College students spend many hours researching, writing and editing their term papers. Yet, their work is often seen by only one other person -- the professor who assigned the project.

But that's not the case in Bill Dalton's English 104 class, a composition and rhetoric course at DePaul University. Dalton teaches students to turn their research into cyberspace "museums," available for viewing by a world-wide audience of Internet surfers.

Students choose their own research subjects and spend 10 weeks finding sources, analyzing information and constructing web museums. The project combines traditional term paper methods, such as library research, expert interviews and bibliography building, with new technology including electronic database searches and multimedia presentation.

Students don't need special computer knowledge to open a museum because Dalton teaches them web page-making skills. The technology allows students to present their findings in text, photos, audio clips, graphics and hyperlinks to related Internet resources and information. The museums also encourage feedback from visitors by including students' names and e-mail addresses.

"The museum concept forces students to think more thoroughly about how they present their findings to others," Dalton said.

"Students have to create an entrance to the museum that attracts visitors and leads them on a path through the various exhibits."

"Before, students thought they were only writing for me," Dalton said. "Now they have to think more about the audience for their work and take into account people's interests and background."

Dalton's students also work hard to refine their museums because he warns them that any spelling errors or inaccuracies could be seen by anyone in the world with a computer and modem. "I also tell them that if they do the job beautifully, someone can see the page and benefit," he added.

One student who has seen her museum help someone is Julia Pesek, who posted her class research on "Parenting & Bipolar Mood Disorder," last spring. A woman with the disorder who was thinking of having children visited the museum and e-mailed Pesek.

"She said she was worried about how having a child would affect her since she would have to go off her medication if she became pregnant," said Pesek, who is a psychology major. "She had found very little information out there on bipolar disorder, but she said the information I had in the museum helped her. It felt great that someone actually benefitted."

"The students do a lot of work on their museums and the fact that their research can be viewed by friends and family and a wider audience gives them a lot of satisfaction," Dalton said. "The museums also help students understand that they are part of the academic research community and their work has implications beyond the walls of the classroom."

NOTE TO EDITORS: For more about Dalton's class and to view student museums, visit http://condor.depaul.edu/~wdalton/. Dalton can be reached at (773) 325-7000, Ext. 1073