The book contains relevant content that could be updated with relative ease. Readers will also learn about other professional communication, designing documents, and creating and . In general, the information in the text is accurate, although some areas and issues would benefit from more nuanced or complex discussion. The current section on design is specific only to reports and is really about organization, not design. The progression from Proposals to Information Literacy (research) to Citations to Progress Reports makes sense in that it follows the progression one might follow in a particular workplace project. The book's structure changes with each format. The principles of professional communication are accurately presented. It's hard to remember where you are as you navigate. Seems to be some unnecessary space left on pages or between section changes. Pages 15-16, on netiquette, uses headings, along with simply, un-bolded bullet points. The authors use simple, clear, and easy-to-understand prose. Much of the advice will be appropriate forever: know your audience, know your purpose in writing, be respectful, be specific and clear rather than general and vague. For example, "insure" is used instead of "ensure" in Section 3.7. The book is fairly dry, and so I did not notice cultural issues that might be of note. The book seems unbiased, although some advice feels a little arbitrary, such as the recommendation to limit emails to three paragraphs. Like its prose, the grammar appears to be clean and normalized to American standard English. Those sections are adequate, but I would like to For example, writing and communication are often used largely synonymously in the field, and that practice is also followed throughout this text. Stance - how the writer feels about the topic versus how she expresses it through her tone - was not addressed at all. Chapter 4: Ethics - Technical and Professional Writing Genres This text also The formatting and tone are consistent with good use of numbered sub-topics and bulleted lists in each chapter. The terms "professional" and "technical" as well as "writing" and "communication" are used fairly interchangeably in the field. Reviewed by Christopher Schott, Assistant Teaching Professor, University of Missouri - St. Louis on 4/23/20, This book really does cover a great deal of ground. :), Reviewed by Adam Karnes, Adjunct Instructor, Linn-Benton Community College on 6/19/18, The book covers the typical range of topics for a technical writing guide. The book's primarily focuses on the proposal but also covers other traditional technical writing assignments such as the cover letter and resume. Modularity - The text is laid out in chapters with clear and simple sub-headings underneath each one. Journalism, Media Studies & Communications, 10. . Because these chapters can be read out of order, the problem isnt serious, but the chapter order doesnt make as much use of logical development as it could. Employ small chunks of text, bullet point lists, and hyperlinks. Technical writers research, prepare and produce various types of technical documents, such as journal articles or user manuals. It's a useful and accessible introduction to technical writing for most undergraduate students, but it is not a comprehensive document and therefore may require the instructor to provide additional information or resources. The textbook is comprehensive; however, it seems to cover both technical writing and professional or workplace writing. August 23, 2022 Introduction Like many other forms of content writing, technical writing is one of the most demanding and complex skills. The content is accurate. Perhaps Technical and Professional Writing would be more accurate. They make statements about the priority of information in the engineers' report which imply that they are in a position to make that judgment. . The terminology is internally consistent. This text is divided into sections in such a way that individual sections could easily be assigned out of order and at different points in a course. The introduction section could benefit from a few sentences previewing this across-the-board structure. Kesi Parker. The interface for the Web version of the book is clear, simple, and unobtrusive. The PDF version has many blank pages, making navigation cumbersome. Technology moves quickly, and lexicographers are often left playing catch up. It is less helpful, I think, to students going into health care fields and There were no culturally insensitive examples or remarks. Technical writing is the writing of technical content, particularly relating to industrial and other applied sciences, with an emphasis on occupational contexts. The book covers a broad range of technical communication genres, and it covers everything I would hope to cover in my upcoming course. The structural framework of the text is effective for online reading. For instance, visual rhetoric and page layout were lumped together with audience. Furthermore, breaking the text apart with colorful questions and answers, activities, quotes, etc., is suggested. The text provides an adequate overview of the field for beginners in technical writing. A professional technical writer, passionate to research and write about technology. I would have liked to see more examples throughout the text. The text introduces itself as an introductory text to technical writing (or communication), and provides a definition of technical communication These are appropriately and adequately covered. In terms of terminology, the text is consistent. 4: Ethical Considerations in Technical Writing helps chapter sub-sections and other important information stand out. Reviewed by Daniel Hocutt, Web Manager & Adjunct Professor, University of Richmond School of Professional & Continuing Studies on 4/11/17, The text does not include an index or glossary, but does provide a comprehensive table of contents. Contrary to what is stated, technicians do not always lack sophisticated theoretical knowledge. I feel like this is less of a textbook to read in order, but a set of modules for instructors to customize. The Importance and Scope of Technical Writing Skills - SSRN Technical writing in English is used for a specific purpose, and hence it needs to be precise, relevant, and without redundancy. This is a very compact book, with easily managed lessons in basic concepts that are a quick and easy read for most students in the sciences and technology fields (STEM). Each chapter starts with a brief introduction to what comes in the sections included in the chapter. The textbook includes links to videos and images that further touch upon the concepts of a chapter, which is very helpful and engaging. The differences do not render the text unreadable, just lack cohesive than the average textbook. This page was processed by aws-apollo-l100 in. Technical writing is the highest level of writing students receive before they enter their professional fields or transfer to four-year universities. Read my FAQ to learn more about me! Problems with organization: The text is culturally appropriate and all example are relevant and inclusive. I see no issues here - it's quite objective overall. Each chapter and even sub-section has author attributions for the book itself but rarely does it reference external sources. The content is up-to-date since there are not apt to be quick changes to the principles of technical writing nor to the precepts of e-mail, texting etc. They were there (audience, genre, etc. No mention is made of IEEE, which is the largest professional society in the world and which publishes professional ethics and authorial style guides that many professionals will encounter. These headings should make finding relevant sections in the text fairly easy. Finally, it seems odd to separate the chapters on graphics and document design (they are chapters 8 and 10 with the ethics chapter in between them. Considering the recent addition of chapters on design and employment documents, it appears that chapters are organized in the order that theyre added. This textbook focuses not just on the college experience, but on the Central Oregon Community College experience to the exclusion of other contexts. Next, comes e-mail, then an interjection about netiquette, followed by brief discussions of memoranda and letters. The information is presented effectively in clear, concise language. In this context, questions of comprehensiveness arose almost immediately. Each chapter is divided into sections. The book appears to be written for a course designed around a specific major project that asks students to write a proposal for a technical report and then to research and write the report itself. This text provides flexibility in the fact that it focuses on Technical Communication for a more generalized audience and therefore this would work well as a The excellence of technical writing is judged by clarity, accuracy, comprehensiveness, accessibility, conciseness, professional appearance, and correctness. jQuery('#gform_74').submit(function() { jQuery("input[name='profile.firstName']").val(jQuery("#input_74_1_3").val()); jQuery("input[name='profile.lastName']").val(jQuery("#input_74_1_6").val()); jQuery("input[name='profile.email']").val(jQuery("#input_74_2").val()); if(jQuery("#choice_74_6_1").is(':checked')){jQuery("input[name='preferences.ieee_privacy_policy.isConsentGranted']").click();}jQuery(".gigya-hidden-submit input").click();}); jQuery('#gform_75').submit(function() { jQuery("input[name='profile.firstName']").val(jQuery("#input_75_1_3").val()); jQuery("input[name='profile.lastName']").val(jQuery("#input_75_1_6").val()); jQuery("input[name='profile.email']").val(jQuery("#input_75_2").val()); if(jQuery("#choice_75_6_1").is(':checked')){jQuery("input[name='preferences.ieee_privacy_policy.isConsentGranted']").click();}jQuery(".gigya-hidden-submit input").click();}); Find the latest in advanced computing research. Reviewed by Pam Orel, Senior Lecturer , University of Maryland College Park on 2/1/18, This is a very compact book, with easily managed lessons in basic concepts that are a quick and easy read for most students in the sciences and technology fields (STEM). However, this can be remedied through instruction from the professor. According to who? At least one other reviewer has noted that there are inconsistency issues across various formats in which the book is offered. Many technical writing textbooks begin with audience analysis. this makes searching this text much more difficult than some others. Audience analysis comes much earlier (chapter 2) but not before texts, emails, and netiquette. Acronyms and Abbreviations There are places in the text that could benefit from utilizing new, innovative examples. It can be inconsistent in terms of the amount of space given to, say, some issues over others. PDF Academic literacy: The importance and impact of writing across the - ed I did not encounter ethnicity- or gender-specific language in the text. It should be noted that I am reviewing this text for a 200 level course. Technical Reports: Components and Design, 11. I'm confused about why the Open Textbook Library lists the book with only one author instead of the seven listed in the book itself.
