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The Internet is alive and well. It was not invented, as sometimes rumored, by Al Gore, but government contracts played an important role in its establishment. Millions of computers connect to it every day, including many in schools and colleges and homes. I'm connected right now, and so are you. That's a brief summary. But that's not exactly what this article is about.

One of my students this summer works as an intern at an advertising agency. Her supervisor asked her to do some research on the fashion trends in Shanghai, as part of their work for a new client. "Do you know anything about Shanghai?" she asked me during a break in class. I told her what I remembered from my visit in 1980, but suggested that things had changed quite a bit since then. She told me she had until the next morning to prepare her briefing. I suggested she use the World Wide Web to learn as much as she could about the city, and its current trends.

At the next break, she returned with some more pointed questions:

• How is Shanghai different from other cities in China?
• Why does downtown Shanghai look like Chicago? (She had found a picture of the Bund.)
• How can I find out about China's fashion industry?

She had evidently done some online homework during class. In response, I gave her a brief rundown on China's history and geography, explained the western influence in China (especially Shanghai) during the first part of the 20th century, and suggested she talk to a fellow student who recently arrived in Boston from China. I also suggested that she continue her online research with a new focus on key words such as western influence and Shanghai fashion. Apparently this approach worked, for by the end of the day she showed me an illustrated briefing on Shanghai fashion trends, of about three pages, suitable for submission to her supervisor.

In today's business world, this kind of briefing, developed chiefly online, is standard fare. To help our students learn how to build them, we should consider making the Internet briefing a regular part of the curriculum. The same process of questioning, researching, and organizing information quickly and pointedly can be applied to history, literature, science, and the arts as well as to fashions in Shanghai. An Internet briefing is a short, focused summary of an issue, event, or person, developed mostly with online sources, in a limited period of time. Creating one is a good way to exercise a student's research, thinking, and writing skills.

Limit the Topic

It's tough to develop an Internet briefing on a broad topic such as the history of warfare. Better topics would be the Popes of Avignon, or animals in E.B. White's stories or the invention of the electron microscope. The topic must be narrow enough to allow quick understanding and summary in a short period of time. It should also be a topic for which information is available online. It's best if it's not one that has been covered before, and not part of the students' general knowledge -- it should require some new information not already available.

Provide a Structure

Describe for students what the completed briefing should contain. Distribute some exemplary briefings that show the extent, style and structure of what you expect. The structure might be outlined as:

1. A topic sentence that sets forth the main idea.
2. Five paragraphs that provide background, examples, and illustrations.
3. A paragraph or two of analysis and evaluation of the examples.
4. A paragraph listing the sources consulted.

Suggest a Method

Most students have never developed an Internet briefing, and so will need guidance in how to proceed. Here's a set of steps that can be applied to most any topic:

Consult a general, trusted source

Don't start with a keyword search engine. Go first to an online encyclopedia, or respected online textbook in the field, a source which will summarize the issue or topic and perhaps put it in the context of its background and history. Your class startup page (see the article in this series An Educational Startup Page) should provide links to some of these. Learn the who, what, why, when and how of the topic you have been assigned.

Browse a directory

Use an Internet directory such as Yahoo, that organizes web sites by topic. Find the category where your topic appears, and examine the other entries in this category. This will help provide context and examples for your briefing. For instance, follow the Yahoo directory to Society and Culture > Religion > Catholic > People > Popes, and you will see a listing of many sites that include the history of the pontiff, a useful background to the topic described earlier. Visit some of these sites to better understand the history of the papacy. Make note of any references to your topic. Note also any key terms that you may want to search with.

Ask around, look around

An Internet briefing is not restricted exclusively to online research. As my student did, ask people who might have some knowledge of the topic to describe the general situation as they understand it. This can be done in person, on the phone, or by email. If it's possible and convenient, make a quick trip to the library, looking especially to respected reference books that will help you understand the topic in general terms. (Ask a librarian!)Again, collect a list of key search terms that interest you about the topic.

Focus your Search

You should by now be armed with enough background to conduct a more focused search on the Web. Use the search terms that you have collected with one of the Web search engines such as Google. Use the advanced search feature to target your research. For instance, you might use the entire phrase E.B. White, AND the terms spider, mouse, and swan, to find only those documents that refer to many of the author's animals at once.

Collect your Findings

As you search, skim what you uncover. When you find a page or paragraph that's especially relevant to your assignment, read it carefully. If it provides an example or illustration for your briefing, copy and paste it to a Word document. As you find focused resources, your Word document -- your notes -- will grow into a valuable collection of ideas and facts. Don't forget to copy and paste the URL's of each source, along with the content, so you can cite it later.

Look for an Angle

After a session of searching, step back and survey what you have found. Read through your Word document. Do you spot any trends, any interesting contrasts, any provocative insights, any clear categories? These can become the organizational principles of your briefing. For instance, you might discover a parallel simultaneous development, in both Europe and the United States, of the electron microscope, with both continents claiming the credit. This competition can help you organize and present the examples in your briefing. You might also uncover an apt metaphor, or a sequence of events that makes a good story.

Outline your Ideas

In a new Word document, use your angle to outline your ideas in order, like this:

1. The schism in church governance: why, who and where
2. The two seats of power: Rome and Avignon
3. The power of Popes before, during, and after the split.

For each idea, copy and paste an example or two from your notes. Read through this embellished outline. Then sit down with a friend and tell him the story, orally, from your notes. Ask for suggestions on making it better.

Write the Briefing

Remembering what you said to your friend, write a paragraph for each point in your outline. Write your own words; do not copy and paste from your notes. Instead, summarize the examples your sources provide. When you're done, read it over to yourself. Now go back and ask yourself, after all this, What's my main idea here? Take your answer to that question and write it as your topic sentence. Read through your briefing once more. Ask yourself, So what? Take your answer to that question and write it as your closing sentence. Don't forget to list your sources at the end.

That, in brief, is the process for creating an Internet briefing. It can be done in conjunction with most any content area and can prepare students for writing longer and in-depth research projects. It develops online literacy, research and analysis skills, and prepares students for the kind of project production they will be asked to do out in the "real world"!

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