While completing Project 1 I felt like XML was a hindrance to my writing process as I constantly had to stop and consider which element or attribute best fit each part of the annotation. I often found that parts of the annotation could be categorized as either a general summary definition, an approach or some combination of both. The mark-up schema was useful for ensuring I completed all required parts for each citation, but this could have been achieved by following a checklist and completing this assignment in a standard word processing format. The mark-up schema made the annotations somewhat choppy as it was difficult to add sentences that allowed for transition between two sections as they did not often fit well within an element.
XML proved to be a fairly straightforward mark-up system and I was able to navigate fairly easily with very little prior experience working with similar technology. I found that the hardest part of the technology was understanding how to sync Oxygen and Github and upload my completed file. However, this should be much easier in the future now that I have done it once.
The schema proved to be somewhat restrictive as I was writing the annotated bibliography as some types of writing, such as research reports or a thesis had not been defined within the schema, but this could be easily resolved by adding those types into the element. While developing the schema in class, I believed that the more specific the schema could be the easier it would be to create the bibliography. I found that the broader types of elements that were built into the schema allowed for an easier flow of writing as I was not worried about the constraints imposed by the schema.
I believe the social action of the genre of an annotated bibliography is for the author who cited the sources to provide some justification as to why he thought they were valuable to reference in their work. The short annotations along with the citations allow the audience some insight into the author’s thought process as they developed their project and the arguments they attempt to make in their piece of writing.
Oxygen is a fairly straightforward system to use and I believe their is some benefit to the development of a schema before beginning a writing project in order to create a basic outline for that piece of work. However, I do not believe actually writing the project in Oxygen has any added benefit after the initial schema is created.
