Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

Revision as of 15:05, 22 November 2006

AWE - a guide to Academic Writing in English

Welcome to this new project. For a brief account, go to the introductory page (click on the the words 'introductory page'; and see below). This (Main) page now gives some first (minimal) advice on using the database.

For guidance on a specific point of English usage, use the search pane, which is the second 'box' in the navigation column on the left. This will find any article that has been written - or it will return "this page has not been written yet". Currently only a very few people are allowed to edit (inluding writing) such pages. Search in the usual way; but search terms including certain common words (like 'the' and 'of') report "no pages". So don't include them in your search.

If you enter a mis-spelling, or one term commonly mistaken for another, the database will try to find an article that puts you in touch with the correct advice. (See for example Britian.) This is currently in a very early stage, and reports of any search you have made (within the data already entered) using an intuitive search term which led nowhere will be welcomed.

The word Britian above was blue. Clicking on a blue link takes you to a page which has been written. (Blue-ish purple mrans the page has been written, and has already been consulted by you today.) A red link takes you to a page that hasn't been written yet, but is intended. (Reddish purple means an unwritten page you've already tried to consult.) You may browse the database by using such links - especially the blue ones! A link to a web address takes you to another database on the web (so far, all connected with Wikis).

There are various lists of what is here that may help the curious. To access these, go to the toolbox (the third box in the column on the left) and click on Special pages. All pages will show you what has been done so far; Wanted pages lists the red links, articles that are intended but not yet entered into the database. Categories shows groups of articles linked by themes such as Abbreviations. (A band at the bottom of each article lists the categories to which it belongs. Clicking on these is another way to browse the database. There is also a list of Wanted categories available on Special pages. (If you want to check on how I am spending my time, you may click on the Recent Changes link in the Navigation box.)

For more, click on Searching AWE, links or categories. If these are still red, please be patient.