MUSE/ENGR 11BReading a Scholarly Article Anagnos

Assignment Due Date: MondayOctober 16, 2006

Goals
The goalof this homework assignment is to practice some of the skills that are the foundation of scholarly research. These include:

  • Searching for articles or books using the library catalog and databases
  • Reading and summarizing portions of a scholarly article
  • Giving an oral presentation on a topic

Resources for this assignment:

Perkins, J. B., Chakos, A., Olson, R. A., Tobin, T., & Turner, F. (2006). A retrospective on the 1906 earthquake's impact on Bay Area and California public policy. Earthquake Spectra. 22, S237-S259.

Reitherman, R. (2006).The effects of the 1906 earthquake in California on research and education. Earthquake Spectra. 22, S207-S236.

Assignment

This assignment is to be completed with a partner. Partners should have been selected last Wednesday in class.

With your partner, choose a section of one of the two papers listed above, on which you and your partner would like to become experts.Read the section in the paper and find at least one other non-internet source (could be a newspaper article, a magazine, a scholarly article, a book section, etc.) to help you learn more about this topic. If you want, you can start from some of the resources that are cited in the article you are reading.

Be prepared to present to the class what you have learned on Monday October 16.

Potential topics you might choose include but are not limited to:

  • Earthquake insurance
  • Decisions local, state, and federal officials must make following disasters
  • Development of earthquake resistant construction and/or seismic building codes
  • The impact of the Long Beach earthquake on school safety and the Field Act and Riley Act
  • The role of Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) in a regional view of seismic hazard
  • The impact of the San Fernando earthquake on the Alquist–Priolo Act and/or the Hospital Seismic Safety Act
  • The Seismic Safety Commission
  • Government seismic safety policies in recent years (2005 and after)
  • The importance of the Lawson Report in understanding the 1906 earthquake and subsequently the mechanisms that generate earthquakes
  • Influences of Japanese earthquakes on research in the United States
  • Influence of the 1906 earthquake on developing the seismograph and ultimately the Richter magnitude scale
  • Establishment and continued work of the Seismological Society of America

Deliverables

You and your partner should write a short summary (a couple of paragraphs) of what you have learned and include the reference list at the end of your summary. In your summary, use the APA style to give appropriate credit to your sources. For example, if you are using information from the policy paper listed above, you would use (Perkins et al, 2006) to cite your source.

Provide a short, no more than five minute presentation on your topic to the class. If you think it would be helpful, feel free to provide handouts. I would prefer that the presentations are delivered in a discussion mode, rather than using Powerpoint.

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