Technical and Professional Writing Commons^™

02.06: Instructions, David Mcmurrey, Cassandra Race

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to do the following:
1. Analyze and evaluate a set of technical instructions.
2. Write clear and accurate instructions with an introduction and conclusion.
3. Develop and design an instruction manual for a specific audience.

The focus for this chapter is one of the most important of all uses of technical writing—instructions. As you know, instructions are those step-by-step explanations of how to do something: how to build, operate, repair, or maintain things.

02.08: Standard Operational Policies And Procedures, David Mcmurrey, Tamara Powell

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to do the following:
1. Explain the purpose of standard operating policies and procedures.
2. Identify basic structure of standard operating policies and procedures.
3. Review examples and apply concepts from them to their writing.

The Write Stuff - Summer 2019 (Vol. 16, No. 3), Research Medical Library

Write Stuff 2019

• Using Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs) to enhance rigor and reproducibility
• Court ruling sheds light on publishing giant OMICS International
• Manuscript presentation tips to improve the peer review process
• How to insert Greek letters, symbols, and other special characters in Word documents
• Changes to Plan S give researchers and publishers time to adapt
• Unusual terms used in scientific writing and publishing: Hanging indent

Open Technical Communication, Tiffani Reardon, Tamara Powell, Jonathan Arnett, Monique Logan, Cassandra Race

Faculty Bookshelf

*The content on this page has been exported from SoftChalk as a PDF, therefore, the formating, videos, and interactivity from the original project have been removed. For a full, online version of the textbook, please visit here.*

Open TC is a freely accessible online textbook for technical communication, technical writing, workplace writing, and other related courses. Currently in its third rendition, it's had an interesting history. In 2015, Dr. Tamara Powell at Kennesaw State University gathered us, a team of like-minded colleagues, to develop an Open Educational Resource that would allow us to move away from a well-respected but …

04.07: Tables, Graphs, And Charts, David Mcmurrey, Tamara Powell

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Distinguish between tables, charts, and graphs.
2. Identify chief characteristics of tables, charts, and graphs.
3. Identify and apply best practices in creating tables, charts, and graphs in technical communication.

05.06: Libraries, Documentation, And Cross-Referencing, David Mcmurrey, Cassandra Race

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Explain and apply how to find information in libraries.
2. Explain and apply how to indicate sources of borrowed information.
3. Explain and apply how to cross-reference.

05.09: Common Spelling Problems, David Mcmurrey, Tiffani Reardon

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Identify and correctly spell commonly misspelled words.
2. Define and distinguish between similar-sounding words.

02.01: Business Correspondence And Resumes, David Mcmurrey

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Summarize the basics of format and style in business correspondence.
2. Explain and distinguish between three common types of business letters.
3. Explain and apply basic guidelines for resume-writing.

02.07: User Guides, David Mcmurrey, Tamara Powell

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to do the following:
1. Explain the purpose of a user guide.
2. Define the technical writing concepts of this textbook that apply to user guides.
3. Explain and apply the style, format, components, and process for creating user guides.

04.02: Book Design, David Mcmurrey

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Recognize the standard components of a front cover, back cover, and title page.
2. Recognize the common front matter of a book including edition notices, disclaimers, trademarks, warranties, safety notices, and communication statements.
3. Recognize the common organization strategies of books including tables of contents, tables of figures, a preface, and body chapters.
4. Explain and apply typical book layout and design.

04.03: Page Design, David Mcmurrey

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Explain and apply design guidelines for heading and list use in technical documents.
2. Explain and apply design guidelines for including notices in technical documents.
3. Explain and apply design guidelines for table and figure use in technical documents.
4. Explain and apply design guidelines for text highlighting and alignment in technical documents.
5. Explain and apply design guidelines for font and color in technical documents.

04.04: Headings, David Mcmurrey, Cassandra Race

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Identify the uses of headings.
2. Distinguish between the different levels of headings.
3. Evaluate the use of headings in technical documents.
4. Use the Styles tool in Microsoft Word to create custom headings.
5. Create and use headings in your own documents.

The Mysterious Incident Of The Missing Title: Why Did Titular Concern Vanish From Composition Studies?, John Lamothe

Publications

How much time, if any, do first-year writing instructors spend in class discussing the importance of titles on their students’ papers? Without looking at a mountain of lesson plans or interviewing a plethora of instructors from across the country, it is impossible to know what is and what isn’t commonly taught in first-year composition courses. Admittedly, introductory writing and research classes can vary greatly from institution to institution and even from instructor to instructor within the same department. However, judging by an examination of current First-Year Composition textbooks, Rhet/Comp scholars place little importance on discussing the effect of titles on …

"Formally" Or "Formerly"?, Dawn Chalaire

Word for Word 2019

No abstract provided.

"Tendency" Or "Trend"?, Amy Ninetto

Word for Word 2019

No abstract provided.

Faculty Writing: A Year-Long Approach To Producing Publishable Manuscripts, Jennifer Wilson, Ms, Els, Pamela Walter, Mfa, Julie Phillips, Phd

Thomas Jefferson University Faculty Days

For faculty, the ability to write about their research and publish their findings can advance their academic career while contributing information to their field. Yet faculty often lack confidence in their ability to write for publication and struggle to find time to write.

An interdisciplinary faculty group asked us for help prioritizing their writing and meeting their publishing goals, and in response we developed a yearlong month by- month program of achievable small tasks to guide the manuscript writing process and make publishing less overwhelming.

Amending The Record: Proofreading American Naval War Diaries Written In The Pontus, 1921-1922, Toria Smith

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

"Namely" Or Not?, Stephanie Deming

Word for Word 2019

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Color Choice In Web Design On The Usability For Individuals With Color-Blindness, Theresa Marie Sparks

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Websites are not accessible to many individuals with color-vision deficiency or color-blindness; this is because of poor color and design choice. One must design websites with these individuals in mind. In this study, it was found that color choice on aspects such as body text, background, and links did have an effect on how individuals with color-blindness were able to use and read websites.

Defining Success In Service-Learning, Vikram N. Gill

2019 Symposium

Service-learning allows students to interact with and support their local community while advancing necessary skills in their given field, in this case, Technical Communication. The potential benefits of service-learning include work experience for students, a dynamic and untraditional teaching experience for instructors, and the community partners gain as much, if not more, then they would from traditional, non-learning community service. However, these benefits are often incremental. For example, the community partners may only gain the additional human resources of working with students and possible exposure for their brand. Any larger or long-term goals may not be met in the short …