use it on your own computer (Windows, MacOS, or Linux) from http://www.seamonkey-project.org/, where it is a component of the SeaMonkey suite of applications.  This editor is flexible; it may be used either as a simple WYSIWYG editor, or as a simple HTML tag (command) editor, which allows you to get off to a quick start with the WYSIWYG editor, and teach yourself HTML tags later (if you choose).

Sample daily research Log

Good examples of daily research logs include:
/home/www/reu/2006/emclind/daily_log.html
/home/www/reu/2006/jmaxwell/daily_log.html

You may want to supplement your online log with a paper lab notebook.  Talk to your REU mentor about the tradeoff between online and paper notes, and the differing purposes of each.

Specific instructions for creating your research log

When you are ready to add to your daily research log, say on the next day:

Teach yourself HTML

The easiest way to learn Hypertext Markup Language is to combine the reference material listed below with the use of  Mozilla on filament. 
Note that mozilla's Composer window has, at the bottom, several tabs for alternate displays:
Normal: the default WYSIWYG display
HTML Tags: the normal window with a graphical display identifying where there are HTML tags (commands) that do not appear in the Normal display
Source: The raw source code, editable with Composer or your favorite unix editor
Preview: a window that shows what a browser (e.g., Ice Ape) will display

Reference material

2. Your REU Web Page

Purpose

Your REU web page can serve several purposes:

Approach

Use the same editor/browser approach as you did for your daily log.   Your REU web page file should be named index.html in your REU web directory, i.e.,  /home/www/reu/2009/your_login_name/index.html

Sample REU web pages


Some good examples of REU web pages, from the point of view of the Purposes listed above, are

/home/www/reu/2006/jmaxwell/index.html
/home/www/reu/2006/cfordyce/index.html

3. Final Research Presentation


Purpose

Your final REU research presentation serves several purposes:

Approach


As before, the approach here is to use mozilla on filament to develop platform-independent html files that will work fine with the projection system in EPS 258 and will look good on line (remember -- that means DON'T use Microsoft Powerpoint!)  A template is available that ensures that the page dimensions are correct, and you do not need to develop any new html skills -- what you learned for doing your on-line research notes and personal web page is probably all you need.  Here are the steps to follow:

Sample REU Final Research Presentation

A good example of a well-organized directory structure is:
/home/www/reu/2006/jmaxwell/presentation
Good examples of final research presentations are
/home/www/reu/2006/emclind/final_presentation.html
/home/www/reu/2006/arussell/pres.html