Technical Report Writing Today

by Riordan, Daniel; Pauley, Steven E.

• ISBN13: 9780618433896
• ISBN10: 0618433899
• Edition: 9th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-07
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

Technical Report Writing Today provides thorough coverage of technical writing basics, techniques, and applications. Through a practical focus with varied examples and exercises, students internalize the skills necessary to produce clear and effective documents and reports. Project worksheets help students organize their thoughts and prepare for assignments, and Focus boxes highlight key information and recent developments in technical communication. Extensive individual and collaborative exercises expose students to different kinds of technical writing problems and solutions. Annotated student examples--more than 100 in all--illustrate different writing styles and approaches to problems. Numerous short and long examples throughout the text demonstrate solutions for handling writing assignments in current career situations. The four-color artwork in the chapter on creating visuals keeps pace with contemporary workplace capabilities. The Ninth Edition offers the latest information on using electronic resumes and documenting electronic sources and Ethics and Globalization sidebars that highlight these two important topics in the technical communication field.

Table of Contents

Technical Communication Basics

Definition of Technical Communication

A General Definition of Technical Communication

Major Traits of Technical Communication

Globalization and Cultural Awareness

Profiling Audiences

An Example of Technical Writing

Who Is the Audience?

What Is the Audience's Task?

What Is the Audience's Knowledge Level?

What Factors Influence the Situation?

Creating Audience Profiles

The Technical Communication Process

An Overview of the Process Planning

Your Document Drafting and Finishing

Your Document Editing

Technical Communication

Style Write Clear Sentences for Your Reader

Write Clear Paragraphs for Your Reader

Globalization and Style Choose a Tone for the Reader

Ethics and Style

Researching

The Purpose of Research Questioning

The Basic Skill of Researching

Collecting Information from People

Collecting Published Information

Designing Pages Using

Visual Features to Reveal Content Using

Text Features to Convey Meaning

Developing a Style Sheet and Template

Using Visual Aids

The Uses of Visual

Aids Creating and Discussing

Visual Aids Using

Tables Using

Line Graphs Using

Bar Graphs Using

Pie Charts Ethics and Visual Effects

Globalization and Visual

Aids Using

Charts Using Illustrations

Summarizing Summarizing

Defining

Creating Formal Definitions

Creating Informal Definitions

Developing Extended Definitions

Planning Your Definition

Describing

Planning the Mechanism Description

Writing the Mechanism Description

Planning the Process Description

Writing the Process Description

Planning the Description of a Human System

Writing the Description of a Human System1

Technical Communication Applications

Sets of Instructions

Planning the Sets of Instructions

Globalization and Instructions

Writing the Set of Instructions

Field-Testing Instructions

Memorandums and Informal Reports

The Elements of Memos The Elements of Informal Reports

Types of Informal Reports

Ethics and E-mail

Developing Websites

Basic Web Concepts

Planning a Website

Web Document Drafting

Testing Ethics and Websites

Globalization/Localization and Websites

Formal Reports

The Elements of a Formal

Report Front Material

The Body of the Formal Report

End Material

Recommendation and Feasibility Reports

Planning the Recommendation Report

Drafting the Recommendation Report

Planning the Feasibility Report

Writing the Feasibility Report

Proposals

The External Proposal

Planning the External Proposal

Writing the External Proposal

The Internal Proposal

Planning the Internal Proposal

Ethics and Proposals

Writing the Internal Proposal

User Manuals Planning the Manual Writing the Manual

Professional Communication

Oral Presentations

Planning the Presentation

Making an Effective Presentation

Globalization and Oral Presentations

Letters

Three Basic Letter

Formats Elements of a Letter

Planning Business Letters

Globalization and Letters

Ethics and Letters

Types of Business Letters

Job Application

Materials Analyzing the Situation

Planning the Reacute;sumeacute; Writing the Reacute;sumeacute

Planning a Letter of Application

Ethics and Reacute;sumeacute;s

Writing a Letter of Application

Globalization and Job Applications

Interviewing Writing Follow-Up Letters

Brief Handbook for Technical Writers Problems with Sentence Construction Punctuation Abbreviations, Capitalization, and Numbers

Documenting Sources How Internal Documentation Works The APA Method The MLA Method Numbered

References

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