The essentials of technical communication 3rd edition pdf download

The essentials of technical communication 3rd edition pdf download

The Essentials Of Technical Communication,Explore PDF

WebThe Essentials of Technical Communication , In today's complex workplace, no one wants to read what you write. The Essentials of Technical WebThe Essentials Of Technical Communication 3Rd Edition PDF Book Details Product details Publisher: Oxford University Press; 4th edition (December 15, ) Language: WebAbout the Author of Essentials Of Technical Communication 3Rd Edition PDF Free Download Book. Read Essentials Of Technical Communication 3Rd Edition Now! WebDownload Technical Communication Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle Comprehensive and truly accessible, Technical Communication guides students through planning, drafting, WebDec 28,  · Technical Communication 3rd Edition By Practical, concise, and reasonably priced, The Essentials of Technical Communication, Second Edition, ... read more

Be sure that your comments exemplify tasteful, helpful, and accurate tone and content. Again, what you say in cyberspace never goes away. Your company may have a page on one of the social media sites, but do not use it or respond to it. Ask the purpose of the site and the rules for its use by employees. Note: Many students have been expelled from their universities for inappropriate use of social media. A business organization, because of concerns for information security, will watch how employees use social media. You can lose your job if your comments on blogs, wikis, and other forms of social media disparage the organization and perhaps divulge proprietary information. Again, criminals across the world also check. Divulging confidential information, personal or professional, can have major consequences for you and organizations for which you work, have worked, or will work. Never leave one in your computer when you work in a public place, even for a few minutes. When you purchase a flash drive, be sure it has been manufactured by a reputable company.

Never buy nonpackaged flash drives. Never use a flash drive given to you as a gift from an advertiser. You do not know what material, malware, or viruses have been placed on the drive. Tip: Always write as if someone you do not know might be reading over your shoulder. And follow all rules your employer stipulates. Accepting and agreeing to follow rules of confidentiality of company information may be a condition of employment with that organization. But what you write at work can be used against you in lawsuits. Once you sign your name to a report or letter, your signature makes you responsible for the content. Hostile readers can use what you say to support claims against you and the organization you represent. Because we live in an increasingly litigious society, designing documents that will prevent their misuse should be one of your primary goals.

Requires awareness that documents may be read by unknown readers. Always anticipate unknown readers who may receive copies of your reports or e-mail. They can be read and then used in ways you never intended or envisioned. You cannot underestimate the problem that unknown readers present. Copies of your reports and letters will be placed in files accessible to readers who may not know anything about you or the situation you discuss in your document. These documents will often be used in assessing your performance and in determining your promotion potential. What you say suggests how well you have done your job. Unknown readers may also use your reports to gain understanding of a work situation they have inherited with a new job assignment. On the job, what you write becomes much more than a knowledge indicator for a grade.

Achieves job goals. In school, you write to show your professor that you know the subject matter and to make a good grade. But in the workplace, writing is the major way that people achieve their job goals and document their work. Writing becomes documentation that you have done your work and how you have done it. How well you write will suggest how well you have done your work. Addresses a variety of readers who have different perspectives. In college, you write your assignments for a single reader, a professor, a specialist in a subject area. But in a work setting, you can expect to write to readers who have varied educational and technical backgrounds, readers who have different roles inside and outside the organization, and readers who may know less about a topic than you do.

For example, you may report directly to a person whose educational background has been in physical chemistry or electrical engineering but whose responsibilities may now be in personnel management, database administration, quality control, or financial analysis. They will generally not read all documents completely. Each will be interested in how your message affects his or her job goals. What seems clear and important to you may lack clarity and importance to others. Because e-mail has become a common way of communicating within organizations, you really have no idea who will read what you write as any message and its attachments may be forwarded.

We live and work in an information age where the quantity of information grows rapidly, where people have more to read than they can ever hope to read. If they do open your e-mail, they will want to find the main points and ideas quickly, and they will become impatient if they are unable to find them by glancing at the page. They will not usually read any document completely or bother to respond to it unless, at the beginning, the message indicates that reading it serves their best interests. How they respond to the first few sentences of your writing will often determine how much more of it they read.

On the job, your readers are not a captive audience, as your teachers have been. They do not have to read what you write. If you want your writing read, make your message clear and easy to read; make your message as interesting, relevant, and concise as possible. Because your readers often read selectively, conciseness and clarity are basic ingredients of effective business communication. Mechanical correctness remains a desirable quality, but correct writing that cannot be read easily and quickly will not be read. Requires a variety of written documents. Most academic writing includes essays, essay examinations, research papers, and laboratory reports.

You direct your writing to your teachers. At work, however, employees can expect to write a variety of documents not relevant to academic writing assignments: letters, e-mails, information and procedure memos, proposals, progress reports, project reports, feasibility studies, economic justification reports, policy statements, travel reports, news releases, speeches, training procedures, budget forecasts, employee evaluations, user documentation, and perhaps articles for publication in trade journals. What you write will change with your responsibilities, the kind of job you have, and your position in the organization. The Foundations of Effective Writing at Work Developing effective documents requires a process involving at least six stages: 1. Planning the document 2. Arranging ideas 4.

Drafting 5. Revising 6. Editing While you may do each of these steps as a separate activity, when writing you will more than likely move back and forth from one activity to the other as you develop your document. Following this process will help ensure that the information is ­appropriate as well as correctly and effectively presented. The Qualities of Good Technical Writing Surveys show that organizations rank writing skills in this order of importance: 1. Accuracy 2. Clarity 3. Conciseness 4. Readability 5. Usability 6. As you study and practice writing for a workplace setting, keep in mind these qualities as well as the differences between the writing you do as an employee and the writing you do as a student. Matt Lunsford, one of the research engineers, tells Jerry Bradshaw, the senior principal, about a journal article he has read about carbon capture.

Jerry has an established practice of posting summaries and articles on the company website to help employees remain informed. Matt provides a memo of transmittal to Jerry Case Document 1—1A and two short summaries of the article he has read and shared with Jerry Case Documents 1—1B and 1—1C. Note how Matt develops the summaries with the knowledge level of both engineers and nonengineers in mind. He also uses basic principles of document design to create readable documents. At work, you will need transmittal documents discussed in Chapter 7 for sending documents as they introduce the documents to readers. Avoid the habit of using Post-it notes to transmit information. If the note is lost, the report may not reach its intended reader. The first, a technical summary, I have prepared for engineers here at BE. The second, a general summary, targets other employees. As you requested, all BE employees need to understand current research that relates to our work here at BE. Subject and Purpose of Summaries The summaries inform our employees about technological developments involving carbon capture.

With the growing awareness of carbon dioxide emissions and their effect on the environment, reducing carbon dioxide emissions has been the subject of several important projects that BE has worked on in the last few years. Technology discussed in this article, such as power generation, could soon be standard in industries with which we work, and all of us need to remain aware of advances in carbon capture technology. Reason for Summaries Your request for summaries of state-of-the art research helps all of us. Thus, BE encourages employees to stay up to date on current engineering developments relevant to our projects and planning. Technical Summary Article Purpose This article describes methods for carbon capture. It also describes the need for more detailed research and analysis before these methods can be implemented on an industrial scale.

Rationale for the Topic With the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the well-being of society in the future largely depends on carbon management. Currently developed methods have large energy penalties of ~30 percent, meaning 30 percent of power produced by a plant would go toward powering carbon capture. This method will most likely dominate first-generation CCS technologies. However, other absorption methods under development involve use of room-temperature ionic liquids RTILs to dissolve carbon dioxide. Many other types of membranes have been studied. These include membranes composed of polymers only and those that also have amine solutions, enzymes, or RTILs as active media. R ­ esearch has achieved sufficient selectivities for carbon dioxide versus nitrogen, but practitioners need increased throughputs for viable large-scale use. Also, further research is needed on the stability of these membranes in the presence of contaminants contained in plant flue gas.

Metal—­organic frameworks are attractive because they can be easily tuned to obtain the exact adsorption properties desired. However, more research must show the stability of these materials in the presence of contaminants contained in plant flue gas. Current methods typically involve an aqueous basic absorption process using metal h ­ ydroxides. In the future this process could complement CCS, which only limits increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. However, costs associated with air capture are currently much higher than those with CCS. Research also lacks quantitative analyses of hypothetical air capture processes. Conclusion The technology most likely to be applied in the near future for CCS is aqueous amine absorption.

Other methods that involve the use of RTILs, membranes, and adsorbents require further research and development before their use on a reasonable scale. Air capture also requires further research and detailed descriptions of process designs before its viability can be determined. Rationale for the Topic With the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the well-being of society in the future largely depends on our ability to manage the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. This technology involves the use of solvents to absorb carbon dioxide escaping from emission sources such as power plants.

Other methods still in the development stage include use of membranes and adsorbents. These substances also selectively capture carbon dioxide while allowing other gases to pass through to the atmosphere. In the future this process could complement CCS, which now only limits increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. However, the costs associated with air capture are currently much higher than those with CCS, and further research must continue. Conclusion The technology most likely to be applied in the near future for CCS is absorption of carbon dioxide. Other methods that involve the use of membranes and adsorbents require further research and development before they can be scaled to industry size. Air capture also requires further research before researchers can determine its viability. Visit the website of one of the employers listed below. What kinds of writing do employees of these organizations do? com Deloitte www. com Chevron www. com National Institutes of Health www.

gov Prepare a memo to your instructor explaining the kinds of writing you find on the website. For format, use the memo in Figure 1—1 as an example. Based on the qualities of effective technical writing discussed in this chapter, write a memo to your instructor evaluating the memo in Figure 1—1. What does it do right and wrong? How would you make it more effective? Department of Transportation Federal Highway administration Memorandum Subject: ACTION: Request for Bridge Replacement Costs From: Joseph L. Hartmann, Ph. Director, Office of Bridges and Structures Date: January 17, In Reply Refer To: HIBS To: Division Administrators We hereby request that each Division office submit to the Office of Bridges and Structures by April 3, , replacement costs for all highway bridges constructed in their State with Federal funds during fiscal year Collection of costs related to bridge construction is required by the National Bridge and Tunnel Inspection Standards 23 U.

This memorandum provides guidance in collecting the required bridge costs. Division offices are expected to review these costs in sufficient detail prior to submittal to ensure that States have followed the criteria defined in the link below. Please work with your State to resolve any inconsistencies and provide a discussion and recommended adjustments in conjunction with the submitted cost data to explain any anomalous data. Use the Submittals tab in the NBI system. Every decision you make in developing your document should reflect your audience, their needs, and your purpose.

Avoid becoming absorbed in ideas and information you plan to include. Never forget that the person or group who will read the document may have a very different perspective about the content. Your readers cannot climb into your mind and know your thoughts. Quick Tips To develop any communication, you have three main goals that connect reader, purpose, and context: 1. You want your readers to understand your meaning exactly in the way you intend. You want your writing to achieve its goal with the designated readers. You want to keep the goodwill of those with whom you communicate.

Understand Your Readers—The Heart of the Planning Process To achieve the three goals just listed, you must pursue the following four tasks, both before you begin to write and while you are actually composing your document: 1. Determine as fully as possible who will read what you write. Know the goals you want your writing to achieve and the business context in which you need to communicate. Understand your role in the organization as a writer and how your role should be reflected in what you write. Keep in mind that business readers want answers now. Employees in most organizations, particularly large ones, have more to read than they can and will read. If you answer their questions at the beginning of your document, readers are more likely to continue reading. In many cases, your primary reader will transmit your document to someone else for action. Perhaps this individual is one of your secondary readers or someone unknown to you.

Determine your readers and their perspectives. When you consider your read- ers, determine as much as you can about them. Readers with technical expertise in the area you discuss have different needs and often different perspectives from readers who lack technical expertise. If not, how could you present your message to make it appealing? Do you have credibility with these readers? How much your readers know about your topic determines what you say and the technical level of your presentation. You may not know your readers personally. Most reports and letters have distribution lists: the names of those who receive copies. A person on the distribution list may be the person who will ultimately act on what you write. Thus, the needs and perceptions of those who receive copies should be considered. Sometimes your primary reader may know the situation you are discussing, and the purpose of the report may be to inform others within the organization by going through proper channels.

The need for written communications develops from interactions of people involved in a work environment. To select the appropriate information, level of language technical or general , and amount of explanation needed in a business context, a writer must carefully determine the needs of each reader. Determining why you are writing is as important as determining who your readers are. Purpose always relates to readers. And you may have more than one purpose. For example, you may be writing to provide information and to recommend action.

In addition, what you say may serve as documentation—proof of your efforts to provide the information requested. Without documentation, you may have difficulty proving that you performed specific tasks. Understand your role as a writer. As an employee, you will be hired to perform the duties that define a particular job. As the one responsible for performing specific tasks, you will be communicating with employees above you, below you, and on your own level. In writing to individuals in any group, you will communicate not as you would with a friend or family member but as the person responsible for the work associated with that position. When you write, you create a personality that should fit the position you hold. To have credibility as a writer in an organization, the image that you project should be appropriate to your position.

What you write and how you write it should reflect your level of responsibility in the organization—the power relationship that exists between you and the reader. The image you project will change, depending on your readers. You will project the image of a subordinate when you write to those higher than you, but you will transmit the image of a supervisor to those who work directly under you. When you communicate with others on your own job level, you will convey the image of a colleague. Effective writers fit their message to each reader. Plan the content. Once you have analyzed your readers and your purpose, you can decide what you want and need to include and how you will phrase and arrange your ideas. Knowing how your message should sound will always be critical. Always try to convey a respectful tone appropriate to your position in the organization.

How a message is presented may often be as important as the information itself. Once your document has reached its primary destination, it may be placed in a stack for later reading; it may be skimmed and then routed to the person who will be responsible for acting on it; it may be read, copied, and distributed to readers unknown to you; it may be read and used as an agenda item for discussing a particular point; or it may be read carefully and later used as a reference. Knowing how readers will use the documents they receive can often guide you in deciding not only what to include but also how to organize the information and arrange it on the page. The Basic Parts of the Composing Process The composing process, integral to your analysis of audience, has six main stages: 1. Analyzing the situation 2. Arranging information 4. Editing the finished draft A writer who tries to do all stages at once usually creates a document that will fail. Research has shown that good writers usually follow a standard process—one that will make your writing tasks easier and the results more effective.

Analyzing the writing situation—purpose, readers, and context. The first step in composing is the most critical. In this step, you need to know why you need to write: what you want to achieve with your document, what situation or problem has led to the necessity of your writing this document. Then, you need to consider your readers—those who will or may read your document. Every technical or workplace document responds to a specific situation. Each document has a targeted audience. Writing responds to both—the situation and the readers in that situation. When you write, you do not simply compile information about a subject. You select information for your document based on your purpose, what your reader needs and how you think your reader perceives the subject. As you search for information, remember your purpose, what you want your reader to know and do with what you write.

Then, begin to list ideas you can use to develop your topic. Based on these ideas, ask yourself what additional information you will need to locate. Delete it. You may want to begin your document by writing your purpose at the beginning to help you stay on track. He has received very little money for the required upkeep. He drafts his request, but before he makes copies for the project, he asks a neighbor for her opinion of his flyer. She offers to revise the flyer Case Document 2—1B because she sees the difference between his version and what she thinks should be written. He makes the required number of copies, places one in each mailbox, and receives more than the amount RB needs for its entrance maintenance. CASE DOCUMENT 2—1A Subject: Running Brook Subdivision Marker RBSM Fund I have been remiss in reporting the status of the RBSM fund. In the past, an oral report was delivered at the annual subdivision picnic. I did not make such a report at the last picnic since I felt the information should be provided to all RB residents and not just to picnic attendees.

The report for — will be distributed with the flyers that announce the Running Brook picnic. Since the subdivision has several new families, a historical element was added to this report. The POA supplies each subdivision with a marker, which generally is located in the middle of a small landscaped area. Maintenance, decoration, and any embellishment of the marker area is the responsibility of the residents of the subdivision. The fee allows for consumption of 4, gallons of water each month. Water consumption above 4, gallons incurs an additional charge, an event that has occurred during the hot summer months of the past 3 years. Clearly, the present fund balance will not support these costs. Accordingly, contributions are needed.

The treasurer for the fund is Joann Fields. Hopefully, every RB family will participate. I sense we all believe that participation provides a measure of the RB community spirit. Without contributions, maintenance cannot occur. This amount will cover the cost of water, plants, and maintenance. Expenditures and Balances to Date Costs Donations Account Balance Oct. A few years ago, we installed a waterline and meter. Water costs have increased, particularly during the summer. Other expenses include plants, fertilizer, hay, and pumpkins. Keeping our marker area well maintained provides a positive first impression of our neighborhood. Contact Information—Give us a call if you have questions Charles and Joann Fields 2 Roaring Brook Court Hot Springs Village phone , e-mail [email protected] Why is Case Document 2—1B better than Case Document 2—1A? Why would you be more inclined to read and respond to Case Document 2—1B? Charles also decides to paper-clip an empty envelope with his name and address to the request.

Why would this decision help Charles achieve his goal? She drafts the following e-mail that she will send to all customers who made online or on-site purchases at the store in the last 2 years Case Document 2—2A. The store manager, however, tells her that her draft, if sent by e-mail, will likely not be read: 1 The subject line does not encourage busy readers to open the e-mail. The online sales director decides to revise the original to respond to the three issues. CASE DOCUMENT 2—2A Subject: Please take a 5-minute, multiple-choice survey; details follow. If you have purchased books online in the last 2 years, please consider participating and passing the attached invitation on to your friends for their potential participation. Your participation may provide useful information about online shopping and help us to improve your online shopping experience in the future. I am looking for customers who have bought books online at Pine Avenue Books in the last 2 years.

If you participate, your obligations will be low. You will complete a short, anonymous survey via the Internet that will require approximately 5 minutes of your time and will be returned to me via Survey Monkey, an online data collection service. If you complete a survey, your responses will be returned to me anonymously I will not be able to identify your e-mail address, your IP address, or any other information that would inform me as to your identity or your location. If you agree to do so, you will also participate in a to minute follow-up session this meeting will occur by telephone or e-mail as you choose. All data for surveys and follow-up interviews will be strictly confidential.

In addition, all information will be destroyed after I have analyzed the data. Completion of the survey and postsurvey interviews is voluntary; you may skip questions and can quit any portion of the study at any time. If you wish to participate in a follow-up interview, please include contact information at the end of the survey. You may contact me via e-mail [email protected] or phone CASE DOCUMENT 2—2B Subject: Please take a 5-minute survey about online shopping at Pine Avenue Books. Survey Purpose This study seeks to gauge your opinion of the online shopping sections of the Pine Avenue Books website www. Your participation will help us to improve your future online shopping experience. Survey Requirements If you participate, your obligations will be minimal. If you complete a survey, your responses will be returned to me anonymously. I will not be able to identify your e-mail address, your IP address, or any other information that would inform me as to your identity or your location.

Your identity will never be revealed in any results, discussions, or presentation of the research. Completion of the survey and follow-up interviews is voluntary; you may skip questions and can quit any portion of the study at any time. You may contact me via e-mail [email protected] or phone Arranging information. As you collect and begin summarizing information, con- sider how to arrange the material. In what order should you present your ideas? Most reports begin with an introduction and a summary of the report. The discussion section follows with supporting information.

Most reports adopt some version of this arrangement. Many business organizations have templates for reports. If you know what arrangement you want or need to use, sort material by creating folders for each segment of your report. Then arrange material within each folder before you begin drafting. Add copies of pertinent information sources into these same folders for later access when you begin to draft your document. This method allows you to track material you use and insert appropriate citations when you use material from a specific source. Every individual drafts differently. When you begin your draft, open your file and save it with the name of your report. Then, begin typing ideas or sections. You may wish to type the names of your main segments, boldface those, and insert information beneath the appropriate segment. This method helps you keep track of the information that you are using to develop your draft. Note that some of the ideas in your list become headings.

Some may be combined with other ideas. You can arrange, delete, and add ideas as you need to. As you continue to draft, you will revise. But during the drafting stage you should revise only to improve the meaning. Focus on presenting your material to your readers; then you can begin a formal revision process once you believe you have your basic ideas on the screen. Does your presentation make sense? Does your material occur in the appropriate order for your purpose and for your readers? Have you checked all your information for correctness? Does your document contain all requested information?

Examine each paragraph and each sentence. Are your paragraphs really paragraphs? Do they have topic sentences? Do all the sentences in the paragraph pertain to the meaning you are building in the paragraph? Start each paragraph with a topic sentence. Eliminate or recast sentences that provide little support for the topic sentence. Make your sentences clear, concise, and precise to encourage your readers to follow your ideas. Also, watch the length of your paragraphs. Long paragraphs discourage readers and tend to become incoherent.

Do you need tables, photos, graphs, drawings, or videos to help your reader understand and remember key ideas? Illustrations combined with text often provide the best means of communicating with your readers. When you began drafting, if you used headings or names of report segments to help you organize your draft, you began at that point to design your document. Document design refers to the way you arrange information and display it on the page. The importance of how information looks on the page cannot be stressed enough. If you want your writing to be read, design the page or screen so that information is inviting and accessible. A second edit focuses on the document as a whole.

How does it look? How does it sound? Is the important information easy to locate? Have you included all needed information in the document? Another edit focuses on citing sources: check your documentation to be sure that you provide credit or sources for all information you have used. Be sure that when you use illustrations and ideas from other sources you give credit to the source. Editing requires care, objectivity, patience, and diligence. Why is this document required? What is the situation that led to the need for this document? Who cares? What do your readers need to know? What do you want your readers to do? If you have required report sections, what are they? What resources do you need to locate? How will they help to convey your message? What does your reader need to know first? Have you noted the source of any illustration borrowed or adapted from another document, publication, or website?

Are your paragraphs well organized and of a reasonable length? EXERCISES 1. Phoenix Publishers has always provided free child care to all employees with children ages 3 months to 5 years. For its 50 years of operation, the company has taken great pride in being a family-friendly employer. The president of the company directs you to write three letters regarding this important change: one to parents using the child-care center, one to all employees, and one to the stockholders. Note that parents will also receive the letter addressed to employees. Note also that some employees are also stockholders.

The president recognizes the sensitivity of this policy change and thus will also expect from you a memo justifying the variations you made in the three letters. Find a blog posting aimed at specialists in your field. Revise the posting for a specific group of readers outside your field who might need to know this information e. Attach the original to your revision, and submit both to your instructor. Examine Figure 2—1 addressed to parents and Figure 2—2 addressed to employers. What similarities and differences do you notice in the verbal and visual information included? How do the writers adapt information to each audience?

What changes, if any, would make the two documents more suitable for their specific audiences? Since Figure 2—2 addresses employers, how would you adapt this information for a message addressed to employees? For kids, washing hands can be a fun and entertaining activity. It is simple enough for even very young children to understand. Handwashing gives children and adults a chance to take an active role in their own health. Once kids learn how to properly wash their hands, they can—and often do—show their parents and siblings and encourage them to wash hands, too.

This can help family members get sick less often and miss less work and school. Despite widespread knowledge of the importance of handwashing, there is still room for improvement. For more details, visit www. Handwashing: A Family Activity. Washington, DC: GPO, Handwashing gives people the opportunity to take an active role in their own health. Most handwashing studies have focused on child care or health care settings. The few that have looked at corporate settings show that promoting clean hands results in fewer employee sick days.

Improving Health Germs can spread quickly. A healthier community means healthier employees. Sick employees are less productive even when they come to work. They may also spread illness to others at work. Handwashing: A Corporate Activity. You might have to decide quickly—in minutes or seconds. If this is the situation you find yourself in, think of individuals in your company or in your profession you admire for their integrity and good judgment: it could be a favorite colleague, a supervisor, or a mentor. Your Professional Obligations None of us are isolated individuals, operating entirely separate from the traffic of human society.

Your ethical obligations are several, often intersecting, and from time to time competing. You must share information with your colleagues that will improve the practices of your profession, clarify understanding, offer new insights, and promote better training of new students of your discipline. You must communicate in a manner that brings credit to your profession and inspires the next generation to want to study and join your profession. You also have a responsibility to use no more than your fair share of the resources allotted and to take no more than your fair share of the credit or blame given. Your decisions and actions on the job could allow communities to thrive in resilient and sustainable environments or to be poisoned by private greed and callous disregard for civic aspirations.

Also keep in mind that something could be legal but still unethical: for example, while it might be legal in your city to build a chemical storage facility adjacent to a hospital, the danger to immobilized patients from a chemical explosion—and their inability to evacuate quickly—might make this choice of location unethical. You would have to weigh the risk to the public versus the jobs that would be created in your city and the potential profits for your company. Typically, none of your choices will be entirely satisfactory, and from time to time all your choices will be unsatisfactory. You will have to juggle your various obligations and determine which has priority. You also have important responsibilities to yourself, your profession, your schools and teachers, your colleagues, and the public itself. You will have to make every effort to avoid being either submissive or self-righteous. Codes of Conduct and Standards of Practice Your professional association and your employing organization will each have codes of conduct that specify their expectations regarding appropriate behavior on the job.

Many disciplines, such as engineering, accounting, medicine, and financial management, have specific regulations for professional conduct and for standards of practice. Continuing education and periodic testing on these rules may be a part of your certification. Violation of these rules can carry heavy penalties, particularly because these disciplines involve the health and financial resources of clients. Examine the code of ethics for the National Society of Professional Engineers Figure 3—1. Even if you are not an engineering major, you can see how the National Society of Professional Engineers dictates how engineers conduct their work. As members of this profession, engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare.

Engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct. Fundamental Canons Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall: 1. Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public. Perform services only in areas of their competence. Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner. Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees. Avoid deceptive acts. Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession. Rules of Practice 1. Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public. Engineers shall approve only those engineering documents that are in conformity with applicable standards. Engineers shall not reveal facts, data, or information without the prior consent of the client or employer except as authorized or required by law or this Code.

Engineers shall not permit the use of their name or associate in business ventures with any person or firm that they believe is engaged in fraudulent or dishonest enterprise. Engineers shall not aid or abet the unlawful practice of engineering by a person or firm. Engineers having knowledge of any alleged violation of this Code shall report thereon to appropriate professional bodies and, when relevant, also to public authorities, and cooperate with the proper authorities in furnishing such information or assistance as may be required. Engineers shall perform services only in the areas of their competence. Engineers shall undertake assignments only when qualified by education or experience in the specific technical fields involved.

Engineers shall not affix their signatures to any plans or documents dealing with subject matter in which they lack competence, nor to any plan or document not prepared under their direction and control. Engineers may accept assignments and assume responsibility for coordination of an entire project and sign and seal the engineering documents for the entire project, provided that each technical segment is signed and sealed only by the qualified engineers who prepared the segment. Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.

Engineers shall be objective and truthful in professional reports, statements, or testimony. They shall include all relevant and pertinent information in such reports, statements, or testimony, which should bear the date indicating when it was current. Engineers may express publicly technical opinions that are founded upon knowledge of the facts and competence in the subject matter. Engineers shall issue no statements, criticisms, or arguments on technical matters that are inspired or paid for by interested parties, unless they have prefaced their comments by explicitly identifying the interested parties on whose behalf they are speaking, and by revealing the existence of any interest the engineers may have in the matters. Engineers shall act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees.

Engineers shall disclose all known or potential conflicts of interest that could influence or appear to influence their judgment or the quality of their services. Engineers shall not accept compensation, financial or otherwise, from more than one party for services on the same project, or for services pertaining to the same project, unless the circumstances are fully disclosed and agreed to by all interested parties. Engineers shall not solicit or accept financial or other valuable consideration, directly or indirectly, from outside agents in connection with the work for which they are responsible. Engineers in public service as members, advisors, or employees of a governmental or quasi-governmental body or department shall not participate in decisions with respect to services solicited or provided by them or their organizations in private or public engineering practice.

Engineers shall not solicit or accept a contract from a governmental body on which a principal or officer of their organization serves as a member. Engineers shall avoid deceptive acts. They shall not misrepresent or exaggerate their responsibility in or for the subject matter of prior assignments. Brochures or other presentations incident to the solicitation of employment shall not misrepresent pertinent facts concerning employers, employees, associates, joint venturers, or past accomplishments. Engineers shall not offer, give, solicit, or receive, either directly or indirectly, any contribution to influence the award of a contract by public authority, or which may be reasonably construed by the public as having the effect or inte nt of influencing the awarding of a contract.

They shall not offe r any gift or other valuable consideration in order to secure work. They shall not pay a commission, percentage, or brokerage fee in order to secure work, except to a bona fide employee or bona fide established commercial or marketing agencies retained by them. Professional Obligations 1. Engineers shall be guided in all their relations by the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineers shall acknowledge their errors and shall not distort or alter the facts. Engineers shall advise their clients or employers when they believe a project will not be successful. Engineers shall not accept outside employment to the detriment of their regular work or interest. Before accepting any outside engineering employment, they will notify their employers. Engineers shall not attempt to attract an engineer from another employer by false or misleading pretenses. Engineers shall not promote their own interest at the expense of the dignity and integrity of the profession.

Engineers shall at all times strive to serve the public interest. Engineers are encouraged to participate in civic affairs; career guidance for youths; and work for the advancement of the safety, health, and well-being of their community. If the client or employer insists on such unprofessional conduct, they shall notify the proper authorities and withdraw from further service on the project. Engineers are encouraged to extend public knowledge and appreciation of engineering and its achievements. Engineers are encouraged to adhere to the principles of sustainable development1 in order to protect the environment for future generations. Engineers shall avoid all conduct or practice that deceives the public. Engineers shall avoid the use of statements containing a material misrepresentation of fact or omitting a material fact.

Consistent with the foregoing, engineers may advertise for recruitment of personnel. Consistent with the foregoing, engineers may prepare articles for the lay or technical press, but such articles shall not imply credit to the author for work performed by others. Engineers shall not disclose, without consent, confidential information concerning the business affairs or tec hnical processes of any present or former client or employer, or public body on which they serve. Engineers shall not, without the consent of all interested parties, promote or arrange for new employment or practice in connection with a specific project for which the engineer has gained particular and specialized knowledge.

Engineers shall not, without the consent of all interested parties, participate in or represent an adversary interest in connection with a specific project or proceeding in which the engineer has gained particular specialized knowledge on behalf of a former client or employer. Engineers shall not be influenced in their professional duties by conflicting interests. Engineers shall not accept financial or other considerations, including free engineering designs, from material or equipment suppliers for specifying their product. Engineers shall not accept commissions or allowances, directly or indirectly, from contractors or other parties dealing with clients or employers of the engineer in connection with work for which the engineer is responsible. Engineers shall not attempt to obtain employment or advancement or professional engagements by untruthfully criticizing other engineers, or by other improper or questionable methods. Engineers shall not request, propose, or accept a commission on a contingent basis under circumstances in which their judgment may be compromised.

Engineers in salaried positions shall accept part-time engineering work only to the extent consistent with policies of the employer and in accordance with ethical considerations. Engineers shall not, without consent, use equipment, supplies, laboratory, or office facilities of an employer to carry on outside private practice. Engineers shall not attempt to injure, maliciously or falsely, directly or indirectly, the professional reputation, prospects, practice, or employment of other engineers. Engineers who believe others are guilty of unethical or illegal practice shall present such information to the proper authority for action. Engineers in private practice shall not review the work of another engineer for the same client, except with the knowledge of such engineer, or unless the connection of such engineer with the work has been terminated.

Engineers in governmental, industrial, or educational employ are entitled to review and evaluate the work of other engineers when so required by their employment duties. Engineers in sales or industrial employ are entitled to make engineering comparisons of represented products with products of other suppliers. Engineers shall conform with state registration laws in the practice of engineering. Engineers shall give credit for engineering work to those to whom credit is due, and will recognize the proprietary interests of others. Engineers shall, whenever possible, name the person or persons who may be individually responsible for designs, inventions, writings, or other accomplishments.

Engineers using designs supplied by a client recognize that the designs remain the property of the client and may not be duplicated by the engineer for others without express permission. Engineers, before undertaking work for others in connection with which the engineer may make improvements, plans, designs, inventions, or other records that may justify copyrights or patents, should enter into a positive agreement regarding ownership. The employer should indemnify the engineer for use of the information for any purpose other than the original purpose. Engineers shall continue their professional development throughout their careers and should keep current in their specialty fields by engaging in professional practice, participating in continuing education courses, reading in the technical literature, and attending professional meetings and seminars.

Engineers and firms may individually refuse to bid for engineering services. Clients are not required to seek bids for engineering services. Federal, state, and local laws governing procedures to procure engineering services are not affected, and remain in full force and effect. State societies and local chapters are free to actively and aggressively seek legislation for professional selection and negotiation procedures by public agencies. State registration board rules of professional conduct, including rules prohibiting competitive bidding for engineering services, are not affected and remain in full force and effect. State registration boards with authority to adopt rules of professional conduct may adopt rules governing procedures to obtain engineering services. The Code deals with professional services, which services must be performed by real persons.

Real persons in turn establish and implement policies within business structures. The Code is clearly written to apply to the Engineer, and it is incumbent on members of NSPE to endeavor to live up to its provisions. This applies to all pertinent sections of the Code. LEGALITY We observe the laws and regulations governing our profession. We meet the terms of contracts we undertake. We ensure that all terms are consistent with laws and regulations locally and globally, as applicable, and with STC ethical·principles. HONESTY We seek to promote the public good in our activities.

To the best of our ability, we provide truthful and accurate communications. We also dedicate ourselves to conciseness, clarity, coherence, and creativity, striving to meet the needs of those who use our products and services. We alert our clients and employers when we believe that material is ambiguous. We attribute authorship of material and ideas only to those who make an original and substantive contribution. Farkas, Brent Henze, Tharon W. Howard, Dan Jones, Karla Saari Kitalong, Traci Nathans-Kelly, Christine G. Nicometo, Kirk St. Technical Communication: A Design-Centric Approach is a comprehensive textbook for introductory courses in technical communication and professional writing. Technical Communication takes a design approach to foundational and emergent technical communication skills such as document design, job applications and interviews, workplace collaboration, and report writing, providing students with practical guidance on matters of ethics, style, and problem-solving in a range of professional and organizational contexts.

This is a core textbook suitable for undergraduate courses in technical and professional communication. The book is supplemented by an innovative website featuring interactive simulations of various real-world technical communication challenges. This compact but complete guide shows that less is more—with fewer extraneous details getting in the way of students trying to learn on the run, it allows them to focus on the most important principles of effective technical communication. The Concise Guide takes a rhetorical approach to technical communication; instead of setting up a list of rules that should be applied uniformly to all writing situations, it introduces students to the bigger picture of how the words they write can affect the people intended to read them.

Assignments and exercises are integrated throughout to reinforce and test knowledge. Designing Engineers First Edition is written in short modules, where each module is built around a specific learning outcome and is cross-referenced to the other modules that should be read as pre-requisites, and could be read in tandem with or following that module. The book begins with a brief orientation to the design process, followed by coverage of the design process in a series of short modules. environmental, human factors, intellectual property. Skip to content. The Essentials Of Technical Communication Download The Essentials Of Technical Communication full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. The Essentials of Technical Communication. Download The Essentials of Technical Communication Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle. Technical Communication.

Author : Mike Markel,Michael H. Download Technical Communication Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle. A Strategic Guide to Technical Communication Second Edition US. Download A Strategic Guide to Technical Communication Second Edition US Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle. Teaching Professional and Technical Communication. Download Teaching Professional and Technical Communication Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle. A Concise Guide to Technical Communication. Download A Concise Guide to Technical Communication Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle.

In today's complex workplace, no one wants to read what you write. The Essentials of Technical Communication, Fourt. English Pages Year DOWNLOAD FILE. This book traces Chinese technical communication from its beginnings, investigating how it began and the major factors t. This text-workbook is a streamlined, no-nonsense approach to business communication. It takes a three-in-one approach:. For courses in Technical Communication. Comprehensive, user-friendly instruction in workplace writing, technical communi. In its third edition, Technical Graphics Communication,, has become a standard in the field of engineering and technical.

Technical writing is used in all fields of science, technology, agriculture, engineering and social sciences. From a sim. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press Madison Avenue, New York, NY , United States of America. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above.

You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Tebeaux, Elizabeth, author. Dragga, Sam, author. Description: Fourth edition. New York : Oxford University Press, [] Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN ISBN Subjects: LCSH: Technical writing. Communication of technical information. Classification: LCC T T DDC Stewart — Our first English Department head, a scholar fully committed to the teaching of both writing and great literature. Without his support at the beginning of our careers, neither of us would have enjoyed as productive a life in technical communication as we have had. The Essentials of Technical Communication emerges from that support. In fact, they will read as little of what you write as they possibly can. Even if your document will be of value to your readers, you better make that point clear immediately, otherwise your document will likely be ignored or discarded.

Your supervisor and colleagues may not have the necessary background, time, or inclination to sift through your e-mail, memo, or report and find the information they need. We have developed The Essentials of Technical Communication as a practical introduction to all aspects of effective professional communication—a handbook to help you get your message across on the job, where time equals money and poorly crafted documents can produce a host of unwelcome consequences. We are teachers and researchers of technical writing, each of us with 40 years of experience, and we know that following a few simple guidelines leads to more efficient and effective communications.

In this book we want to provide the guidelines you need as you plan, draft, and revise documents. Understanding these guidelines will help you manage your writing anxiety and enable you to write effectively and quickly—both requirements of employees who write for their jobs. The Essentials of Technical Communication will give you the information to help you design clear, concise, readable materials. From this foundation, you can learn to develop more complex documents as you advance in your career. Approach We have a simple rationale for our approach: we believe that the effective writer in a work situation must learn and internalize basic concepts of rhetoric and then apply these in developing documents.

Each chapter in Part One focuses on basic rhetorical principles, and Part Two applies those principles to the planning and writing of particular types of documents. A brief book enables instructors to adapt the book to their own uses. Many teachers want to build on principles by adding their unique approaches. This book provides the flexibility to allow for that possibility. In addition, many employees who did not study technical or business communication in college will find this book useful in learning how to write effectively in the workplace. Organization We have organized the book in two parts. We stress the important privacy and security risks involved in using social media, e-mail, and texting. We include a discussion of the composing process in this chapter. While most professionals have standards of good practice, writers must also consider principles of communication ethics.

We focus on standards of practice and include cases and exercises based on these standards. In a world of excess information, readers often miss or ignore important messages unless quickly available and easy to read. Graphics software offers infinite possibilities for data display, photo editing applications allow innumerable visual effects, and trillions of images are readily available online, but effective illustrations require an understanding of fundamental design principles and a thoroughgoing sensitivtiy to audience and purpose. We also again emphasize ethics and accessibility in this chapter. In this chapter we use several student examples of proposals, as these respond to real situations in a university setting. We also include examples of online progress reports as these provide public information about the status of research and transportation construction projects. These cases contextualize the documents to give you a sense of how and when the techniques we outline can and should be applied.

We hope you find these a handy reference tool. Some of the exercises are designed to be done in class—individually or in in small groups—while others could be out-ofclass assignments. Appendix B gives a synopsis of information literacy and briefly explains three widely used systems for citing sources of information: APA, Chicago, and IEEE. Appendix C includes a sample report. The Companion Website also includes revision assignments, multimodal writing assignments, and multilingual writing assignments. This new edition maintains the concise and practical nature of the original. We have, however, made several important changes based on the excellent suggestions from our expert panel of reviewers. We made each change to prepare students 1 to write in an increasingly dynamic, digital age and 2 to write for an increasingly diverse audience—both in the classroom and in the workplace. We believe that teachers have an ethical obligation to advise students about the risks of social media, texting, and e-mail, all of which in personal and business use carry legal liability.

We believe communicators must make their documents equally available to people regardless of their physical abilities. The test bank has been updated as well and now offers a revised and expanded selection of test questions. Martin, College of the Canyons; Denise Stodola, Kettering University; Dawn Taylor, South Texas College; Aaron Toscano, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Michelle Weisman, College of the Ozarks; and Linda Young, Oregon Institute of Technology. And we add our thanks to those who reviewed for this new edition: Paul M. Dombrowski, University of Central Florida; Jennifer Haber, St. Petersburg College; Helena Halmari, Sam Houston State University; Kevin LaGrandeur, New York Institute of Technology; David L. Major, Austin Peay State University; Richard Jeffrey Newman, Nassau Community College; Casey J Rudkin, Kenai Peninsula College; Michael Shuman, University of South Florida; William Clay Kinchen Smith, Santa Fe College; and Sonia Stephens, University of Central Florida.

We also thank the innumerable colleagues and students who have challenged and inspired us in the teaching of technical communication. And, as always, special thanks to Jene and Linda for their love and support. University offices, corporations, research centers, hospitals, businesses of all sizes, even nonprofit organizations produce large quantities of technical writing, which differs from academic writing in several important ways. These differences mean that you cannot write on the job the way you have written in school. Writing in school and writing at work differ because the purposes and the context of each differ. Thus, the products of each contrast sharply. Quick Tips On the job, keep in mind that no one wants to read anything you write. Most of the time they will not read all of what you write. They will read because they need to, not because they want to. They will read because you have information they need to take actions or make decisions.

The more time they need to read your document, the less productive time they have. Make sure everything you write is clear, correct, necessary, and polite. And never assume that anything you write is confidential. Modern organizations must keep their information secure, whether it exists in paper or virtual form. Organizations that lose information to cyber thieves often face severe consequences. As an educated adult, your writing should exemplify correctness. Beyond these fundamental principles, business or technical writing will differ from writing you have done as a student in five important ways. Writing at work: 1. Requires acute awareness of security and legal liability 2. Requires awareness that documents may be read by unknown readers, inside and outside the organization, for an infinite time 3.

Achieves job goals 4. Addresses a variety of readers who have different perspectives from those of the writer 5. Requires a variety of written documents Requires acute awareness of security and legal liability. The most fundamental characteristic of technical writing rests in the legal liability associated with workplace information. Chief information officers in educational, business, government, and research organizations work diligently to protect the privacy of information about their employees and the knowledge generated by these employees by following both federal and state privacy laws. People throughout the world continue to attack computing systems to gain access to credit card numbers, personal and medical information, and transcripts of academic work, creative work, and research data—essentially whatever hackers can access, either for their own use or to sell to crime cartels. Electronic communication has become a blessing and a curse.

Research organizations, hospitals, banks, financial organizations, law firms, physicians, and even small, locally owned businesses have to pursue strict security on all information they have about customers, clients, and patients.

The essentials of technical communication,Newest Books

WebAbout the Author of Essentials Of Technical Communication 3Rd Edition PDF Free Download Book. Read Essentials Of Technical Communication 3Rd Edition Now! WebOct 12,  · The Essentials of Technical Communication Dec 15, by Elizabeth Tebeaux and Sam Dragga. Paperback $ 23 34 provides essential guidance to WebThe Essentials Of Technical Communication 3Rd Edition PDF Book Details Product details Publisher: Oxford University Press; 4th edition (December 15, ) Language: WebThe Essentials of Technical Communication , In today's complex workplace, no one wants to read what you write. The Essentials of Technical WebDownload Technical Communication Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle Comprehensive and truly accessible, Technical Communication guides students through planning, drafting, WebDec 28,  · Technical Communication 3rd Edition By Practical, concise, and reasonably priced, The Essentials of Technical Communication, Second Edition, ... read more

She has several years of teaching experience and has been teaching courses on professional and technical communication at various levels. They will not usually read any document completely or bother to respond to it unless, at the beginning, the message indicates that reading it serves their best interests. Chapter 5 presents the fundamentals such as phonemes, accent, and intonation of speaking through numerous examples. Chief information officers in educational, business, government, and research organizations work diligently to protect the privacy of information about their employees and the knowledge generated by these employees by following both federal and state privacy laws. Requires awareness that documents may be read by unknown readers. The Foundations of Effective Writing at Work Developing effective documents requires a process involving at least six stages: 1.

We obtain releases from clients and employers before including any business-sensitive materials in our portfolios or commercial demonstrations or before using such materials for another client or employer. You must report this information as you know it. The Essentials of Technical Communication will give you the information to help you design clear, concise, readable materials. But during the drafting stage you should revise only to improve the meaning. In this book we want to provide the guidelines you need as you plan, draft, and revise documents. Five of these II. Chapter 3 focuses on the non-verbal aspect of communication, including body movements, space, and vocal features.