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Technical and Professional Writing Commons™

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Full-Text Articles in Technical and Professional Writing

Humanizing Technical Communication With Metaphor, Ashley Mcclure Jan 2009

Humanizing Technical Communication With Metaphor, Ashley Mcclure

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how metaphors can humanize a technical document and more effectively facilitate user comprehension. The frequent use of metaphor in technical communication reminds us that the discipline is highly creative and rhetorical. Theory demonstrates that a technical text involves interpretation and subjectivity during both its creation by the technical communicator and its application by the user. If employed carefully and skillfully, metaphor can be a powerful tool to ensure users' needs are met during this process. The primary goal of technical communication is to convey information to an audience as clearly and efficiently as possible. Because of the …

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Guidelines For Twenty-First Century Instructional Design And Technology Use: Technologies' Influence On The Brain, Jennifer Gabriel Jan 2009

Guidelines For Twenty-First Century Instructional Design And Technology Use: Technologies' Influence On The Brain, Jennifer Gabriel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The increasingly global environment has spurred the economy in the United States as well as the economies in nearly every other nation. Although the U.S. remains the world leader in the global economy, research shows that the United States is at risk of losing its place as the world leader in science and innovation. Policymakers have recognized the need for research addressing global competitiveness. President Bush signed the America Competes Act, which calls for increased investment in innovation and education to improve U.S. competitiveness and President Barack Obama has named a platform, "Science, Technology and Innovation for a New Generation" …

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Implementing Plain Language Into Legal Documents: The Technical Communicator's Role, Peggy Bivins Jan 2008

Implementing Plain Language Into Legal Documents: The Technical Communicator's Role, Peggy Bivins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses the benefits of using plain language in legal documents and the role technical communicators can play to help implement plain language. Although many definitions for plain language exist, it is best described as reader-focused communication that presents information in a manner that makes it easy for a reader to find, understand, and use the information. Plain language facilitates comprehension by using shorter, less complex sentences; active voice; and common words. All these elements aid in processing and understanding information, especially unfamiliar concepts. Laypeople, unversed in the law, frequently have difficulty understanding traditional legal writing. The complex sentences, …

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From Textbooks To Safety Briefings: Helping Technical Writers Negotiate Complex Rhetorical Situations, Brian Blackburne Jan 2008

From Textbooks To Safety Briefings: Helping Technical Writers Negotiate Complex Rhetorical Situations, Brian Blackburne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I analyze the organizational and political constraints that technical writers encounter when dealing with complex rhetorical situations, particularly within risk-management discourse. I ground my research in case studies of safety briefings that airlines provide to their passengers because these important documents have long been regarded as ineffective, yet they ve gone largely unchanged in the last 20 years. Airlines are required to produce these safety briefings, which must satisfy multiple audiences, such as corporate executives, federal safety inspectors, flight attendants, and passengers. Because space and time are limited when presenting safety information to passengers, the technical writers …

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Analyzing The Effects Of Single-Sourcing Methodologies On The Role Of The Technical Communicator, Jeremy Boehl Jan 2006

Analyzing The Effects Of Single-Sourcing Methodologies On The Role Of The Technical Communicator, Jeremy Boehl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses the specific effects of single sourcing methodologies on the role of the technical communicator, his or her job responsibilities, qualifications, collaboration with coworkers, employee and employer expectations, and the effects on career progression. The methodologies discussed included all types of single sourcing methods for technical documentation (such as XML-based), advanced and non-advanced Content Management Systems (CMS), and Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems. Other topics explored are an overview of single sourcing for technical documentation, a comparison of the "craftsman model" to the current trend of single sourcing and structured content, specific effects on technical communicators such as …

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Affective Design In Technical Communication, Michael Alan Rosen Jan 2005

Affective Design In Technical Communication, Michael Alan Rosen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traditional human-computer interaction (HCI) is based on 'cold' models of user cognition; that is, models of users as purely rational beings based on the information processing metaphor; however, an emerging perspective suggests that for the field of HCI to mature, its practitioners must adopt models of users that consider broader human needs and capabilities. Affective design is an umbrella term for research and practice being conducted in diverse domains, all with the common thread of integrating emotional aspects of use into the creation of information products. This thesis provides a review of the current state of the art in affective …

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Developing Technical Communication Pedagogy For Nonnative Technical Graduate Students, David Sepulveda Jan 2005

Developing Technical Communication Pedagogy For Nonnative Technical Graduate Students, David Sepulveda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to develop a pedagogy for teaching academic writing to nonnative graduate students of technical disciplines in order to give them the skills they need to write papers that they can submit to academic journals and conferences, thereby advancing their careers and gaining recognition for their academic institutions. The work draws on research from the fields of technical communication and second-language acquisition in order to develop pedagogical principles for a class in which nonnative technical graduate students write an academic paper that they can submit for publication. The thesis proposes an approach that incorporates content-based instruction, certain plain …

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Designing For A Japanese High-Context Culture: Culture's Influence On The Technical Writer's Visual Rhetoric, Russell Carpenter Jan 2005

Designing For A Japanese High-Context Culture: Culture's Influence On The Technical Writer's Visual Rhetoric, Russell Carpenter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the challenges technical writers face when designing documents for high-context cultures, such as the Japanese. When developing documents intended to cross cultural gulfs, technical writers must take into consideration cultural expectations, preferences, and practices in document design and communication. High-context cultures, such as Japan, design documents using drastically different design strategies than those used in the United States. Japanese communication habits are more ambiguous than communication in the United States. Thus, the Japanese often use visuals for their aesthetic appeal, not for their ability to complement the text that surrounds the visual. The ambiguous nature of high-context …

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Genre And Persona In Activist Websites, Margaret M.F. Boreman Jan 2004

Genre And Persona In Activist Websites, Margaret M.F. Boreman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Digital texts present significant challenges to technical communicators in terms of genre and persona. Because of the ubiquity of electronic media, we increasingly embrace digital formats over print-based documents. As a result, technical communicators must now devise the means to cue audiences to the purposes of digital documents in any given discourse community. We can only convey meaning to our Internet audiences through the use of appropriate standards and elements recognizable generic forms and rhetorical cues that we designate as conventions in specific digital discourse. Just as we use file and folder office metaphors for information stored on computers, digital …

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A Software-Based Knowledge Management System Using Narrative Texts, Thomas Rudy Mcdaniel Jan 2004

A Software-Based Knowledge Management System Using Narrative Texts, Thomas Rudy Mcdaniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Technical and professional communicators have in recent research been challenged to make significant contributions to the field of knowledge management, and to learn or create the new technologies allowing them to do so. The purpose of this dissertation is to make such a combined theoretical and applied contribution from the context of the emerging discipline of Texts and Technology. This dissertation explores the field of knowledge management (KM), particularly its relationship to the related study of artificial intelligence (AI), and then recommends a KM software application based on the principles of narratology and narrative information exchange. The focus of knowledge …

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A Rhetoric Of Technology: The Discourse In U.S. Army Manuals And Handbooks, Sherry Ann Steward Jan 2004

A Rhetoric Of Technology: The Discourse In U.S. Army Manuals And Handbooks, Sherry Ann Steward

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the historical technical publications of the United States Army from 1775-2004. Historical research in Army technical communication reveals the persuasive characteristics of its technical publications. Elements of narrative, storytelling, and anthropomorphism are techniques writers used to help deliver information to readers. Research also reveals the design techniques writers adopted to unite the situated literacies of the troops. Analyses of print, comic, and digital media expose the increasing visualization of information since the eighteenth century. The results of such historical research can be applied to new media designs. Automating processes captured in paper-based technical manuals and adding intelligent …

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Effective Industry Writing: The Power Of Cohesive Language, Jeanne Jones Manzer Jan 1990

Effective Industry Writing: The Power Of Cohesive Language, Jeanne Jones Manzer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Efficiently produced, clear writing for technical documents can dramatically affect the profits of today's high-tech industry. Industry management, however, often underrates the need for specific technical writing training among technical and support personnel. In addition, staff people commissioned to work exclusively on technical manuals, proposals, reports, and similar documents are rare in small industry. Today's corporate environment demands skilled writers who can produce clearly written documents that are easy to understand. While industry demands skilled writers, many of its professionals claim their academic training did not adequately prepare them for their job requirements. Because effective writing truly has a bearing …

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