SparkNotes

SparkNotes

Infobox Website
name = SparkNotes



caption =
url = http://www.sparknotes.com/
commercial = Yes
type = Internet Study guide
language = English
registration = Optional
owner = Barnes & Noble
author = Sam Yagan, Max Krohn, and Chris Coyne
launch date = September 1 1999
current status = Active
revenue =
slogan = Today's Most Popular Study Guides
alexa = 2 227 cite web |url=http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/sparknotes.com |title=Traffic details for sparknotes.com |accessdate=2008-03-24 |work=Alexa Traffic Rankings |publisher=Alexa Internet ]

SparkNotes, originally part of a website called The Spark, is a company started by Sam Yagan, Max Krohn, and Chris Coyne in 1999 that provides free in-depth commentary, analysis and study guides for literature, poetry, history, film and philosophy.

Barnes & Noble acquired SparkNotes.com in 2001 for a price of $3.55 million. [cite web |url=http://sec.edgar-online.com/2001/06/18/0000950123-01-503532/Section2.asp |title=Barnes & Noble inc - BKS Quarterly Report (10-Q) Item 1: Financial Statements |accessdate=2008-02-05 |date=2001-06-18 |publisher=Edgar Online]

History

TheSpark.com was launched January 7 1999 as a dating website by four Harvard students. Most of TheSpark's users were high school and college students, and so the first six literature study guides (entitled "SparkNotes") were published on April 7 1999 in order to increase its popularity. [cite news |first=Stacy |last=Martin |title= SITE SPECIFIC-www.sparknotes.com |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/09/05/LVGE88I6RA1.DTL |work=San Francisco Chronicle |publisher=Hearst Communications Inc. |location=San Francisco |date=2004-09-05 |accessdate=2008-03-19] cite news |first=Anais |last=Borja |coauthors=Lester, Amelia |title=The Rise and Success of Sparknotes |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=121750 |work=The Harvard Crimson |publisher=The Harvard Crimson Inc. |location=Harvard |date=2001-10-18 |accessdate=2008-03-19] The SparkNotes.com website was launched on September 1 1999. In 2000 the site was sold to iTurf Inc. The following year SparkNotes was bought by Barnes & Noble and fifty literature study guides were chosen to be published in print form. When Barnes & Noble printed SparkNotes, they also stopped selling their chief competitor, CliffsNotes.cite news |first=James |last=Bowman |title=Murder Most Foul |url=http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110003858 |work=The Wall Street Journal |publisher=Dow Jones & Company, Inc. |date=2003-08-08 |accessdate=2008-03-24] Until then, the only content on the website were literature study guides but in January 2003 the The SparkNotes Test Prep, a practice test service, started. This project was followed by SparkCharts, which are meant to serve as reference sheets summarizing the topic, and No Fear Shakespeare, a transcription of Shakespeare's plays into modern English. cite web |url=http://www.sparknotes.com/about/history/|title= A Brief History of SparkNotes |accessdate=2008-02-04 |work=SparkNotes |publisher=SparkNotes LLC]

Other features

SparkNotes also offers content and services related to the SAT, ACT, and AP tests, paraphrases of Shakespeare into modern English, exercises for high school teachers, and a message board.

Its current owner, Barnes & Noble, sells printed versions of the study guides in the United States and Chapters in Canada, in a format similar to that of CliffsNotes.

SparkNotes has moved into educational publishing with books like "Poetry Classics" and "FlashKids," a series of educational books for K-8 students.

Criticism

Many school teachers have blamed the website as a cheating tool for students [cite news |first=Lauren |last=Simnauer |coauthors=Dumler, Christie |title=There's room for sparknotes, too |url=http://www.theviewnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=9154&paper=91&cat=199 |work=The View |publisher=Zip Publishing |date=2007-06-20 |accessdate=2008-03-24] [cite news |first=Sutherland |last=John |title=US students log on to the internet for a cheat's charter |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4032413,00.html |work=Guardian Unlimited |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |date=2000-06-02 |accessdate=2008-03-25] , who use Sparknotes as a replacement for doing reading assignments cite news | first=Andrea | last=Eger | title=Students love study guides | date=2008-02-22 | publisher=World Publishing Co | url =http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080222_1_A1_hTeac07026 | work =Tulsa World| accessdate = 2008-03-02 ] [cite news |title=Competition for CliffsNotes arrives on the scene – in print |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0625/p12s01-legn.html |work=The Christian Science Monitor |date=2002-06-25 |accessdate=2008-03-24] [cite news |first=Molly |last=Saltz |title=No, it's a cheap shortcut that does no one any good |url=http://rgweb.registerguard.com/news/2006/01/02/tw.sparkno.0102.p1.php?section=20below |work=The Register-Guard |location=Eugene, Oregon, United States |date=1006-01-02 |accessdate=2008-03-25] or during tests using cellphones with internet access. Sparknotes has many study guides for different works of literature, and these study guides have summaries of each chapter which can be read by students instead of reading the actual material.

SparkNotes say they do not support any form of academic dishonesty [cite web |url=http://www.sparknotes.com/about/ |title=About SparkNotes |accessdate=2008-02-06 |work=SparkNotes |publisher=SparkNotes LLC] , including plagiarism [cite web |url=http://www.sparknotes.com/help/plagiarism.html |title=Help:The Plagiarism Plague |accessdate=2008-02-06 |last=Kestler |first=Justin |work=SparkNotes |publisher=SparkNotes LLC] . Students can read the actual book, and then check SparkNotes to compare their own interpretation of the text with the SparkNotes analysis. [cite news |first=Erin |last=Miller |title=Is SparkNotes worthwhile? Yes, used properly it can enhance our education |url=http://rgweb.registerguard.com/news/2006/01/02/tw.sparkyes.0102.p1.php?section=20below |work=The Register-Guard |location=Eugene, Oregon, United States |date=2006-01-02 |accessdate=2008-03-24] [cite news |first=Kim Ngan |last=Nguyen |title=SparkNotes A Hit With High School Crowd |url=http://www.thedenverchannel.com/education/2526307/detail.html |work=The Denver Channel |publisher=Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. |date=2003-10-02 |accessdate=2008-03-24] [cite news |first=Brynne |last=Formato |title=A quick study: online sites speed up reading |url=http://media.www.fairfieldmirror.com/media/storage/paper148/news/2004/02/05/CampusLife/A.Quick.Study.Online.Sites.Speed.Up.Reading-597299.shtml |work=The Mirror |location=Fairfield, Connecticut, United States |date=2004-02-05 |accessdate=2008-03-25]

References

ee also

* CliffsNotes
* York Notes

External links

* [http://www.sparknotes.com/ SparkNotes website]


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