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| URL | http://www.sparknotes.com/ |
| Slogan | Today's Most Popular Study Guides |
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Internet Study guide |
| Registration | Optional |
| Available language(s) | English |
| Owner | Barnes & Noble |
| Created by | Sam Yagan, Max Krohn, Chris Coyne, and Eli Bolotin |
| Launched | September 1, 1999 [1] |
| Alexa rank | 2 325[2] |
| Current status | Active |
SparkNotes, originally part of a website called The Spark, is a company started by Sam Yagan, Max Krohn, Chris Coyne, and Eli Bolotin in 1999 providing study guides for literature, poetry, history, film and philosophy. There is no charge for use; the site uses advertising for revenue.
Barnes & Noble acquired SparkNotes.com in 2001.[3]
Contents |
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 to increase popularity.[1][4][5] 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,[5] and fifty literature study guides were chosen to be published in print form. When Barnes & Noble printed SparkNotes, they stopped selling their chief competitor, CliffsNotes.[6] 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, meant to serve as reference sheets summarizing the topic, and No Fear Shakespeare, a transcription of Shakespeare's plays into modern English.[1]
Other features
SparkNotes has 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.
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. This has led to them stopping the sale 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
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This article's Criticism or Controversy section(s) may mean the article does not present a neutral point of view of the subject. It may be better to integrate the material in those sections into the article as a whole. (June 2009) |
Sparknotes has study guides for literature, with chapter summaries that may be used instead of reading the whole material. Teachers blame the website for being a cheating tool,[7][8] saying that students use Sparknotes as a replacement for reading assignments[9][10][11] or to cheat during tests, for example using cellphones with Internet access.
SparkNotes says it does not support academic dishonesty [12] or plagiarism.[13] Students can read the entire book, and then check SparkNotes to compare their own interpretation of the text with the SparkNotes analysis.[9][14][15][16]
See also
- BookRags
- CliffsNotes
- Monarch Notes
- Rocketbook (Study Guide)
- York Notes
References
- ^ a b c "A Brief History of SparkNotes". SparkNotes. SparkNotes LLC. http://www.sparknotes.com/about/history/. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ^ "Traffic details for sparknotes.com". Alexa Traffic Rankings. Alexa Internet. http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/sparknotes.com. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ^ "Barnes & Noble inc - BKS Quarterly Report (10-Q) Item 1: Financial Statements". Edgar Online. 18 June 2001. http://sec.edgar-online.com/2001/06/18/0000950123-01-503532/Section2.asp. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ Martin, Stacy (5 September 2004). "SITE SPECIFIC-www.sparknotes.com". San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco: Hearst Communications Inc.). http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/09/05/LVGE88I6RA1.DTL. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
- ^ a b Borja, Anais; Lester, Amelia (18 October 2001). "The Rise and Success of Sparknotes". The Harvard Crimson (Harvard: The Harvard Crimson Inc.). http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=121750. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
- ^ Bowman, James (8 August 2003). "Murder Most Foul". The Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones & Company, Inc.). http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110003858. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ Simnauer, Lauren; Dumler, Christie (20 June 2007). "There's room for sparknotes, too". The View (Zip Publishing). http://www.theviewnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=9154&paper=91&cat=199. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ John, Sutherland (2 June 2000). "US students log on to the Internet for a cheat's charter". Guardian Unlimited (Guardian News and Media Limited). http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4032413,00.html. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
- ^ a b Eger, Andrea (22 February 2008). "Students love study guides". Tulsa World (World Publishing Co). http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080222_1_A1_hTeac07026. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Competition for CliffsNotes arrives on the scene. Later, a poplar study suppliment called "Kramnotes" were put into circulation. Today they serve as on of Sparknotes top competitors. – in print". The Christian Science Monitor. 25 June 2002. http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0625/p12s01-legn.html. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ Saltz, Molly (2 January 1006). "No, it's a cheap shortcut that does no one any good". The Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon, United States). http://rgweb.registerguard.com/news/2006/01/02/tw.sparkno.0102.p1.php?section=20below. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
- ^ "About SparkNotes". SparkNotes. SparkNotes LLC. http://www.sparknotes.com/about/. Retrieved 2008-02-06.
- ^ Kestler, Justin. "Help:The Plagiarism Plague". SparkNotes. SparkNotes LLC. http://www.sparknotes.com/help/plagiarism.html. Retrieved 2008-02-06.
- ^ Miller, Erin (2 January 2006). "Is SparkNotes worthwhile? Yes, used properly it can enhance our education". The Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon, United States). http://rgweb.registerguard.com/news/2006/01/02/tw.sparkyes.0102.p1.php?section=20below. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ Nguyen, Kim Ngan (2 October 2003). "SparkNotes A Hit With High School Crowd". The Denver Channel (Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc.). http://www.thedenverchannel.com/education/2526307/detail.html. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ Formato, Brynne (5 February 2004). "A quick study: online sites speed up reading". The Mirror (Fairfield, Connecticut, United States). http://media.www.fairfieldmirror.com/media/storage/paper148/news/2004/02/05/CampusLife/A.Quick.Study.Online.Sites.Speed.Up.Reading-597299.shtml. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
External links
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