About the Bergen Community College Online Writing Lab

Background
In 1998, the BCC OWL started as a sabbatical project of a faculty member in the English Department to serve as a repository of online materials related to reading and writing. The ultimate goal of the project was to develop an online space where all members of Bergen Community College could contribute and access useful materials related to writing. This "barrier-free" Web site was developed with U.S. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act's Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards in mind. The interface of the site was tested and revised as a result of focus groups conducted in a variety of English classes.

Experience writing as a recursive process!
We know that not all writers go about writing in the same way. We do think that writers experience certain stages while developing a written work. Writers might jump around among these stages in the course of writing a paper. This site is organized according to those stages: discovering, researching, developing, revising and using resources. You can start using the site at whatever stage you think will be useful.

• In-Sites for Discovering explores the ways purpose affects your writing. This section contains numerous links about how to write essays in different subjects. It also connects you to ideas on getting started, taking notes, and developing a thesis. It also has helpful links on writing resumes and cover letters.
• In-Sites for Researching will connect you to libraries, search engines, bookstores and other resources for doing research on the Internet, including how to search for books, periodicals, and Web sites.
• In-Sites for Developing will link to specific help on organizing your ideas and integrating sources into your writing. It will also connect to strategies to help you expand your ideas.
• In-Sites for Revising will help you read over your writing from different perspectives. It contains links about outlining, checklists for revising your work, useful resources for improving grammar, and important information about how to avoid plagiarism.
• In-Sites for Resources is full of specialized links for ESL students and students with disabilities. There are also links about using MLA format for documentation.
• In-Sites for Teacher Resources is full of resources for teachers, including materials developed by faculty at Bergen Community College.  English Department faculty are also encouraged to visit the English Department Resource Envelope for materials.

Please report any broken links on this site to owl@bergen.edu.

If you are a faculty member at BCC and you have any Web pages, links, PowerPoints, or other teaching materials that you would like to see added to this site, please email the site's Web goddesses, Judi Davis (jdavis@bergen.edu) or Leigh Jonaitis (ljonaitis@bergen.edu).