Technical and Professional Writing Commons^™

05.05: Power-Revision Techniques, David Mcmurrey, Jonathan Arnett

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Revise common structure-level problems in technical writing.
2. Revise common sentence-level problems in technical writing.

05.07: Basic Patterns And Elements Of The Sentence, David Mcmurrey

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Explain and apply basic patterns of the sentence as they relate to technical writing.
2. Explain and apply basic elements of the sentence as they relate to technical writing.

This section is a quick review of the fundamentals of the sentence. If you encounter unfamiliar terminology in this textbook or in your class, refer to this section for help. For more on grammar, see the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

05.08: Common Grammar, Usage, And Punctuation Problems, David Mcmurrey

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Explain and apply essential punctuation rules.
2. Explain and apply essential grammar rules.
3. Explain and apply essential capitalization rules.
4. Explain and apply essential numbering rules.
5. Explain and apply essential symbol and abbreviation rules.

05.11: Information Structures, David Mcmurrey

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Define information structure.
2. Explain the contents and organization of different types of information structures.

05.10: Strategies For Peer-Reviewing And Team Writing, David Mcmurrey

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Explain and apply strategies for peer reviewing.
2. Explain and apply strategies for team writing.

05.12: Organizing Information, Tamara Powell

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to explain and apply common paragraph organization patterns.

05.13: Logic - Common Fallacies, Steve Miller, Cherie Miller

Open Technical Communication

Taken with kind permission from the book Why Brilliant People Believe Nonsense by J. Steve Miller and Cherie K. Miller.

05.14: Logic - How To Do It Wrong, Steve Miller, Cherie Miller

Open Technical Communication

Taken with kind permission from the book Why Brilliant People Believe Nonsense by J. Steve Miller and Cherie K. Miller.

05.15: Logic - Recognizing Fallacies, Steve Miller, Cherie Miller

Open Technical Communication

Taken with kind permission from the book Why Brilliant People Believe Nonsense by J. Steve Miller and Cherie K. Miller.

06: Usability Testing, Cassandra Race

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Explain the characteristics of a usable document.
2. Conduct a usability test.

08: Technical Editing, Jonathan Arnett

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Explain the general procedure for technical editing.
2. Explain the different levels of edit.
3. Explain the purposes of style guides and style sheets.
4. Use copyediting symbols appropriately.
5. Use proofreading symbols appropriately.

09: Introduction To Html, Tiffani Reardon

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to do the following:
1. Define HTML and identify what it stands for.
2. Build a simple web page using HTML coding.
• Identify and use common HTML tags.
• Explain and apply basic tag rules.
• Explain attributes and use them to stylize text and images.
• Embed videos and other embeddable items into HTML web pages.
3. Identify websites where readers can learn more and practice their HTML skills.

10: Examples, Cases, And Models Index, Tiffani Reardon

Open Technical Communication

The following are links to the examples and models of the kinds reports, letters, and other documents discussed in this book. (Some of the items are excerpts.) True, many of these examples are as much as twenty years old. However, the point here is technical writing, format, organization, style—not up-to-date technology. Even so, why not write a technology update on blood glucose monitoring systems, voice recognition software, laptop computers, wind power systems? (And then send it to us at [email protected])

07: Collaborative Writing, Monique Logan

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to do the following:
1. Define successful and effective collaborative writing.
2. Explain and employ strategies for effective collaboration.
3. Explain and employ strategies for dealing with differences and conflict.

01: Introduction To Technical Communication, Cassandra Race

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Define technical writing.
2. Summarize the six characteristics of technical writing.
3. Explain basic standards of good technical writing.

02.02: Types Of Technical Reports, David Mcmurrey

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
1. Identify common types of technical documents.
2. Summarize the purposes and formats of common types of technical documents.

02.04: Proposals, David Mcmurrey, Jonathan Arnett

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to do the following:
1. Explain the purpose of a proposal.
2. Identify and explain the different types of proposals.
3. Navigate and apply the format and structure of a proposal.

02.03: Business Plans, David Mcmurrey

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to do the following:
1. Explain the purpose of a business plan.
2. Identify and define common sections of business plans.
3. Navigate and apply the format of business plans.

02.05: Progress Reports, David Mcmurrey

Open Technical Communication

Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to do the following:
1. Explain the purpose of a progress report.
2. Navigate and apply the format and structure of a proposal.
3. Explain common components of a progress report.

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.

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.