Why Should Writers Care About OWLs?

Although Online Writing Labs or OWLs are developed by various universities around the world, they provide valuable resources for all types of writers.

Owls offer information similar to the tips I wrote about in my last feature Working With Words: The Basics …

From web-readable brochures to online tutorials, these labs offer a wide range of helpful tips on grammar, punctuation, writing style, and more related topics.

Be sure to check out my new subtopic ONLINE WRITING LABs at – http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art7321.asp.

I chose the top ten based on the quality and quantity of information that anyone (not just students at your university) can access online.

Lynchburg College in Virginia offers an online guide that covers topics such as: Writing a document; Choose a topic; Creative writing in non-fiction; Free writing; Review of your article; Use schemes to organize; and successful business writing. The Lynchburg Writing Center also offers online questionnaires to assess your ability to accurately use modifiers, verbs, commas, and similar topics related to grammar and punctuation.

The Writing Center at the University of Toledo in Ohio offers information such as: a checklist to improve and evaluate your writing; Commonly confusing words; Literary terms; Technical terms; Helpful transitions; Write a review of a book or a movie; and writing coherent paragraphs.

Numerous brochures with tips on grammar, mechanics, writing, proofreading, business writing, and research tips are accessible on the Eastern Illinois University Writing Center website.

Although the University of Toronto website is titled “Tips on Academic Writing,” some of the information provided may be useful to almost any writer. It is worth consulting topics such as: development of coherent paragraphs; Read and use fonts; How to get the most out of reading; Research using the Internet; A system for dealing with new words while reading; How not to plagiarize; Standard documentation formats; The review of the book and the criticism of the article; Style and edition; Use of the computer to improve your writing; and unbiased language.

The University of Wisconsin developed a manual that any online writer can view on their website. This manual provides helpful tips on topics ranging from academic writing to grammar and style.

“The Information Stop” at the George Mason University Writing Center features a detailed list of links to writing guides on topics such as: grammar and punctuation; the writing process; specialized writing; specific forms of writing; and specific writing situations. GMU’s OWL is one of several centers that has a “grammar hotline,” which allows people to call in writing experts who can answer almost any question regarding grammar rules.

The Tidewater Community College Writing Center in Virginia, which offers many “self-help” brochures online, also publishes a printed directory and website with an excellent list of names, phone numbers, and URLs of grammar hotlines at the whole country. You can find this list on the university’s website. “The Write Place Catalog,” which is produced by St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, is perhaps one of the most comprehensive OWL guides on the web. This helpful help covers a wide range of more than 100 specifics within many topics including: business writing; Developing; Grammar; Online sources; Organization and Cohesion; The writing process; Punctuation; Resumes and cover letters; Sentence structure; Style; and types of writing. Another popular OWL created by the Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute offers many brochures on a variety of topics such as: Dating Styles; APA and MLA styles; Prose review; Thesis writing; Definition techniques; Fair gender language; Writing styles; Critics; Memos; and presentations.

The RPI website also features a long list of links to other online resources for writers. And last, but certainly not least, the OWL at Purdue University is a must-see for writers seeking help online. The Purdue Writing Lab is easy to navigate and seems to provide more brochures on the web than any other OWL. I counted more than 300 links to page (s) with information on topics within major categories such as: General writing concerns; Grammar, spelling, and punctuation; Research and documentation sources; Business writing; Write on and with the Internet; and searching the World Wide Web. Purdue’s extensive website offers much more than writing tips with features like a list of “Search Engines and Directories”, a collection of “Online (writing) resources” and links to other OWLs.

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