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Archived: HCI Remixed: Process , Mechanics and Resources
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Page Contents
The Process
Mechanics: Essay Structure, Content and Format
Resources: formatting template, permission forms, etc.
The Process
- Think about what you want to write about.
We have provided quite a bit of guidance about the style of the essay, how to go about selecting what to write about, and the sort of content we're looking for on the About the Project page. - Check the list of what other people are writing about.
As you ponder what to write about, you might want to look over the (frequently changing) list of what other people have said they are going to write about. While we're not going to prohibit two essays on the same piece of work, we will want to make sure that they have sufficiently distinct perspectives to be of interest. - Send a statement of interest to project@hciremixed.org by May 19, 2006 [extended from May 12, 2006].
Your statement of interest should contain
(1) contact information,
(2) the title and author of the piece of work you propose to write about, and
(3) a paragraph of 250-500 words on what you'd say about it.
You are welcome to provide multiple instances of (2) and (3) -- this is good idea if you're having trouble making a decision, or are choosing something that may be popular (even if it has not yet shown up on our list). If you do provide more than one choice, please indicate which is your most preferred. We encourage you to provide this information as ordinary text in the body of your email, rather than putting it in an attached document which we then have to avoid losing! - We will reply with feedback as soon as possible.
We will do our best to reply within a few days, but if there is a flurry of submissions, there may be a bit of a lag. This is one reason for trying to get a statement of interest to us in advance of our deadline. (Another reason is that once we get a statement of interest, your choice will go on "already taken works" list, which will discourage (but not prohibit) others from choosing it.) - Write the essay.
Yes, easier said than done, but we hope that writing something like this -- a brief, reflective, personal essay about a piece of work that has enthused or inspired you -- will not be too hard, and may well be fun. - Prepare a properly formatted and polished version of your essay [essay format template ]
Because of the volume of essays we expect to be dealing with, and the publishing schedule, we need to receive submissions that are already in the appropriate format, and nearly final in their content. With regard to the format, please use the essay format template we've prepared (in MS Word format), or replicate it in your preferred word processor. If your essay contains images or drawings, you should check out the MIT Press Art Guidlines. - Prepare a cover sheet [cover sheet template]
It should include:
(1) Your name as you would like it to appear in the published work
(2) The word count for the essay, including references and notes, but not including the cover sheet.
(3) Essay title (no more than 15 to 20 words, and shorter and punchier is better)
(4)Your institution (no group name), city, state, country
(5) Your email address (and preferably a backup email address)
(6) Your long term mailing address (for publisher's use)
(7) Telephone and fax numbers (for editors use)
(8) A list of 15 words for an index: no more than 5 should be proper nouns; the others should be content-oriented terms (you can assume that the names of the author(s) of the work you're writing about will automatically be included) - Submit your essay and cover sheet to project@hciremixed.org by June 23, 2006.
Please attach the cover sheet and essay as separate files, and name them <lastname>_<initials>_coversheet.doc <lastname>_<initials>_essay.doc
- We will aim to send out accept/reject decisions sometime the week of July 10, 2006.
- Authors of accepted papers will need to complete a contributing author's letter of agreement and deal with image permissions (if any)
If your essay is accepted for the book, you will need to print, sign and mail a conributing author's letter of agreement. If your essay contains images, you are responsible for obtaining all permissions [Reprint permission form], and following the MIT Press Art guidelines [Art Guidelines]
Mechanics: Essay Structure, Content and Format
Most essays will consist of up to three sections: (1) the body of the essay (2) endnotes (if any) (3) references. The length of the essay should be up to about 1800 words. Shorter is OK; appreciably longer is not. See the other page -- About the Project -- for advice on content.
The format is fully described in the essay format template mentioned elsewhere on this page. But the basics are these:
- All text elements – notes, references, block quotations, and figure captions – should be double-spaced. The type size for all elements is at least 12 point and margins should be 1.5 inches on all sides. Do not justify the text.
- Most text should be in Times New Roman, 12 point, or a similar typeface. Please indent paragraphs half an inch.
- Headings may not be necessary at all in the body of your essay, but if you do use them we strongly encourage you to use no more than two levels. Headings should be Arial Black, or an equivalent sans serif boldface font: 1st level headings should be 14 points; second level headings should be 12 points.
- Long quotations should be indented half an inch from each margin in a block, and in italics (in Times New Roman, 12 point).
- Notes, figures, tables, etc. should compiled at the end of each essay. Do not print notes at the bottom of the page; do not embed figures, tables, etc. in the text. Remember that notes must be in 12-point type and double-spaced. Double-number figures and tables using chapter and figure or table number; use X as a placeholder for the chapter number (e.g., figure x.1, figure x.2, table x.1, etc.).
- References should be done according to the Chicago Manual of Style Author-Date system. In-text citations take the form of (author, 2006), and references should be alphabetized in the reference section. For examples of reference formats see http://www.libs.uga.edu/ref/chicago.html#authordate
Resources
For Statement of Interest
For Essay Submission
- Essay format template
- Essay cover sheet template
- Chicago manual of style for reference formats: http://www.libs.uga.edu/ref/chicago.html#authordate
For Accepted Essays
- Contributing author's letter of agreement
- MIT Press Art Guidelines (for images, drawings, etc.)
- Reprint permission form (for images, drawings, etc)
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Page Change History
- 01 June 2006: Added note regarding number of items in the index
- 25 May 2006: Minor changes to headings and navigation structure
- 23 May 2006: Fixed typo in MIT Press Guidelines URL
- 20 May 2006: A few minor edits for clarity
- 21 April 2006: Added note that people listing multiple choices on their statement of interest indicate which, if any, is the preferred one.
- 17 April 2006: Process and format information combined; site restructured.
- 28 Feb 2006: Original material
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