This first assignment is to be completed before February 23, when we will have completed the Yvain. You would do well to do this assignment sooner rather than later.

For any work that you will do in the Lab (2S-114), you will need to choose your password. If you do not have an e-mail address, you should make sure that you get one from the lab. If you have a non-CSI e-mail address, you can surf the net from home and use that e-mail address, but you should get an e-mail address at the lab as well, since you will then be able to check the mail that others in the class send you (there is a page for our class with everyone's address listed).

Remember to bring a formatted 3.5" floppy disk with you to save your bookmarks for future reference.

The purpose of this assignment is to begin to get you familiar with some of the resources for Medieval Studies that exist on the World Wide Web and to use and manipulate your e-mail accounts. You will also learn how to save your own personal "Bookmarks" file so that you don't have to retype all those complicated addresses into the "locate" line each and every time you want to connect to a site.

Begin with my home page (indicated on the syllabus and which you saw in the lab during our orientation). Begin to explore some of the links from the "Medieval Internet" section as well as some of the links listed for the Middle Ages on our SLS home page. Select a subject about which you're interested in finding out more information. Try to find the site, for instance, that has photos of Broc‚liande forest (that's mentioned in the Yvain). Curious about Merlin? Use the "Search" mechanisms at the Labyrinth site to find out how you can get more information. Want to read something about Daily Life in the Middle Ages? Go to the Sourcebook created by Paul Halsall, or the links created on the page for the course in Medieval Technology and Everyday Life offered by Paul Gans. See if you can find the Camelot Project home page and look closely at Arthur on the Wheel of Fortune. Explore. Be adventurous. Make new discoveries that you can share with all of us! And don't forget to save those bookmarks! If you find a site that hasn't been listed as a direct link on any of my pages or our SLS class pages, note the address and make it a candidate for inclusion (see instructions below for what you will do with this information once you have explored the net for a while).

Make some notes about what you've found, problems encountered, discoveries, etc.. Then, send me an e-mail reporting your trip into cyberspace. Tell me about what you've found. Say "hi." Send a note to a friend in class sharing some of your experiences. Remember, you can also use your e-mail to ask me questions, seek advice, or just generally moan and groan (in limited quantities, please!). Your messages should explain what you found of interest and why it is interesting. Do not send a message merely stating, "this site was cool," or "this site was interesting." Explain why; justify your answer. If you'd like to have a particular site you explored listed as an individual link for our class, explain why you think so. We will then have a vote after others have had a chance to explore your choices.

NOTE: If you are unfamiliar with computers, go to the lab with a partner who has had some experience and then explore on your own and send an individual message. While all this is going on, I will be compiling a mailing list for the class of everyone's e-mail addresses (including those who have non-CSI accounts) so that we can send out announcements to everyone with just one message. This will help us in the "voting" process for other sites to be included on our pages.